Agoda is one of the leading online travel booking websites that was acquired by Booking Holdings in 2007. It has grown rapidly by focusing on the Asian market and differentiating itself through services like home rentals. While Agoda has strong brand recognition in Asia, it faces intense competition from large global players and pressure to continue expanding into new markets and services. The report analyzes Agoda's strategies, competitive position, and recommendations to ensure future sustainability and growth amid changing industry trends.

1. Date: 24 November 2019
2019
Agoda: A Case of Strategic
Management & Sustainability
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY

2. Executive Summary
The report provides a bird’s eye view on Agoda.com as one of the major and high growth players’
in the travel booking industry. Agoda.com may also be named as the Asian Tiger in the industry
for its promising and continued growth for more than a decade now and therefore is subject to
fierce competition and strategic shifts in the markets by existing and new competitors. The report
provides a deep insight on the corporate strategies of Agoda and the way forward to ensuring
sustainability in the future.
Therefore, to analyze the strategies and successes of Agoda different strategic frameworks have
been applied and looked through to find the core competencies, key success factors and the
business model to form an idea about its future disposition. The analysis inferred that although
Agoda has been thriving over the past years banking on the Asian market, it still needs to find a
way to differentiating itself from the competitors to the blue ocean of success in attaining further
growth and glory. Internal and external environment analysis through the Five Forces and PESTLE
frameworks also provides a wide-angle view of the industry where rivalry and other factors
intensifies to squeeze the market shares by the global giants.
The report also aimed to look through the lens of the future trends and sustainability issues like
environmental protection, climate change and the carbon footprint of Agoda and digital technology
companies. The trends also imply both advantages and major limitations faced by Agoda in
sustaining the business through socially responsible and sustainable practices. Effect of the advent
of disruptive technologies and projections of demographics, energy and other mega trends are
significant to be the drivers of growth or decline in the future. Moreover, increased effort of green
washing by the mother group, Booking Holdings, have been observed but are not convincing to
attract the new generation travelers who are conscious and critical about environment and
sustainability issues. This group of people will be writing the future of the digital companies like
Agoda in recent times.
Based on the weaknesses, trends and expectation of probable threats, the report forms the
recommendation for the Agoda for the current situation, predictable and unpredictable trends and
the related action plans. However, the only limitation to the report is aligning the recommendations
to the principles of the organization as the company did not disclose its mission and vision to the

3. public. Thus, it makes the company susceptible to mergers with the sister brand and operate under
a single name. The assumption may have limitations, but this is another recommendation for
Agoda in forming and displaying itself as a robust and strong brand with specific guidelines and
the way it portrays itself towards the world at large.

4. Contents
1.0 Introduction to Agoda.com .................................................................................................5
1.1 Key Success Factors behind Agoda’s growth .................................................................6
1.2 Core Competencies ..........................................................................................................7
2.0 Agoda’s Competitive Position in the Industry ...................................................................9
2.1 Corporate Strategy ........................................................................................................10
2.2 Porter’s five forces.........................................................................................................10
2.3 So what, the industry is competitive?............................................................................12
3.0 Internal Environment .......................................................................................................13
3.1 Business Model Canvas .................................................................................................13
3.2 Value Proposition Canvas .............................................................................................13
3.3 Value Chain....................................................................................................................14
4.0 External Environment.......................................................................................................14
4.1 Political/Legal Environment..........................................................................................14
4.2 Economic Environment .................................................................................................15
4.3 Social Environment........................................................................................................15
4.4 Environment ..................................................................................................................16
4.5 So what?.........................................................................................................................16
5.0 The Online Industry..........................................................................................................18
5.1 Competitors....................................................................................................................18
6. Environment and the carbon footprint of Agoda...............................................................19
6.1 Green washing of Agoda................................................................................................19
6.2 Actions Taken Vs Needed to be taken...........................................................................20
6.3 So what?.........................................................................................................................21
7. Predictable and Unpredictable Trends ..............................................................................22
7.1 Predictable Trends.........................................................................................................23
7.1.1 Changing perception on travel style: ......................................................................23
7.1.2 Internet Users ..........................................................................................................24
7.2 Unpredictable Trends....................................................................................................25
7.2.1 The internet collapse ...............................................................................................25
7.2.2 Virtual reality can entirely change travel behavior ...............................................26

5. 7.3 So what?.........................................................................................................................26
8. Recommendation.................................................................................................................27
8.1 Current Situation...........................................................................................................28
8.2 Predictable trends..........................................................................................................29
8.3 Unpredictable trends. ....................................................................................................29
9. Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................30
10.0 References........................................................................................................................31
Appendix-I: Competitive Advantage- Stuck in the Middle...................................................36
Appendix-III: Business Model Canvas.....................................................................................0
Appendix-IV: Value Proposition Canvas.................................................................................1
Appendix-V: Value Chain.........................................................................................................2
Appendix-VI: Porter’s Five forces ...........................................................................................5
Appendix-VII: PESTLE ...........................................................................................................6
Appendix-VIII: Predictable & Unpredictable Trends Impact Map .....................................11

6. 1.0 Introduction to Agoda.com
Agoda.com is one of the leading travels’ booking websites in the world. Headquartered in
Singapore, Agoda started its official journey as an e-commerce start-up in 2005 and is considered
to be the fastest growing company among its competitors. It has listed over two million properties
under its umbrella across the entire world and offers accommodation services for over 200 nations.
It offers the customers with wide range of choices from budget accommodation facilities to
multinational luxury hotel chains. The website and mobile application are available in 38 different
languages and its offices cover more than 30 countries worldwide. (Agoda, n.d.)
Michael Kenny and Robert Rosenstein co-founded Agoda as part of their love for travel and deep
interest in information technology business. (Kaveevivitchai, 2013) They targeted Thailand as
their primary market for penetration and soon the website became the most sought choice for
booking preference in whole of Asia. This rapid growth and success caught the attention of
Priceline group (Currently Booking Holdings), the giant in travel booking industry across the
world and consequently Agoda was acquired by Booking Holdings in 2007. (Agoda, n.d.)
Becoming a subsidiary of a giant group, Agoda reaped several benefits in expanding its products
and services as well as expanding into new markets. The result of Booking Holdings’ acquisition
of Qlika, a start-up company in Israel which specialized in pay per click advertising and of
Woomoo, another start-up from Taiwan specialized in prototyping mobile applications, gave
Agoda the key advantages in optimizing its marketing systems and appearance on Google search
with its reviews. (Wikipedia, n.d.) Agoda not only concentrated on booking services with hotels
but also realized the need to serve the market of millennials (young travelers looking for
adventure)and hence introduced “AgodaHomes” to facilitate both travelers and hosts to rent in
and out residential rooms that opened up the opportunity of offering remote and wider choice of
destinations to the traveler’s. (TheJakartaPost, 2017) Moreover, partnership extension of
Rentalcars.com and Mozio Inc. has facilitated Agoda in providing value added services like airport
transfers and hiring vehicles across different destinations. This not only created competitive
advantage for Agoda but also formed part of its key competencies in integrating and expanding
into different industries through the hands of adept and known players of the industry.

7. Although Agoda.com operates in a very competitive industry it has its advantage of belonging to
the biggest group of companies in the industry. The biggest competitor is the owner and strategies
are therefore guided by the most experienced in the management.
1.1 Key Success Factors behind Agoda’s growth
Business Model: Unlike its competitors, Agoda is more focused on the merchant model of business
where it purchases rooms at wholesale rate and mark them up to gain a profit upon sale. Moreover,
it pushes customers to confirm the booking by payment securing funds in advance and also hedging
the risks of frauds and fake bookers. Therefore, it can screen out the true travelers ensuring a
confirmed revenue stream. Although, it allows customers to book and pay later, the option is
limited to specific regions, hotels and areas. (Timbrook, 2018)
Inventory: The merchant business model enables Agoda to hold an inventory for rooms and so
during peak seasons, it can serve customers with available rooms, thus earning customer loyalty.
Horizontal Integration: As part of the Booking Holdings, Agoda enjoys the integration and service
expansion into car rentals, airport transfers, deals and travel packages through Rentalcars.com,
mozio.com and viator.com respectively. Thus, it provides a strong and holistic service provision
to grab more customers.
Home sharing (Innovation): Home sharing in the Asia Pacific region is becoming popular in recent
times and is growing at a very high rate. To tap the opportunity, Agoda has stepped into this sharing
service by opening a platform on its website called Agoda Homes. Competitors are replicating the
feature but Agoda enjoys the dominance and confidence of the customers in the region.
Technological Development and Marketing Effort: Agoda has recently hired Digitas, one of the
leading data analyst and marketing companies to discover and implement marketing efforts based
on data derived across the Asian market. “Digitas will utilize digital content powered by “data-
fueled hyper-local insights” to raise brand awareness, consideration and conversion for Agoda’s
partners and consumers. Content span across offline and online, including social channels, to
deliver an integrated and connected experience for consumers.” www.marketing-
interactive.com/agoda-appoints-digitas-for-data-driven-content-marketing-across-8-asian-
markets/

8. User-friendly website and real review: Although there had been controversies with Agoda’s
reviews on different hotels and locations, in recent times it has gained a positive customer feedback
and are considered to be very reliable over other websites. The website and phone application are
also very flexible and friendly in terms of making multiple bookings and taking advantage of the
discount offers. However, there have been disputes in saving the hotel industry in many countries
regarding this method that enables customers to take advantage of the discounts while hotels are
facing problems with lower margins on their sales. This has not only affected Agoda but also the
entire booking industry that faced with litigations and bans in recent times across many countries.
(gtp, 2018) (Calder, 2017)
1.2 Core Competencies
Fig. 1: Core competencies
High quality services
Core
Competencies
High Quality
Services
Inventory
Growth
Innovation of
payment
method
Customer
service
Strong
collaboration

9. The core competencies of Agoda is the combination of its quality, customer service, and
technology innovation. Compared to its competitors, Agoda’s differentiated service includes
Homes to customers on its platforms. Agoda homes are suitable for the whole families and the
host only helps to check-in and check-out alongside some recommendations for trip. The one-stop
service allows consumers to save budget through bundling, like car rental service, flight booking
and suggested travel packages.
Inventory Growth
Agoda built a partnership with a home-sharing platform named Xiaozhu in China and they would
share over 100,000 rooms on each platform. (Newport, 2018) Thus, Agoda tries to penetrate the
long-awaited hotel and accommodation market in mainland China.
Innovation of payment method
Most Asia Pacific travelers can use Alipay and Wechat Pay as mobile-first payment. Alibaba-
backed Alipay has begun introducing post-stay pay for both hotels and alternative lodgings. Agoda
is working to incorporate more of that payment model into all aspects of its business. The forward
integration will enable competitive advantage for Agoda as travelers in the Asia Pacific are well
accustomed to using Alipay and WeChat as mobile-first payments. (Agoda, 2019)
Customer service
Customer service is the key to retain customer loyalty for any business and invaluable for Agoda
as a leading online travel agency. Agoda built PureEngage to convey information and messages to
customers and in order to implement PureEngage, Agoda chose Dimension Data to provide
technical support due to its technical capabilities. Agoda differentiates itself by enabling travelers
to interact even through other platforms resulting in increased customer loyalty. (Nation, 2019)
Strong collaboration
Agoda has built collaboration with several travel agencies and travel networks in other countries
like JTB Corp. in Japan, HotelPartner in Europe to have greater access to the popular destinations
worldwide with customer loyalty programs like reward points. (Newport, 2018) Partnership with
HotelPartner has also facilitated Agoda in building Revenue Management System (YCS 3.0) that

10. can facilitate partner hotels to manage content, room rates and room availability, as well as
promotions during the off-season to increase bookings. (Agoda, 2019)
2.0 Agoda’s Competitive Position in the Industry
Agoda being one of the leading players’ in the market is aggressively setting targets to compete
through both prices and differentiation. Through the web and mobile platforms, it is providing a
wide range of services from accommodation booking services including both hotels and homes, to
flight ticketing, hiring cars, airport transfers, and holiday packages. (Agoda, n.d.)
Agoda currently ranks at 5 (five) among its competitors in terms of website and mobile application
visit by customers. (SimilarWeb, 2019) Accordingly the comparison of the website performances
of the key competitors of the industry are shown below.
Website Category
Rank
Avg.
Monthly
visit (M)
Monthly
Unique
visitors
(M)
Average
visit
duration
(min)
Bounce
rate (%)
Desktop
visit (%)
Mobile
visit (%)
Agoda 5 62.26 31.83 5:54 40.16 49.92 50.08
Booking 1 605.4 238.8 8:04 34.28 42.68 57.32
Expedia 2 83.51 45.77 5:47 40.41 43.70 56.30
Trip 33 16.17 10.11 4:38 41.64 50.18 49.82
Hotels 3 74.89 43.5 5:42 38.91 42.12 57.88
Priceline 15 31.58 17.16 5:11 42.32 40.57 59.43
Skyscann
er
16 14.81 7.71 6:07 32.16 51.17 48.83
Airbnb 2 92.80 40.19 8:19 35.34 56.54 43.46
Table- 1: Website performance according to www.similarweb.com as of September, 2019
The global online travel booking companies are no more concentrated with just hotel bookings
and reservations, rather they are expanding their wings in both related and unrelated sectors. For
example, both Expedia group and the Booking holdings have formed strategic partnerships or have

11. introduced new websites to even book for cruises, sea and ocean liners. It has become very
ambiguous to distinguish and relate companies to any particular sector or industry. Since Agoda,
is still focused on the accommodation services, this report will consider its core services
(accommodation) in analyzing the strategy and way forward.
2.1 Corporate Strategy
While analyzing the industry it is evident that Agoda is operating in a very dynamic and
competitive industry where it faces high challenges from other online booking sites both from
international and domestic competitors. On the other hand, it has expanded its line of services
exposing itself to emerging competitions and further risks from diverse sectors across the industry
and lowered bargaining power. On the other hand, unlike other companies, Agoda does not share
its Mission and Vision making it vulnerable to identifying concrete corporate strategies. And,
most importantly when it comes to positioning in the market, it is stuck in the middle (Appendix-
I) in making choices between the strategic move towards cost leadership and differentiation.
The strategic clock in Appendix-II shows its position as hybrid.
Comparison of the industry and its competitors is dependent upon the business model and types of
services offered. Agoda provides services alike its competitors namely Expedia, Booking.com,
and others, but has taken few steps in differentiating itself by horizontal integration with value
added services in the supply chain and also focusing on location centric dominance. Being born in
Asia, Agoda has competitive advantage in dispersing the dominance over Asian market while
customizing services and deal offerings for different locations around the world. Moreover, apart
from location expansion, Agoda has also garnered strategic competencies in ensuring continuous
growth over the past years that lead to its success and leadership in the industry.
However, based on the trend and recent initiatives of Agoda can be attributed to aggressive
strategy in growing market share especially in penetrating the European and Chinese markets.
2.2 Porter’s five forces
Five Forces Agoda

12. Competitive
Rivalry
High
There are strong existing rivals in the industry and most of them are also large
and global brands including Booking and Expedia. They account for large
market share and provide similar products and services. The intense rivalry
among the existing players will drive down prices and decrease the overall
profitability of the industry.
Bargaining
Power of
Supplier
High
The industry is concentrated with many online booking options and therefore
suppliers can enlist them with multiple service providers. It is therefore
perceived that Agoda faces quite high bargain from its suppliers in terms of
the commission rates or service charges. Also, suppliers can directly provide
the services to the customers foregoing the need for intermediary portals.
Thus, hotels and lodgings can create the service to the end users simply by
setting up their own websites and online booking systems.
Bargaining
Power of Buyer
High
Buyers have high bargaining powers regarding to the information
availability, buyers can easily find the options offered in other online booking
websites with low switching cost for the lower-price packages and some
buyers tend to use prices to make their final decisions.
Moderate

13. Threat of New
Entrance
New entrances are difficult to grow into a large and global brand since they
need large capital in technological factors including website and application
development, marketing especially online marketing, customer services, and
operation.
Threat of
Substitute
High
As consumers from some regions are not familiar with technology, it is
indeed difficult and complex task for them to use online booking system.
They prefer to use traditional booking system like phone booking or walk-in
inquiry to hotels rather than using Online Booking websites. The traditional
booking system significant substitute to play a threatening role.
Table-2: Michael Porter’s five forces framework
The table above depicts the high competition of the online accommodation booking market. Due
to the similarity of core products and services, customers and hotels have strong bargaining power.
The threat of substitute is also high as many customers still prefer to book hotel through traditional
systems. The only exception is the threat of new entrants as investment in technology and creating
global presence is a costly measure where the market competition is already intense. Appendix-VI
shows the at a glance view of the Porter’s five forces on Agoda.
2.3 So what, the industry is competitive?
Agoda needs to focus on differentiating its products and services so that the actions of competitors
will have less effect on its customers that seek its unique products. As the industry is growing,
Agoda can focus on new customers rather than winning the ones from existing companies.

14. 3.0 Internal Environment
3.1 Business Model Canvas
The core activities of Agoda.com is aimed at enhancing its indirect network effects as it is a
platform business model. The business model canvas (Appendix-III) depicts that
• indirect network is being enhanced by agoda.com by aggressively increasing the number and
types of bookable accommodations at different locations. It has 1.8 million properties
including vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfasts along with hotels.
• Agoda also tries to increase and maintain its search engine visibility by retaining top rankings
on paid advertising and organic search rankings so that it can target customers and increase its
customer base.
• With the increasing customer base Agoda focuses on providing best customer support. In a
press release it stated that ‘beyond offering the best prices, Agoda aims to create the easiest
booking journey possible, reflecting its premise of Less Hassle, More Travel’ which can be
attained only through good customer support. (Agoda, n.d.)
One of its key partners is Hotels and Property Owners that play a big role in Agoda’s success. The
key source of Agoda’s core inventory is rooms and properties which it gets through the Hotels and
Property owners. In order to increase its inventory, Agoda needs to increase and widen its network
with them. The major channel to promote itself and provide the services are through online
platforms and resource partners like Digitas, Qlika, etc.
3.2 Value Proposition Canvas
Analyzing, the value proposition canvas (Appendix-VI) it can be inferred that the most important
value to the customer provided by Agoda is the cheap accommodation service. Holding a wide
variety of inventory gives Agoda the competitive advantage in providing customers’ the value for
money. Cheaper accommodation options and wide range of services provide higher satisfaction
and value for the customers. Moreover, online payment facilities, pickup-drop, rental, airport
transfer and other suggestion helps travelers in pursuing a planned travel by reducing uncertainty
and hassle of availing the services sequentially through own effort.

15. Recently the save and mix model allows travelers to choose between multiple rooms and diverse
options within a facility, giving them optimum savings and considered to be a disruptive
technology in the industry. (Resco, 2019)
Additionally, the online booking services is changing the consumers traditional behavior of
looking for accommodation after reaching a destination. The online booking system is creating a
sense of relief and certainty about the desired shelter for a traveler. Upgraded technologies are also
facilitating to choose between rooms and other add on services.
Additional services like the car rental service, airport transfers, lodgings are other value-added
services catering to the customized needs and each segment of customers. (Agoda, n.d.)
3.3 Value Chain
The primary activities of Agoda include inbound logistics, operation, marketing and sales,
outbound logistics and the service provisions where the inbound logistics and operations are
related to the heart of their business meaning the maintenance and continuous development of the
website and cloud server to provide customer service along with enabling accommodation and
hotel partners to upload their necessary information. The marketing and sales are mainly focused
on optimizing their search options and advertising over online platforms to increase sales and
reaching wide variety of customer segments. A detailed description of the value chain including
the primary and secondary activities along with related responsibilities are provided in Appendix-
V.
4.0 External Environment
To understand the external environment the PESTLE Analysis has been illustrated into the
literature and its impact on Agoda. A diagram in Appendix-VII also shows the factors and level of
effect on the business of Agoda.
4.1 Political/Legal Environment
Impact- High to Medium
Due to having the positive political stability in Thailand in recent years, Agoda being
headquartered in the region enjoys the bright part of the political influences. Thailand and Japan

16. were ranked as most-booked destinations in Asia through Agoda while Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria,
and Libya are still forbidden to visit by travelers. (Agoda, n.d.) Threat of terrorist attacks and
robbery are still big risks in many locations that creates medium risk level for Agoda to operate
business in such locations. International payment gateways, government subsidies, on-arrival
visas’ and flexibility in visa requirements between countries in many growing nations along with
opening the doors to Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) have created new opportunities for global
players like Agoda to penetrate into new markets. Although, there are many nations who still have
strict regulations but are improving on the governance to open doors for companies like Agoda to
directly invest or expand their business worldwide. Finally, governments tend to protect domestic
industries and cases of banning online booking websites have already been witnessed and accused
of malpractices in sales, tax evasions and other related factors is a great barrier for Agoda to expand
its services rapidly.
4.2 Economic Environment
Impact- High
As a multinational company, the exchange rate exposure cannot be neglected when conducting
business. Agoda also being indigenous with the largest market share in the region tends to grow at
a higher pace and acquire more profit in the near future. Strengthening of US Dollar favors western
travelers to spend more on vacation but the regional travelers may find it vice-versa due to the
increased cost of traveling. Since, the trend of affluent middle-class is on the rise, Agoda might
face rejection and adversity in gaining customers from the regional band. More likely, people
would be prone to avoid such intermediaries to reduce their cost. On a positive note economic
development will enhance the spending power of people while resulting in more investment in
leisure activities. It is indeed a good opportunity for Agoda to expand business like enlarge the
scale of company, hire new employees, carry new business and improve productivity. Moreover,
Agoda will be more competitive if the world starts utilizing online payment method widely as
many countries still restrict on international transactions to contend their dollar reserves.
4.3 Social & Technological Environment
Impact: High

17. Information technology has prompted people to adopting global cultures and destinations. As
Agoda works via online platform and focuses on online users preferring to reserve
accommodations through websites and applications, growing number of internet users, smartphone
users, and social media will have positive impact on its business. As online marketing is the key
to grow market share, Agoda’s vigilance in continuously developing marketing efforts and
aligning the features with the trends will provide better advantage in impact creation. Use of social
media including Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube etc. are infallible due to their own features
and algorithms to analyze the right audiences regarding to their interests and lifestyles.
4.4 Environment
Impact: High
Rising concerns on global warming, air pollution and carbon emissions can alter the thinking
process and behavior of the global travelers to check on traveling to promote sustainability and
lesser consumption; thus, leading to declining spending behavior and shrinking tourism industry.
As rising of sea levels will submerge coastal regions and islands, tourism depending on that areas
are under threat and will affect the online travel businesses (e.g: Maldives).
4.5 So what?
Global Economic Power Shift: The world is already experiencing a shift in economic power from
the West to the Asia Pacific. According to the Megatrends prediction, the developing economies
will account for 57% of the global GDP by 2030 and only China and India will be the home to
35% of the entire population of the world. These 2 mega powers will comprise almost 25% of the
global GDP giving rise to completely individualistic society across many major cities of Asia. This
growth is expected to promote mass affluence of middle class. Since tourism and its related
industries are part of this global economic shift, an influx of global travelers is expected to boom
in this region and especially by the middle class as the International Air Transport Association
predicts that the demand for air travel will be dominated by the middle class from emerging
economies. (KPMG, 2014)

18. It is also expected that by 2030, 57% of the international tourists will be traveling to emerging
economies. However, this is also giving rise to conscientious and environmentally conscious
travelers across the world, who are shaping the industry in terms of sustainability issues adopted
by the service providers. It is also expected that the winners in the market will be those who will
depict sustainable practices in their business operations. (KPMG, 2014)
Agoda faces both positive and negative forces from this shift. As a dominant and well-known
brand in the region it enjoys the advantage of penetrating and printing its shadow in the economies
having better knowledge of the market and the consumers. But, the economies are also
conservative in terms of its rules and regulations, protection of domestic industries, high corruption
and entry barriers and other political forces influencing business operations. As it faces fierce
competition from the local or domestic service providers, Agoda should take advantage of
expanding with physical existence into the territories that will give them the advantage to convince
governments and creating strategic alliances with domestic players in the industry.
As the global economy shifts it will also face intense competition from global competitors and its
sister brands. Especially, when it comes to compete independently, either Agoda or Booking.com
will face hard time in securing their share market in the same region as the growing demand for
travel into the Asian market will simultaneously force Booking and others to step into the region
vigorously to ensure their sustainability as the western market, where they mainly concentrate will
start to shrink. Agoda as a competing brand under the same group of companies will face the
dilemma of sharing business and profit among the sister brands and management collisions may
be evidential in the future.
Since China and India seems to be the biggest market in the future, Agoda hardly has its footprint
in holding significant inventory in the regions as regional competitors like CTRIP in China and
“makemytrip” in India are already grabbing and expanding their percolation into the market.
Therefore, growing market share into the regions and competing against the local brands would be
highly challenging and only innovation can pull them to win over the situation. Agoda needs to
take precautionary measures to address the global shift and act accordingly to innovate and win
market shares in an aggressive mode.

19. 5.0 The Online Industry
The travel and tourism industry continue to grow at the fastest rate with more than USD 1.6 trillion
spending in the sector in 2017. (Deloitte, 2018) Booking.com tops the list among the travel
booking websites receiving 443 million visitors as of May 2018. (Charlton, 2019) The industry
contributed to 10.4% of the global GDP (Gross Domestic Product) constituting almost 10% of the
global employment associated with travel and tourism. USD 882.4 billion investment was
witnessed in the sector in 2017 and is expected to rise at a rate of 4.3% and reaching USD 1408.3
billion by the year 2028. (WTTC, 2018; 2019 ) The trend of Solo travel is surging reaching up-to
3 or more trips per year. (Traveler, 2019)
The cruise industry in recent years have seen a massive growth and 70% of all the bookings are
conducted through travel agents. (Porter, 2015) The competition in the airlines industry have
intensified and resulted in cheaper prices of tickets facilitating travelers to trip across the world. It
is also expected that 57% of all the international tourists will travel across the emerging countries
by 2030. (UNWTO, 2017)
The key attributes to the facilitation and growth of the industry are the online travel booking sites
and the amount of information that they are generating to impact on peoples’ minds to tantalize
them to travel. This has also impacted on consumers’ spending behavior as portion of the
expenditure on physical goods and services are shifting to experience related activities like
traveling. (WTTC, 2018; 2019 )
5.1 Competitors
The major global players in the industry are Booking.com, Agoda.com, Expedia.com,
Priceline.com, Hotels.com, Skyscanner.com, and Airbnb.com. The related search engines are
Tripadvisor.com, Trivago.com and Kayak.com. However, the competitors are not independent of
each other. They have created a sheer syndication by means of mergers and acquisitions to uphold
their coverage and service provision. As stated earlier, Booking Holdings is the mother company
and holder of 3 direct competitors like the Booking.com, Agoda.com, and Priceline.com whereas
another dominant player, Expedia group is the holder of Expedia.com, Hotels.com,
HomeAway.com, Travelocity, Classic Vacations etc. The travel sites are not limited to only these
two groups but there are numerous competitors, regionally, domestically, sector wise and service

20. based. Each competitor has its own market share and differentiation strategy making the industry
highly competitive and segmented through specialization and service arenas.
6. Environment and the carbon footprint of Agoda
Environmental and sustainability issues are the most concerning topics in current times where
technology and digitalization are having profound impact on the atmosphere and significant
contribution to global warming. Resent estimates have shown that the internet’s energy
consumption and carbon emission is more than that of the airline industry. (climatecare, 2019)
Although digital companies like Agoda claims to minimize their carbon footprint, they are actually
amplifying day by day and contribution to social activities are mainly the acts of masking the
recklessness to attain business objectives.
6.1 Green washing of Agoda
Booking Holdings in its annual report mentioned about its impacting on the ecology system and
defined them in three ways: Carbon Emissions, Usage of Electricity and Water Resource.
In terms of carbon emission, they have offices in more than 70 countries and territories worldwide
using 16 major data centers to enhance the information of the website. With a commitment to
measure and understand the carbon footprint, the company conducted first enterprise-wide audit
of energy usage and the emissions of greenhouse gas. This survey allowed to know the impact of
operational practices and identify the priority areas to address in the next years (BookingHolding,
2018).
Electricity, another impact on environment, is the primary source for nearly all of the energy usage
and cause for emissions in leased office spaces and data centers. In fact, during 2017 the total
Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions were estimated at 51,335 tons of CO2. The use of electricity
in leased data centers and office areas contributed to nearly 90% of carbon footprint while data
centers were representing almost half, and offices were accounting for 40% of carbon footprint
(BookingHolding, 2018). The remaining 12% of GHG emissions are from customer service
centers throughout the world.

21. The last factor is the water consumption of the company. It comes mainly from data centers, but
the exact information is not traceable because they lend their data centers. The majority of waste
impact is concerned with the standard office operations.
However, all the identifiable measures mentioned in the annual report are to portray the group as
a whole to be environmentally responsible but in fact other factors are much more crucial in
drawing the conclusion. Any internet business is actually contributing to the emission of green
house gases in even more direct and indirect ways like the manufacturing and shipping and
powering and cooling of all the related devices like the computers, smart phones, servers, etc. that
draws energy to power themselves generated from fossil fuels or natural reserves. Key facts about
carbon emissions are provided below:
• The heart of the business channel are the servers and data centers that are more carbon intensive
to produce and run
• Each time, using a search engine generates green house gases as they use multiple servers to
generate data
• Watching picture or video content on a website produces .2 grams of CO2 per second
• A search on the Google can emit up to 7 grams of CO2 where this is equivalent to driving a car
for 52 feet or boiling a pot of tea
• Large attachments on email can emit around 50 grams of CO2
• Big data will promote to the use of more data centers and so as Agoda
6.2 Actions Taken Vs Needed to be taken
Initiatives Taken Actual initiatives that can reduce CO2
Powering the data centers through national
grids that use renewable sources
Considering using data centers of the green
cloud provider
Took energy efficiency programs across all
offices by means of incentive
Promote sustainable practices in energy
consumption by consumers like turning off
and plugging off switches, laptops etc.
Attempted to reduce water usage by low flow
taps
Using smaller devices for quick tasks
Partnering with eco-friendly destinations due
to the changing behavior of the consumers
Change the behavior of email usage like
limited reply all, less subscription to
newsletter, etc.
Investing more on CSR projects

22. From the above table and analyzing the available information of Agoda and the parent group,
hardly any impactful initiatives have been found that promotes green and sustainable practices on
user end. Thus, it can be inferred that Agoda still has a long way to embrace sustainable solutions
and practices as they are still meant to come at the cost of losing business.
6.3 So what?
Depletion of Fossil Fuels. One of the major drivers of tourism is energy. The global agenda to
curb global warming by 2050 is changing the energy consumption behavior and energy mix by the
world. The main sources of energy are turning to sustainable solutions and renewable sources.
However, still the consumptions of fossil fuels are on the rise. The airline industry is one of the
greatest consumers of fossil fuels and also contribute to significant carbon emission.
(GwynTopham, 2019)The global reserve of oil, gas and other underground resources are on the
verge of extinction and expected to last for the next fifty years. (Roser, 2019) The situation when
fuels get depleted and the airline industry faces hard time in operating flights between different
destinations will play a key role in adversely affecting related industries like travel and tourism
and so, Agoda. (ecotricity, 2019)What if, no new technology is discovered to power the said
industry and cost of traveling shoots up to the sky. What if, climate actions change the way of
peoples’ mode of transport and propensity to travel. Most importantly, what would happen if
tourism countries like Maldives, Indonesia and other islands does not exist in the next few years
due to sea level rise or natural calamities like Tsunami. Such consequence will actually turn down
the business and sustainability of companies like Agoda.
Therefore, business ethics towards the preservation of nature and sustainability of the world should
be integrated into the business model of companies like Agoda. It must immerse in more climate
actions and eco-travel promotion. Moreover, it must also be aware of such unprecedented
consequences through means of diversification, loyalty creation and portraying as a responsible
business towards the world.
It is quite evident that Booking Holding’s is still in the process of finding its way to adopt green
practices and compensating for the emission and pollution it is incurring but it is high time to
position itself as a responsible and green company to stay in travelers and consumers mind. For
Agoda, the key success factor and winning the battle in the industry would mean to portray and

23. promote green practices both in its business practice and supply chain and by reflecting as an
environmental friendly organization to ensure sustainability and customer loyalty.
7. Predictable and Unpredictable Trends
The predictable and unpredictable trends are illustrated through the impact map in Appendix-
VIII. The predictable and unpredictable trends are crucial factors in judging the future impacts as
the chart below shows the considerable trends to be accounted for to act responsibly towards the
future.
Changing face
of the consumer
Evolving
geopolitical
dynamics
New patterns of
personal
consumption
Technological
advancement
Structural
industry shifts
• Eco-friendly
tourism
• Solo traveling
• One-stop
services
• Extent of
territory
• Political
conflicts
• Inequality gap
among
countries
• Supremacy
• Resource
contention
• World war
• Personalized
demand
• Increased
environmental
and health
consciousness
• Demand
transparency
• Evolution
towards
enough-ism
• Digitalization
• Number of
global internet
users
• Robotics and
AI
• Cyber security
• Mega internet
collapse
• Cryptocurrency
and block-
chain
• Rapid global
urbanization
• Increased cost
of fuel
extraction
• Labor
displacement
• Scarcity of
highly
productive
labor
• IoT
investments by
manufacturer
Solo traveler
will be the
dominant
consumer of the
industry by 2030
Global economy
will completely
shift and
disperse by 2050
Environment
friendly and
sustainable
factors will be
key decision in
Data will be
force of business
success in the
future
Alternative
energy sources
will power the
world

24. driving
customers
demand
Table – Dominant forces and the underlying trends in the future
7.1 Predictable Trends
7.1.1 Changing perception on travel style:
Trends in tourism were influenced heavily by the concerns of the customer base due to the effect
of globalization and advancement of technology. As Millennial and Generation Z became
progressively growing in the marketplace, the ideals driving their buying decisions created the new
tourism trends. Different types of travelling styles emerged and among them, solo traveling and
eco travelling are the most influenced styles.
People chose to travel alone since they want to increase their confidence level, out from comfort
zone, enjoy freedom, and to avoid frustrations of waiting in this stressful world. According to the
Klook, solo travelling got ranked 1st place as the most trending activities in 2019 (Madaye, 2019).
Among the solo traveler, it is found that 80% were female and 65% of Google search on solo-
travel category was occupied by them (condorFerries, 2019)
Similar to Solo-Travel, Eco-travel was reflected as a growing concern in travelers due to the
increased mindset on sustainable and ethical options of tourism. In Eco-Travel, travelers’ practice
to reduce the use of carbon footprint along with their holiday plans. According to the research by
Booking Holdings, 87% of sample 12.134 users of 12 different market stated that they intended to
go on a sustainable eco trip rather than those ordinary trips. (Bragantini, 2018)
Threat to Agoda. The changing trend is likely to influence travel websites portrayal of
information and winning features. Travelers would tend to look for eco-friendly options and
customized to their need where gender, culture, sect, religion and other social factors will play
significant role to decision making factors. Incorporating social factors and embedding eco factors
would be highly challenging for online based businesses as display of features and information

25. would also be subject to testification by informed and conscientious travelers and failure to justify
the expectation would lead to dissatisfaction, rejection and business loss.
Action Plan. Agoda has to take advantage of women dominance solo travel market. As safety is
the most important area for solo travelling, they can create the positive growth of the company by
adding new features in their websites not only for solo-travelers and also eco-travelers, creating
campaign related to women's safety on solo traveling, and sharing trend related articles. Regarding
eco-travelling, they have to find hidden natural areas and make partners with eco-friendly
accommodations to attract eco-travelers, celebrate campaign together with Global Sustainable
Tourism Council (GSTC public in an effort to entice customers and step up to environmental
responsibility) etc.
7.1.2 Internet Users
The number of internet users have surged globally. In 2019, the number of people using internet
is more than 4.4. Billion (Morgan, 2019) and is predicted to increase to more than 7.5 billion users
by 2030 which is 90 percent of the projected world population of 8.5 billion. (Morgan, 2019)
Digital technologies indeed are becoming a forceful expression of global ambition, with number
of internet users growing at a rate of more than 11 new users per second and a total of one million
new users each day. (Kemp, 2019) Internet connection in the South Asian countries has improved
over by 10 percent from previous year, reaching 41 percent. Significant contribution to this growth
has been made by developing countries, specifically India with a 100 million new users from
previous year. (Kemp, 2019)
Threat to Agoda. Internet has opened many access points to knowledge and information. Increase
in internet user is a blessing for Agoda by increasing its customer reach. It also creates a threat of
increased competitors. It can be seen that the trend of internet users is increasing more in India
whereas, Agoda has a small market share there which makes its potential customers open to its
competitors. Moreover, increased internet users will let the potential customers compare prices
amongst various options.
Action Plan. Agoda should focus on increasing its customer data. Increased customer data can be
used by Agoda for efficient target marketing. Moreover, increased internet user means wider pool

26. of new target market. Agoda should focus on expanding itself across wider geographical area and
increase its touch point via internet for existing and new customers as every new user is a potential
customer.
7.2 Unpredictable Trends
7.2.1 The internet collapse
Around 2.1 billion people are now connected to the internet all across the globe. Hence, no one
has never imagined about the world without the internet connection, surely that the internet affects
human’s life either directly or indirectly. Each day people come across various changes since the
internet world allows people to make digital communication much more easily and protective. In
last one decade, it has grown exponentially and has become the largest community of the world.
Nowadays, internet becomes a backbone of human beings to perform a research about any products
or services. It is the place where people can get the solution of any objects or issues in no time and
location limitations.
Internet collapses. Researchers around the world agree that the traditional single-mode fiber
which has been used in the last few decades, rolled out in optical transport networks are getting
close to their capacity limit. No one has ever known what will it be if humans are not able to use
the internet anymore, this would out a dramatic impact to any industries especially who works via
online supply including Agoda.
Threat to Agoda. If the internet collapses, it would be a disaster for Agoda because it runs the
business through online channel and its main targets are online users. It cannot operate without the
internet connection, so travelers will have to use the tradition bookings because they cannot rely
on online accommodation bookings anymore. To relate with business model canvas, it will
completely lose its key channel to serve and reach customers.
Action Plan. No one knows whether the internet is going to collapse in the future or not, or if it
happens, whether it will be temporary or permanent. So Agoda should prepare its CRM and backup
to offline beforehand, if one day the internet collapses, it needs to build and maintain its key
partnerships as much as possible and operates offline such as customer services 24/7, and so

27. customers can still book accommodations via Agoda, meanwhile, it needs to keep its value
proposition by providing the best offers for customers. Agoda still has bargaining power upon its
partners owing to its reliabilities and brand royalties from existing customers. Moreover, it still
has a strong relationship with some joint ventures including airlines, car rental services, and tour
companies, so Agoda can take this action plan in the worst case that the internet is not accessible
anymore.
7.2.2 Virtual reality can entirely change travel behavior
Virtual reality (VR) is now having a profound impact on travelers’ decision-making process.
Travelers have the option to explore new or preferred regions without requiring to leave their
homes. In other means travelers are trying out the experience before making a travel decision and
putting in the investment. This behavior and improbable change might reduce the number of
travelers’ propensity to move across the world and therefore negatively impacting the entire travel
and tourism industry as well as the booking sites like Agoda.
Action Plan. Being a technology company, Agoda must make itself aware of the game-changing
disruptions and upcoming technology. It should adequately prepare itself against such unusual
phenomenon by further investment in research and technology and also keep the option to
changing the business model to adopt to new technologies and experiment innovation by
instigating an open culture of idea sharing across the entire organization.
7.3 So what?
The world is likely to undergo huge transformation in the next few decades as the economic
progression, influence and power shift towards Asia. Besides all the opportunities, technologies
are going to threat existence of many global companies along with intense competition. As stated
the facts regarding the predictable trends, they tangent both opportunities and challenges for
Agoda. Agoda therefore needs to capitalize on the opportunities that lies ahead. The services
provided by Agoda are way similar to many of its competitors and only differentiation can lead
the path to stand out and find the blue ocean to be the leader. As a means to differentiate, Agoda
must focus on new segments of customers and multiple niche markets can provide it an escape
route to the immense competition confronting in few years.

28. From the business model of Agoda, it is evident that its key partners and resources are all based
on technology related organizations and service providers. It is high time to vertically integrate to
position itself into different businesses. Agoda has already passed a successful history for more
than a decade now and so, businesses need to be diversified into other sectors other than
technology. Investments into physical product related industries like the IoT (Internet of Things)
can provide it a different outlook as the future tends to amplify these trends.
On the other hand, climate change and environmental sustainability is becoming highly pressing
issue in shaping consumer behavior. Agoda, should critically stand out in addressing the issue to
uphold its positive nature of doing business and being ethically responsible to preservation of
natural environment and resources while standing out of the crowd in travelers mind.
Since, unpredictable trends are really unpredictable, forecasting on something invisible and
uncanny is like throwing stones into the bush. Agoda, must also be prepared to embrace such
disruptions. First of all, it should develop internally and instigate a culture to embrace changes
where diversification of business will help in experimenting the issue.
Additionally, innovation is very important to sustain the survival. Disruptive technologies, cannot
be predicted but awareness on their advent is important to act wisely and on time. Agoda should
also invest in further upgrading technologies and find ways to reduce interdependency on
technology-based platforms. If the idea of mobile phone applications or even the use of mobile
phones and computers become obsolete suddenly, there will be no channel to create value or
dispose services. Therefore, precautionary and alternative steps alongside testing of new methods
or advanced technologies needs to be experimented to innovate and minimize the risks of
unprecedented events and phenomena.
8. Recommendation
Based on the analysis of the business model and other forces affecting the operations and entire
business on Agoda we will base the recommendations in three stages namely current situation,
predictable and unpredictable trends.

29. 8.1 Current Situation
Agoda currently is enjoying the growth of Asian market and being part of global leader, it enjoys
certain core competencies in partnering with sister companies, different line of business and also
in terms of financial resources. But as the economy shifts, it will face more and more competition
in the future and the key to survive or sustaining the growth is by differentiating itself from the
competitors. In differentiating it can actually focus on the following.
• New segments. Agoda can target new segment of travelers and stayers. It can start new
services like residence solutions. As people are migrating from one place to another, long term
residential services like home rentals, student lodgings, etc. can help in serving niche and
differentiated market. It can also introduce customized services for the solo travelers, single
women to find both short- and long-term accommodation facilities based on their needs. This
will not only create the hype in the target markets but also form the basis of differentiating
from the competitors.
• Diversification and new services. Agoda can diversify its business. As the online platform
produces intermediary services between accommodation providers and seekers, they can invest
into hotel chains and international brands to claim their own and provide a controlled and
ultimate customer experience to the travelers. As stated earlier about the new segments, Agoda
can also collaborate with real estate agents and can also invest in the real estate sector to
provide accommodation service by diversifying their business and operations ensuring
physical footstep and reducing complete dependency on online business.
• Vertical integration and new product line. As a technology business, it is very challenging
to diversify the business into other sectors but Agoda has the option to step into the business
of gadgets and trading on the Internet of Things (IoT). There are many countries across the
globe as in Africa who still do not have access to even internet. The trading of IoT by creating
strategic partnerships with the producers and technology companies can provide Agoda the
competitive advantage expanding its business into new sectors.

30. 8.2 Predictable trends
Agoda must take account of the Mega Trends of 2030 and 2050 where the world will shift in terms
of populations, economy, technology, environment and many more. The demographic trend where
the rise of middle class and individuals are certainly going to affect the travel and tourism and
related industries. Agoda should start preparing for the race and start offering the services
addressing the need of the solo travelers both men and women. It is important that Agoda features
the safety and security of the adventurers and must adopt and showcase certain materials that
accounts for the key concerning issues of the next generation of travelers.
• Technology, Demographic and Natural resources. To ensure the competitiveness and
success in future, Agoda must follow the trends of the future by increasing 1) global foot print
through partnership as well as physical footprint by tapping unexplored markets, papulation
and geographic locations, 2) taking advantage of the growing travelers in Asia and aging of
the population who would be more prone to traveling and offering services based on their
demand, 3) alternative sources to fuel and power its facilities and services.
8.3 Unpredictable trends.
The most predictable out of the unpredictable trend is the trend of technology. AI (Artificial
intelligence) is taking over the world with changing nature of jobs and expertise requirements of
the future human resources. But, what if the technology becomes fully threatening to mankind and
the world degenerates to a total restart by destroying all the technologies and left with zero
connectivity of the internet and other online connectivity channels.
• Offline technology. Agoda can produce offline technology that can rescue travelers being
marooned on an unknown island or looking for directions to particular points. Such game
changing technology should be inaugurated to create competitive advantage among the
competitors. As stated earlier about fossil fuels in the past paragraphs, their depletion and
unavailability of alternative technologies to power long distance travel modes can disrupt
entire industry while Agoda, needs to prepare itself to embrace to virtual reality technologies
that will be equipped to provide the best travel experience without physical displacement.

31. 9. Conclusion
Agoda’s promising innovation and aggressive strategies are quite praiseworthy but the question of
business sustainability and growth is susceptible to disruptions and unpredictable trends of the
future. Belonging to a highly competitive market, it is susceptible to the giant competitors’
oligopolistic approach which implies to constrained market share in the future. Most importantly
when it comes to differentiation, Agoda do not dispose any absolute advantage in formulating a
clear path to win the deals. Although, the management deems to create a competitive environment
within the group, corporate strategies and business directions seem to be influenced by the holding
company, Booking Holdings hence, dissolution and merger under a single brand is not at all
unavoidable.
From the above analysis, it can be stated that Agoda needs to outperform through differentiation
strategies and beat at least its sister brand in emerging markets keeping track of other competitors.
Agoda also needs to take advantage of its capital to invest in multiple sectors to diversify the
business and mitigate the risk of disruptive technologies by adapting to new business models.
Agoda is a reputed brand and have already passed a decade of successful story where it needs to
show ethical responsibilities both in business and preservation of the nature. Although it has
invested in many social reasons and environmental issues, they all seem to be insignificant
compared to its negative impact on the world at large.
Therefore, change is inevitable and Agoda needs to act responsibly in shaping the business towards
more sustainable acts through customer centric and data driven policies and place itself as unique
example to the legacy of the world’s welfare.
The recommendation provided in the previous chapter are well thought and pressing issues where
it is high time for Agoda to account for new businesses and embracing emerging technologies like
AI and IoT to ensure the brands sustainability and existence in the future. It should also strengthen
the core competencies and try to be more visible through impactful services and favorable
disposition in the minds of the existing and next generation travelers.

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37. Appendix-I: Competitive Advantage- Stuck in the Middle
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
SCOPE
LOW COST DIFFERENTIATION
TOTAL
MARKET
NICHE
MARKET
COST LEADERSHIP DIFFERENTIATION
COST FOCUS
DIFFERENTIATION
FOCUS
Stuck in the middle

38. Appendix-II: Bowman’s Strategic Clock

39. Appendix-III: Business Model Canvas

40. Appendix-IV: Value Proposition Canvas

41. Appendix-V: Value Chain
Primary Activities
SUPPORT
ACTIVITIES
PRIMARY ACTIVITIES
Administration-Finance, Legal, Marketing
Procurement- Best offers, Deals, Accommodations
Human Resource Management-Call Center, Coders
Technology-Meta Search Engines, Cloud Storage
Inbound Logistics Operations Outbound
Logistics
Marketing
& Sales
Service
-Customer Data
-Rooms &
Properties
-Provide
information
about rooms
-Constant Price
Tracking
-Offer
in-destination
guidance
-Best Deals &
Offers
-Website
-Mobile
application
-Banners &
ads in
websites
-Staying on
top of meta
search
engines
-Customer
Support
-Call
Center

42. • Inbound Logistics: Agoda inbound logistics is the website and cloud server maintenances, they are the main factors to run its
business because it works via online platform, so its webpage is the main channel to serve and reach the customers. Therefore,
Agoda need to provide high standards of service through its website.
• Operation: Agoda operates through its website by providing services globally, for each country, more than 100 hotels join in its
server, so it needs to provide the accommodation’s information, category, destination guidance and so maintains the constant price
tracking for the best price guarantee upon its customers’ preferences.
• Marketing and Sales: Agoda mainly focuses to promote its services in the online world and social media by conducting banners,
advertisements, and search engines. It also uses the email marketing to existing customers to maintain their brand’s loyalty and
strong relationship.
• Outbound: Agoda does not sell its product directly, it provides the best offer for accommodation for travelling and working.
Regarding to the rising demand for one-stop shopping, Agoda provides packages which combine hotel, airfare, car bookings, and
tour options in a single booking.
• Service: Agoda provides free accommodation reservation through users-friendly website with simple functions and easy display. It
also has 24/7 call center team to support customers’ enquiries promptly. Online payment method is one of the key services for
travelers to secure booking confirmation.
Support Activities
• Administration and Management: The administration of Agoda is including finance, legal, management and so on. Each department
tends to work together efficiently for the strongest performance of the web service to serve the users around the world and maintain
its own leadership in the market.
• Human Resource Management: Productivity is always done by productive worker, Agoda truly pays attention to human resource
management to always ensure that the right person will be hired and fitted in with the position given by the company. To have strong

43. team is a key for Agoda to run the business. The offline team (Back-end) provides a good support for the Online team to serve the
best service to the customers on the website (Front-end).
• Technology Development: Technology can affect dismantle the price structure and competitive landscape of Agoda and the industry
in a very short time. It becomes extremely important to constantly and consistently innovate, not only for the sake of maximizing
possible profits and becoming a market leader, but also to prevent obsolescence in the near future. There are multiple instances of
innovative products completely redesigning the norm for an entire industry. Agoda has to keep updated its system to be accessible
and convenient for its customers.
• Procurement: Agoda’s procurement is the accommodations offered in the website, to combine the hotels from various destinations,
styles, and features to match with customer’s preferences. Agoda needs to select and gather the best offers from hotels by negotiating
with them in terms of sales and pricing agreement in order to give customers the best deals.

44. Appendix-VI: Porter’s Five forces

45. Appendix-VII: PESTLE

46. Political/Legal Environment
Stability of the country: Favorable political environment and robust governance leverage into the success of a business. Tensions and
conflicts within countries and internal associations would be the negative barriers to maintain the political stability of the country. (Radu,
2019) Thailand has experienced many political transitions but they managed to overcome these chronic situations after 2014, and so the
travel and tourism sector has grown over the years that pose positive impact on the business environment of the industry. (Bloomberg,
2019) Bilateral relationships except for few like Israel and Palestine, have improved in the past decade. Improvement in political
relationship between ASEAN and SAARC countries in recent years are extraordinary example of positive political environment among
the countries that are leading to business growth and tourism drive across the world.
Crime Rate: Crime rate is another major factor that can deter the growth of the tourism sector of a nation. High travel prone destinations
like Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and other western countries are much more prone to ensuring safety and rights of the travelers.
For example, the rape case of two Russians in Pattaya affected the Thailand Tourism significantly in 2013 since travelers declined to
travel that destination. (Haupt, 2013) However, some countries in Africa are still facing high crime rate and limitations in ensuring the
security of the travelers. (Macdonald, 2019)
Rules and Regulations: The world has currently become a global village. Borders are opening between many countries and rules and
regulations are becoming much more relaxed. As ASEAN countries became the popular part of the world to visit, governmental
associations are trying to release a new visa policy which will eliminate tourists to enter all ASEAN countries by using a single visa in
coming 2020. (VISA, 2019)
Economic Environment
Currency Fluctuation: After US election on 2016, currency fluctuation was affected in almost every country around the world as US
Dollar is assumed as the world reserve currency along with the election victory of Donald Trump. (OFX, 2019) Although the increased

47. value of US Dollar was positive impact for Europe, it is still under pressure for Asian countries. (Chew, 2019) So, the fluctuation of
currency will have a strong effect on travel and tourism industry.
Increasing in GDP: The increase of GDP indicates a significant trend of economic development while the decrease of GDP means the
country is downsizing in economics. Especially in the Asian region have witnessed significant economic growth in the past region and
many nations are considered to be the dominant global players in the next few decades. (Economics, 2019) According to the GDP chart
in 2019, USA, China and Japan were ranked as the top three countries in the world with the increase of production output, investment
from government or FDI, and employment rate which were leading to economic growth. (Review, 2019)
Digital Currency: The advancement of information technology and increased in usage of mobile changed the culture of financial
transaction. People started shopping from home and paying the bill through application lately by using digital currency which eliminate
for borderless transfer-of-ownership and instantaneous transactions. (Vigna, 2019) Facebook is going to release their digital currency,
Libra in 2020 and even the central banks are trying to issue their very own digital currency in the near future, too and these will bring
significant impact in the economy of the country. (Statt, 2019)
Social & Technological Environment
Demographic Trends: The global population today stands at approximately 7.7 billion. According to United Nations-World Population
Prospect Report, it is expected to increase 8.6 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050. (UN, 2019) The project indicated that Chre in
2025. (Dod, 2019) People rely on their everything on online: shop from online for beauty and consumer goods to technology gadgets,
arrange their travelling via booking websites, and even date from the online.
Technology development: Technology is the fastest growing industry in a very short amount of time. There are some related
technological developments which affects Agoda both directly and indirectly.

48. The generation of mobile application: To response smartphone users in term of providing convenience and real-time service, also to
create customer’s loyalty because the application has to be downloaded on purpose, different from browser which can randomly found
in search engine.
Ecommerce and Online Shopping summit: Give the positive impact by encouraging customers to purchase via online platform.
The widespread of Secured Online Payment: To build customer’s trust in online payment.
Environment
Global Warming: The significant result of climate change in today's global warming which was caused by the emission of greenhouse
effect. Global warming is leading to increase in temperature and sea level, disease outbreak, enlargement of subtropical deserts, extreme
weather conditions like heavy snowfall, flooding and heat waves. Scientists estimated that there will be only 12 years for global warming
to be reached to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even the half degree will considerably degrade the risk of flood, drought and extreme
heat. (Watts, 2018)
Carbon Emissions: Carbon emission aroused from burning materials, natural resources, motor cars, utility, electric devices, and now
even because of Google search engine. Although CO2 is critical in maintaining the earth at a comfortable temperature, but the excessive
CO2 emissions disrupt the earth’s carbon cycle and bring global warming. Carbon emission was raised to 1.7% in 2017, followed by
2.7% in 2018 and 3.1% in 2019, which was the highest. (Mulvaney, 2019)
Air Pollution: The case of air pollution is increasing rapidly in recent years due to the increasing use of fuels in industries, power plants,
and construction sectors. So, the atmosphere becomes concentrated and leads to destroy the health of living beings and natural
environmental circle. This is happening a lot in some of the major cities around the world. For Example, in January 2019, Bangkok City

49. was overwhelmed by the hazardous dust particles and trapped in stagnant air situation. (Post, 2019) Singapore suffered from haze
pollution on almost every year by the increasing rate of fuel burning in neighboring countries, Indonesia and Malaysia. (Tan, 2018)

50. Appendix-VIII: Predictable & Unpredictable Trends Impact Map