SINGAPORE (Jan 17): Zuji, an Asian online travel booking site, is no longer operational after failing to renew licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore and an air ticketing system terminated its services.
Zuji’s business permits expired Jan. 9 and the firm hasn’t applied for fresh ones, Hong Kong’s Travel Agents Registry said in an email, while Singapore Tourism Board said that Zuji’s license lapsed on Dec. 31. The International Air Transport Association, which represents about 290 carriers globally, terminated Zuji’s participation in its billing service for airline tickets earlier this month, the group said.
The online travel agency is one of the hundreds of travel booking websites that sprouted across Asia amid a travel boom fueled by the emergence of low-cost carriers and economic growth. While rising competition in the industry has presented fliers more options to buy air tickets and reserve hotel rooms, it has also meant cutthroat pricing and thinning margins. Uriel Aviation Holdings bought Zuji from Australia’s Webjet in 2016.
