With tourism in Southeast Asia ramping up by a whopping 1,706% in 2022 compared to the previous year, super app Grab is putting its focus on making the app a useful tool for you to travel across the region. The features are meant to help tourists get a sense of what’s available in their destination as soon as they land as well as easing things such as currency conversions.
The first feature being introduced is the Traveller Homepage, which will automatically display all the Grab services in their destination, save their accommodation address and landmarks to help organise your itinerary, and explore the nearby food options. According to the company, Traveller Homepage is available for the top 33 cities visited by tourists in Southeast Asia, although they did not list which cities specifically.
One of the most interesting upcoming features is translated merchant menus, where menus for restaurants on the app in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand will be translated into English. And in Indonesia specifically, the app will also have the option to translate menus into Chinese. This isn’t rolling out yet, but the brand says it will be available by the second half of this year.
Another feature that will be coming in H2 2023 is a currency converter, where the app will automatically display fares in the traveller’s preferred currency. Grab did not say which currencies will be supported when the feature rolls out.
The Venues feature gets a revamp with things like images of pickup points as well as image-based turn-by-turn walking directions to guide in over 4,000 locations including major airports, malls, hotels, office buildings, parks, and more. Additionally, those who subscribe to GrabUnlimited will get discounted airport rides at 89 airports across the region.
The super app is also teaming up with other popular platforms so that travellers can access Grab’s ride-hailing services through apps that travellers already use, including WeChat, AliPay, Ctrip, Kakao T, and Booking.com, with the ability to pay using their preferred methods within those apps. From Q2 2023, those who use Uber while in Southeast Asia will be directed to use Grab as the recommended e-hailing method in the region.
(Source: Grab Press Release)
