Tourists and industry players complain alike: No performance bond insurance & unpaid debts – KKday: Not true

▲ Taiwan’s travel experience platform KKday allows users to book travel itineraries in various countries. (Photo / Sourced fromKKday’s official website)

Reported by Cai Wenjun / Taipei

Taiwan’s travel experience platform KKday is beloved by many local travelers for enabling users to book international travel itineraries and tickets in one place, along with frequent promotional offers. Butrecently a reader complained to ETtoday EBC News Cloud, alleging that KKday does not have performance bond insurance— meaning that if a trip purchased on the platform is canceled or the company goes bankrupt, compensation may not be available. In response, KKday officially clarified that the above complaint is not factual.

▲ KKday’s registered travel agency, Cool Tour International Travel Service, shows zero performance bond insurance on the Tourism Bureau’s website. (Photo / Sourced from the Tourism Bureau’s official website)

According to Article 16 of the Tourism Bureau’s “Mandatory and Prohibited Clauses for Standardized Contracts for Outbound Travel”:Travel agencies shall arrange liability insurance and performance bond insurance for travelers in accordance with regulations set by the competent authority, and shall specify the insured amount and liability amount. If not specified, the regulations of the competent authority shall apply.However, according to the data for Cool Tour International Travel Service — KKday’s registered agency on the Tourism Bureau’s site — the performance bond insurance shows as zero, leading the reader to question whether travelers would have no means of recourse in case of problems.

In response,KKday officials presented insurance policy proof and stated that the information on the Tourism Bureau’s site has simply not been updated yet. Without performance bond insurance, it is impossible to be a legally operating travel agency, but KKday holds a legitimate travel agency license, fully complies with Tourism Bureau regulations, has travel agency performance guarantee insurance,and is also a member of the Travel Quality Assurance Association.

Updated 2016/11/3: The Tourism Bureau’s official website has now updated KKday’s information (pictured below).：The Tourism Bureau's official website has now updated the KKday information (image below).

▲ Termination of cooperation statement released by Thai travel agency “AK Travel” on its official website. (Photo / Sourced fromAK Travel’s official website)

However, KKday’s recent controversies do not end there.Thai travel agency “AK Travel” posted a termination of cooperation statement on its official Facebook page at the end of October, stating that KKday had repeatedly delayed payments this year,and under the guise of customer service, obtained details of AK Travel’s planned offerings, then launched similar products in the near future, with many details appearing to be copied — seriously harming the partnership. As a result, they have terminated all collaborations with immediate effect and will no longer authorize the platform to sell their products.

In response to the travel agency’s allegations,KKday firmly refuted,saying: “In the travel market, all operators offering itineraries for travel to Thailand may develop itineraries with similar elements over time due to the shared destination — it is difficult to attribute such similarities solely to one operator copying another. If AK believes a new supplier has plagiarized itinerary content, please present any relevant patents on the itineraries and file a lawsuit directly.”They also denied the claim of unpaid debts, and regarding these two unsubstantiated accusations, KKday stated that they will pursue legal action.