ZEN Rooms is one of the leading economy and mid-range hotel franchises in Southeast Asia. The company is at the forefront of standardizing quality, improving services and bringing in advanced technology, which are important components which help hoteliers and travelers navigate the fast-changing market.
Southeast Asia is the fastest growing travel market worldwide. The region attracted 120 million tourists in 2017 and its inbound tourism industry has grown by an annual average of 7.9 percent since 2005, faster than in any other part of the world.
ZEN Rooms in Southeast Asia
While Southeast Asia’s tourism industry is promising, its budget accommodation market still has a long way to go. Lack of regulation, poor safety and service standards and low affordability are still rampant in the market and one of the key remedies to these issues is franchising.
“ZEN helps Southeast Asian hotels transform into safer, more efficient spaces,” ZEN Rooms co-founder Nathan Boublil stated. “This efficiency translates into lower pricing for travelers, which is how we contribute daily to democratizing travel in Southeast Asia.”
Boublil co-founded ZEN Rooms in 2015 with his fellow entrepreneur Kiren Tanna. It is their aim to improve the state of budget hospitality in Southeast Asia, making travel more affordable and safer.
ZEN Rooms contributes daily to democratizing access to safe and affordable travel with millions of travelers staying at its franchised or operated properties each year. The company has raised US$23 million equity funding from leading institutional investors Rocket Internet, Ooredoo Telecom, RedBadge Pacific, SBI Investments Korea and Yanolja.
Traveling is now more convenient and accessible. Low cost airlines account for at least 50 percent of flights in Southeast Asia, reaching up to 70 percent of domestic flights in the Philippines and Thailand.
According to a 2019 report by Google and Temasek, Southeast Asia’s online travel sector has grown from $29.7 billion in 2018 to $34.4 billion in 2019 and is expected to double in the next five years. The biggest growth is expected to come from the accommodation sector from $12.9 billion in 2019 to $36 billion in 2025, driven by new users outside of Metros.
CONAN Daily 