Japan Airlines Gave This Startup Travel Subscription Service a Lift
Photo Caption: An external shot of Onsen Ryokan Yuen Sapporo, a UDS hotel property that's one of the lodgings available recently for stays via the Hahf travel subscription program from the startup Kabuk Style.
Skift Take
Japanese startup Kabuk Style has thousands of travelers booking hotels and guesthouses via subscription. A recent promotion with the airline JAL boosted the company's profile.
A year before the pandemic struck, Kabuk Style launched a subscription service. The Nagasaki-based startup lets travelers pay a recurring fee to get access to stays at 1,000 hotels and ryokans (guesthouses). Once domestic travel resumed, sales of the HafH (Home away from Home) product rebounded — thanks to a rise in remote workers.
"It's very profitable," said Kenji Sunada, founder and CEO of Kabuk Style.
Between August and November 2021, Japan Airlines (JAL) began a three-month promotion. It made non-refundable flight tickets available in a discounted wholesale deal to HafH users booking trips.
About 500 travelers bought flights-and-lodging packages, with half saying they were on "workcations," mixing business with leisure. About 80 percent said they visited a destination they hadn't planned to visit before signing up. The startup said it's now finalizing the next pr
