Grab announced new in-app travel innovations and partnerships to give travelers a safe, seamless, and hyperlocal experience as Southeast Asia embraces a travel comeback.
The company has witnessed a steady rebound in traveler numbers, with rides to and from airports growing threefold between January and December 2022. Furthermore, international tourist visits to Southeast Asia have increased by 1,706% in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Russell Cohen, Group Managing Director, Operations, Grab, stated, “We want to be at the forefront of Southeast Asia’s travel revival, welcoming travelers back to the region with an enhanced Grab experience that is designed to help them travel with ease and peace of mind. No one knows Southeast Asia like we do, and our goal is not only to deliver the safest and most seamless mobility experience but also encourage travelers to explore the richness of Southeast Asia like a local through our superapp offerings.”
Grab’s data indicates that 40 percent of international travelers using Grab in the Philippines are from other Southeast Asian countries. The data also show that the top Southeast Asian countries Philippine Grab users prefer going to are Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. The top source markets for travelers using Grab regionally include North America, Australia, China, and South Korea.
To provide assurance and confidence to travelers to explore their destination, Grab has introduced new app enhancements such as the Traveller Homepage, available for 33 of the top cities tourists visit in Southeast Asia. Overseas travelers can explore a city within the Grab app as if they were at the destination, search and save places of interest, and even explore food options near their destination. The Grab app is now also available in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese languages.
Grab is also working on translating merchant menus in key cities across Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand into English and Chinese in H2 2023. A revamped Venues experience will help travelers navigate through busy and unfamiliar airports by providing image-based turn-by-turn walking directions to guide them. Furthermore, a currency converter feature will automatically display fares in travelers’ preferred local currency so that they don’t have to do manual conversions.
In addition, Grab has teamed up with some of the world’s most popular apps to provide travelers visiting Southeast Asia with options to access Grab’s ride-hailing services through platforms they already use and are familiar with. Users of WeChat, AliPay, Ctrip, Kakao T, and Booking.com can access Grab’s ride-hailing services across Southeast Asia through these apps.
Lastly, Grab has announced a new exclusive offer to its GrabUnlimited subscription plan, giving subscribers access to discounted airport rides at 89 airports across Southeast Asia. Avid Grab users are encouraged to subscribe to GrabUnlimited, which is free on the first month and renews at P49 every month thereafter.
