A quick search on Instagram or any other social media of destinations in South-East Asia will show that tourists love taking road trips in the region. There is a good reason for this as there are many sights and attractions to see within the region which is why In the last decade, places like Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand have become some of the biggest tourist destinations in the world.
Whether for college students on break or couples on honeymoon, South-East Asia is a top destination now featured at the top of many people’s bucket lists. Part of this bucket list often includes taking road trips in rented cars or buses.
The typical road trip experience
To facilitate a road trip, participants will often need to agree on a mode of transportation that heavily depends on their budget, the number of people traveling together, and the distance they wish to travel. A driver for the vehicle will need to be designated and it is important that they understand the different routes required to get to the destination. Other factors will come into play such as accommodation and feeding but transportation is the most important.
The increase in popularity of South-East Asian road trips is partially fueled by the desire for tourists to have an ‘authentic’ experience on their trips.
Road Tripping Through South-East Asia
For the new class of tourists who want a less ‘curated’ experience in the region and a more authentic one, a way to achieve this is through road trips.
With this growing crop of tourists embracing a new way to travel, there are some challenges that need to be addressed. One of the first is securing adequate transportation during these road trips. Not all tourists have international drivers’ licenses and renting a vehicle can be expensive in a forging country. On top of this, there are issues of facilitating payments for travel costs.
Finally, the tourists in question might not want to take on the responsibility of actually driving and would want to enjoy the trip instead. They might also be unaware of their routes which is even more difficult considering they are in a foreign country.
How Bussr Can Help
With this booming new niche within the Bali tourism sector, a new company is offering innovative solutions to the issue of embarking on road trips. Bussr is a travel company that allows its over 100,000 customers to order and pay for rides from a single mobile app.
Bussr, unlike traditional transportation rides like Uber, is not limited to a single type of vehicle. Users can order bikes, cabs, and even buses depending on their needs. It is also not limited to private transportation either as users can pay for and use e-tickets for public transportation.
This is particularly important for those embarking on road trips because some travel parties are smaller than others and might need less elaborate transportation. Furthermore, it is not unusual for people to use different forms of transportation in a single road trip. For example, a bus might be used when traveling within the city but a bike might then be needed when in more rural areas.
The app also has a wide variety of locations for users to choose from. As of 2002, the company operates in over 2,500 locations in 90 cities and continues to expand. This means that their customers can access transportation services even in the more remote parts of Indonesia. For more complex trips that cannot be achieved in a single mode of transportation, the app customizes a trip with multiple transportation modes and offers the customer the best option based on price and time taken for the trip.
It also helps tourists in Indonesia feel safer as each trip is recorded on the app’s database to ensure the safety of customers. There is also dedicated customer service should users experience any issues. In terms of payment, the app allows for the linking of bank cards which helps to ensure that customers do not have to make currency conversions on their own or constantly withdraw cash whenever they need to make a trip.
The mobility market in South-East Asia is huge, estimated at $30 billion, and Bussr has been able to revolutionize it in the time it has been in existence. Hussein Abdelkarim and IM Shousha, the founders of Bussr, have essentially created the Shopify of mobility. For customers, it means that they may navigate a foreign country with as much as a local. For those seeking the authentic Bali road trip experience, this is invaluable.