TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The popular Asian travel platform KKday (酷遊天) announced on Wednesday (June 25) a significant workforce reduction as part of a broader strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The company plans to cut approximately 15% of its staff — more than 100 employees — despite robust tourism recovery across the Asia-Pacific region. KKday executives cited several market challenges, including diminishing returns from cross-border travel offerings, increasingly cautious consumer spending patterns, and the disruptive influence of artificial intelligence on traditional travel business models.
The Taiwan-based travel platform will redirect its core resources toward developing sophisticated AI recommendation systems, enhanced smart customer service capabilities, and more agile product development processes. Company leadership described this strategic shift as part of a broader transformation into an AI-driven travel technology enterprise rather than a conventional booking platform. KKday had already begun this technological evolution earlier this year with the launch of its "TITAN" AI initiative, which focuses on automating supplier orders, deploying advanced customer service chatbots, and creating comprehensive internal knowledge management systems.
KKday has made substantial investments in AI search technology aimed at developing sophisticated next-generation search products and enhancing the logic behind its app search functionality and overall user experience. The travel platform has simultaneously implemented new business incentive structures and IT project reward programs to drive innovation internally. For the approximately 100 employees affected by the cuts — from a total workforce of around 900 — KKday has established support measures including career transition counseling services, priority consideration for internal transfers to other departments, and professional resume review assistance.
Looking ahead, KKday executives emphasized their continued commitment to AI technology investments, particularly applications designed to help travel experience providers navigate digital transformation challenges. The company intends to simultaneously expand its global travel product offerings while developing more personalized solutions for increasingly diverse traveler preferences and requirements. Despite the current restructuring challenges, KKday's leadership maintains that embracing technological innovation represents the only viable path forward in an increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving global travel marketplace. ◼
