Jakarta, July 20, 2023 – (ACN Newswire) – NusaTrip Inc (“NusaTrip”), the online retail arm of Society Pass Incorporated (“SoPa”) (Nasdaq: SOPA), Southeast Asia’s (SEA) next generation, data-driven, loyalty, fintech and e-commerce ecosystem, today announces that it has acquired Vietnam International Travel and Service JSC (“VIT”), a IATA-licensed, full-service travel agency focused on marketing to the Vietnam inbound and outbound segments.
NusaTrip previously acquired VLeisure, Vietnam’s leading provider of hotel management and payment solutions, in April 2023. Patrick Soetanto, NusaTrip CEO, comments on the acquisition, “VIT is the first IATA-licensed travel acquisition we have made outside of Indonesia. Our business plan calls for acquisitions of other IATA-licensed travel agencies throughout Asia Pacific in 2023, including Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, India and UAE, as we position NusaTrip to be the premier travel hub in SEA. According to Phocuswright, gross bookings in SEA by 2025 will reach 94% of the record 2019 level and digital transformation will accelerate rapidly across SEA, with online bookings more than doubling between 2022 and 2025. Effectively, the region has reverted back to pre-pandemic levels. We are growing NusaTrip at the opportune time.”
Founded in Vietnam since 2016, VIT operates inbound and outbound ticketing businesses targeted at corporate and travel tour segments. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Founder and Managing Director of VIT, explains his rationale for selling to NusaTrip, “SoPa and NusaTrip are known leaders in the SEA and Vietnamese e-commerce and travel sectors. I am proud to sell VIT to NusaTrip as I know NusaTrip will greatly expand VIT’s business here in Vietnam. I wish both SoPa and NusaTrip the best luck going forward.”
Le Phan, NusaTrip Managing Director and VLeisure Founder, adds, “I am especially excited about this acquisition as it will only add to the breadth and depth of NusaTrip and VLeisure’s product offering in Vietnam. Statista projects the Vietnam travel market to reach US$3.0 billion in 2023. Total market size is expected to reach US$4.2 billion by 2027, reflecting an annual growth rate of 8.8%. We intend to leverage VIT’s strong presence in the corporate and tour markets here in Vietnam to drive strong revenue growth for NusaTrip in 2023.”
The Vietnam economy is the 5th largest in SEA and 34th largest in the world with a 2023 nominal gross domestic product of US$449 billion. The World Bank forecasts Vietnam’s economy to grow by 6.3 percent and 6.4% in 2023 and 2024, respectively, after a robust 8 percent in 2022.
