PROVIDENCE – Agoda Company Pte. Ltd. has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, informing the state that it is closing its Rhode Island office, affecting 62 employees, effective March 18, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training Tuesday evening.
DLT said it will reach out to the company to offer rapid response services.
The travel-accommodations booking company is owned and operated by Booking Holdings Inc., which also owns and operates Priceline, Kayak, Booking.com, Rentalcars.com and OpenTable.
In its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bookings Holdings noted that Agoda caters “primarily to consumers in the Asia-Pacific region.”
R.I. Commerce Corp. also issued a statement on the closure, noting that the company had received no incentives from the state as it had not hit any of the thresholds required for incentives.
The company had been eligible for up to $4.1 million under the Qualified Jobs Incentive Tax Credit Program and the Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit Program and had pledged to create up to 200 jobs.
“We are aware that Agoda has filed a WARN notice with the state’s Department of Labor and Training. We are in communication with the company and understand that their Rhode Island decision is in the context of broader corporate decision-making,” stated Commerce Spokesman Matt Sheaff. “Agoda has not received any tax credits from the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. Our Commerce incentive programs have some of the strongest safeguards in the country and were designed so that tax credits are not awarded if a company does not perform.”
Agoda’s office is located at 500 Exchange St. in downtown Providence. It opened on Sept. 5, 2017. The office served as a “customer experience” center.
“Agoda is one of the fastest growing online travel brands worldwide. We continuously review how our investments in contact centers around the world best serve our large and growing global consumer base, and have recently decided to close our customer service operations in Providence while focusing on growing our contact centers in other parts of the world,” said the company in an issued statement late Wednesday. “This decision was not easy because we maintain an outstanding relationship with the Rhode Island State government. We would like to specifically thank the Governor of Rhode Island and her team for their exemplary approach to this partnership.”
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. Email him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
