Why ‘Unsatisfied Booking Rate’ Might Be Travel’s Most Overlooked Metric

David Liu sits at the center of one of Asia’s most dynamic travel platforms, Klook, where discovery, booking, and fulfillment collide at scale. As Chief Customer Experience Officer, he owns the full journey, from intent to on-the-ground delivery.

At Skift Asia Forum 2026, Liu brings a perspective shaped by real deployment. His lens is data-driven and grounded in how travelers actually behave across Asia today. 

1. How is traveler discovery and booking behavior evolving across Asia?

“We’re moving from ‘search and buy’ to ‘discover and experience.’

Travelers are becoming more intentional in their planning, anchoring trips around a specific event, a concert, a sporting weekend, then figuring out the rest on the ground.

Discovery is no longer just a pre-trip activity; it’s happening in real time.

That changes how we need to show up for them: not just at the planning stage, but at every moment of the journey to ensure the right experience finds the right traveler at exactly the right moment.”

2. What is one insight about data, content, or platform management that leaders should consider?

“A metric I’ve always believed in is the ‘unsatisfied booking rate’ — a holistic look at ease of use, fulfillment, and the redemption experience together.

If any part of that chain breaks, it’s an immediate negative for the customer. Most of the work behind great customer experience isn’t glamorous.

It’s about getting the basics reliably right, then using data to understand where friction is at. Once you’ve solved for reliability, then you can start designing for delight.”

3. What are travelers expecting now that is different from a few years ago?

“Flexibility has gone from a nice-to-have to a baseline expectation.

But what’s newer is the expectation that the platform anticipates problems before the customer has to ask.

We have teams actively monitoring destinations for disruptions, so we can reach out proactively and offer options before the customer even realizes something has gone wrong.

That shift from reactive to proactive service is where the bar has genuinely moved.”

4. What is one lesson you have learned about scaling across multiple markets?

“The most sophisticated digital experience is worthless if fulfillment fails on the ground.

About 80% of what travelers need is universal — discovery, ease of booking, reliability.

But the 20% that’s localized matters enormously: payment methods, language, login preferences.

The lesson is that as you scale, you must obsess over operational resilience as much as you do over growth and protect the customer’s experience during the moments that matter most.”

5. What is one prediction that might surprise our audience?

“AI will actually make travel feel more human, not less.

While the industry often fears that automation will sanitize the travel experience, the opposite is true. By embedding AI into our infrastructure to handle the operational complexities, we remove the friction that causes stress.

When technology handles the ‘robotic’ parts of travel, it frees up the space for genuine human empathy and connection.

The future of travel is high-tech, but its ultimate value will be measured by how well it protects the heartbeat of the human journey.”

Hear More from Leaders at Skift Asia Forum 2026

This conversation lands where most strategies break: execution under real-world conditions. If you own product, CX, growth, or marketplace operations in travel, this is essential context.

Skift Asia Forum 2026 is less than two weeks away. Seats are tightening as the room fills with senior operators and decision-makers shaping what comes next.

Wait, and you risk playing catch-up in a cycle already in motion. Apply now to join us in Bangkok, this 28-29 April.