GOASIAPLUS April 2019

INSIGHT
American singer Jon Bon Jovi once said
“Nothing is as important as passion. No
matter what you want to do with your life,
be passionate.” Cheah Kwan Cheong is the man who
exhibits similar energy through his works in the
tourism digital world.
Behind the big build and friendly demeanour,
Kwan Cheong or better known as KC, is the person
behind the curtains that first build AirAsia.com back
in 2002 who now delivers Malaysia’s leading travel
e-commerce, Mayflower.com.my.
The unbelievable truth on how KC started out
in this industry all hangs on his determination and
passion in software engineering. When he was first
approached to build AirAsia.com, KC interestingly
revealed, “I did AirAsia.com on my own, without
going for any class or training. When my ex-boss
called me about this vacancy, there was nothing inhouse.
I had to take over from agency and build the
website from scratch.”
The challenge is indisputable as KC did not
come from a IT or computer background. Instead,
KC graduated with a Degree in Mathematics from
Universiti Putra Malaysia. To add, internet is rare
and it has just been initiated everywhere back then.
AirAsia online platform is build by a man who taught
himself how to do programming, coding and scripts.
“I always tell my guys today to learn from
experience and knowledge. It is something that no
one can’t take away from you. One day when you
move on with your job, you actually earn it and own
it yourself.”
KC shared his extensive experience comes
from his ten years stint with AirAsia, GDS platform
Travelport and starting a business of his own before
forming joint venture with Mayflower for digital
travel business.
BUSINESS ON ONLINE PLATFORM
“Travel industry is going through a change where
you digitise your business or you’re out. The margin
is getting lower and the cost is getting higher.” And
the only way to offset the growing change is through
doing more volume via online business.
Mayflower travel agency has more than over 50
years of history in the Malaysian tourism industry
offering services from travel packages, hotels,
flights, car rentals and etc. So, KC is brought in to
elevate Mayflower traditional business onto digital
platforms.
“Key objective is to digitise the business. Three
years on, we have done over 300 times of businesses
in terms of online volume”. KC’s passion in building
the e-commerce platform followed with his business
expertise makes him a professional in digitising
conventional business.
“Mixing business and technology together is
something I like to do, something that feels quite
fun because when there are problems, there are also
many ways to solve it. Even though you solve a small
thing, it can make a lot of difference”
As Mayflower is leading the travel market in
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