TikTok, the social commerce platform from China, stated that it currently has no plans to acquire any Indonesian online travel technology (OTA) company. It also did not respond to rumors about expanding into flight, restaurant, and hotel booking services.According to reports, TikTok is developing a new business to enter the flight booking and hotel accommodation market in Jakarta, Bangkok, and Singapore.An anonymous source from the South China Morning Post said that the way to achieve this goal is to partner with third parties. A TikTok spokesperson said that they currently have no plans to acquire local online travel agencies (OTAs). Earlier, the South China Morning Post reported that TikTok had set up 30 relevant job vacancies in Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore to develop the new business. If this plan proceeds, TikTok users will be able to purchase accommodation services without switching apps. There are also rumors that TikTok will partner with Indonesian OTA vendors to smoothly advance its plans. TikTok plans to enter the leisure category, allowing users to purchase flight vouchers provided by third parties. According to a Statista report, Indonesia's travel app market reached $33 million in 2022 and is expected to grow to $533 million by 2027. Currently, Indonesia has two major online travel companies, Traveloka and Tiket.com. In 2022, Traveloka's revenue reached IDR 3.46 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 75%. The company's loss was IDR 1.5 trillion, down 29% from IDR 2.1 trillion in 2021. Meanwhile, Tiket.com reported that between February and July 2023, flight orders increased by 22%, accommodation orders by 36%, and travel orders by 22%. This growth aligns with the improvement in the tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has been quite active in business development in Indonesia. In January 2024, ByteDance acquired a 75% stake in GoTo's Tokopedia for $1.5 billion, a move that allowed TikTok to sell in Indonesia after being banned by the Ministry of Trade. After the acquisition, TikTok focused on empowering local MSMEs by encouraging multiple initiatives and also attempted to efficiently operate its business by restructuring 450 TikTok-Tokopedia employees in June 2024.