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Travel experiences booking platform Klook has recognised its leading merchant partners across Australia and New Zealand at the annual Klook Partner Awards.
The awards were held last week at Sydney’s Ivy Sunroom, bringing together operators and industry leaders from across the region.
Partners were recognised for strong growth, innovation and customer service, with winners including Merlin Entertainment, Experience Co, Village Roadshow, Dreamworld and Featherdale Wildlife Park, alongside tourism organisations including the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Tourism Malaysia and the Korean Tourism Board.
Klook associate director business development Australia and New Zealand Luke Ashall says the awards highlight the importance of collaboration between platforms and tourism operators.
“Our partners are at the heart of Klook’s success,” Luke says.
“The businesses recognised have delivered strong customer experiences while also embracing innovation in product development, distribution strategy and creator-led marketing.”
Alongside the awards, Klook shared insights from its latest Klook Travel Pulse research, which shows strong international demand for experience-led travel.
One in 10 global respondents across 20 key markets named Australia as their top country to visit.
Outside Australia and New Zealand respondents, mainland China, India and Hong Kong were the leading markets showing interest in visiting Australia.
Gen Z travellers also showed the strongest intent to visit, with younger travellers increasingly influenced by social media and creator-led content.
Luke says these trends highlight opportunities for operators across the region.
“Travellers are prioritising destinations that combine iconic attractions with immersive local experiences,” he says.
“Demand for bookable activities continues to grow, with 77 per cent of travellers saying they prefer to plan and secure experiences in advance.”
The event also included a Klook Kreator Lab session exploring how tourism operators can work with creator partnerships and short-form video to drive bookings.
Luke says operators embracing creator-led campaigns and digital marketing are seeing stronger conversion and higher in-destination spending.
“Gen Z travellers are digitally native and mobile-first. For operators, being visible at the point of inspiration and offering seamless booking is increasingly important.”
