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Chea Langda is a candidate in the second season of ABC beverage’s “The Exceptional” campaign, which aims to share the stories of 10 Cambodians who have both dare to dream and achieve the success they desire.
The programme seeks to inspire younger generation to grab the opportunity to become the kind of exceptional people that the public recognises and admires.
Langda is the founder and CEO of BookMeBus, an online travel platform that provides bookings for multiple mode of transportation including buses, trains, ferries, and taxis across Cambodia, and even beyond the borders.
The platform also provides private taxi services for travelers in 25 provinces and capital and neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Laos.
His own experiences were the inspiration for the business. As a student, he regularly travelled between the capital and his homeland by private bus.
“It was difficult. If I wanted to buy a ticket, I had to go to the bus depot. Sometimes, I would wait for hours for a bus to arrive. Other times, the bus would not depart until it was full, which wasted a lot of time,” he said.
“I am a Cambodian, and very tiring to travel like this, it waste a lot of time and uncertain when will the bus going to depart. Imagine how frustrating it could be for a foreign traveler who does not speak Khmer! Because I studying computer science, I decided to try and build a platform that would simplify the whole process,” he added.
Although the website – and its dedicated app – are considered widely successful, he still encounters obstacles. As customer demand has increased, Langda has encountered seat allocation issue. As many bus companies still using manual allocation which he hope in times to come he able to develop digital solution to encourage all his partners to adopt the automated system to smoothen the process.
BookMeBus currently partners with about 30 bus, ferry and taxi operators, making it one of the most popular platforms in the Kingdom.
What makes him even more proud is that BookMeBus has become more than a business not just helping the tourist but to provides opportunities, knowledge and work experience to young people.
Langda’s vision for the future is to expand his business by adding other services related to travel to make it even more convenient for travelers.
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