Interview with Jia En, Co-founder of Roomorama

Travel & tourism is becoming one of the highest revenue-generating industries with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimating the spending to increase from $3.2 trillion in 2008 to $5.4 trillion in 2018. Numerous startups have sprung around the globe, of which only only some have succeeded. Due to the sheer number of players in this market, many web travel startups are trying to find their unique niche. Roomorama is one such evolving startup that focuses on short term stay and enables peer-to-peer rental services.

We had the privilege to meet Jia En Teo, co-founder of Roomorama and got a chance to find out more about her exciting startup.

Q: Can you just briefly explain how did the whole peer to peer rental idea came about and what drove you to do this?

- > My partner Federico and I travel a lot and while it is now relatively cheap to get from one destination to another, once we get to our destinations, the available accommodations are expensive and impersonal. We thought – “Why wouldn’t we pay someone to stay at their place? They make some money, we save some money – we all win”. At the same time, we were trying to rent out our space while traveling and we found that the existing online classifieds were disorganized and unreliable. We wanted to create a platform that streamlines the process of short-term rentals and makes it more secure for both guests and hosts.

Q: The key idea for Roomorama is Peer to Peer rentals over hotels. Can you tell us more about what is the main difference in choosing peer to peer rentals?

-> Hotels are impersonal and cookie-cutter. Staying in an apartment is usually much more comfortable and flexible especially for a small group or a family. It also allows one to live like a local and experience a city from a different perspective.

Q: In a USATODAY article, there is some mention about risks of scams whereby visitors are paying in advance for places that don’t exist. What are your thoughts?

-> Our system actually protects guests against this risk specifically. When a guest pays, they get a 6-digit payment code which they hand over to the host only upon a successful check-in. If the place turns out to be non-existent or completely misrepresented, the guest can withhold the payment code and we will give a full refund or help secure an alternative.

Q: Who are your main target customers? Is there a market in Asia?

-> 25-50 year old well-traveled professionals.  Yes, I believe that there is a huge market in Asia especially because the middle class is gaining affluence and is starting to travel more.

Q: Do you think the Asian cultural will be open to this new concept?

-> It would probably take some time for people to open up to this concept in Asia, but if we provide high quality apartments at a reasonable price, I believe our concept will appeal to some travelers. At the same time, Asian cities are becoming more and more cosmopolitan and I believe the idea of Roomorama will become more welcome.

Q: Any expansion plans ?

-> Yes – we are looking to expand to Italy, France, Spain and the UK.