Travelstart

Travelstart is an African online travel booking website, offering flights, hotel bookings, car rental, vacation packages and other travel services through an online booking engine[1]

Travelstart
Type of site
Privately held company
Founded1999 (1999)
Key peopleStephan Ekbergh (CEO)
IndustryTravel
Internet
Employees400+
URLtravelstart.co.za

It operates in South Africa, Bahrain, Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Kuwait, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.[2] It trades in some territories as Geziko.[3][4]

The website uses global distribution systems such as Amadeus IT Group and Travelfusion for flights, and CarTrawler for online car hire bookings. Most revenue is generated from Pay per click (PPC) advertising, as well as an extensive affiliate network.[5] All Travelstart websites use Thawte to secure online payments.[6]

The website was founded in Sweden in 1999 by Stephan Ekbergh. Before launching Travelstart, Ekbergh founded Sweden's first online travel agency, Mr Jet (1995).[7] In 2010, Travelstart Nordic was sold to eTRAVELi and the company headquarters was moved to Cape Town, South Africa.[8][9] Travelstart operates in South Africa since 2006,[10] and emerging markets throughout Africa.[11] In 2012, Travelstart Nigeria was launched.[12] and later Travelstart Egypt, which is located in Maadi district of Greater Cairo.

In December 2019, Travelstart acquired competitor Jumia Travel from Jumia.[13] Under the purchase agreement, Travelstart took control of Jumia Travel's online book websites.[14]

References
  1. "A relatively unknown outfit is rapidly becoming one of the biggest web businesses in South Africa", ITWeb Brainstorm, 2010-01-07
  2. "About Us". travelstart.co.za.
  3. "Travelstart enters Turkey with Geziko brand", Arab Turkish Travel Gazette, 2012-11-23
  4. "Travelstart Tackles Turkey" Archived 2013-01-21 at the Wayback Machine, Cape Business News, 2012-11-26
  5. "EDEALO Visit to Travelstart HQ in Cape Town"
  6. "Verify SSL Web Server Wildcard Certificate"
  7. "Travel pioneer starts online roll-out in SA" , MyBroadband, 2006-08-30
  8. "eTRAVELi acquires competitor Travelstart in Europe" Archived 2013-04-01 at the Wayback Machine, 2010-01-20
  9. May, Kevin (January 21, 2010). "TravelStart sale to eTRAVELi triggers major Scandinavian power shift". Phocuswire.
  10. "A start-up with lots of potential", SouthAfrica.info, 2006-08-31
  11. "Expedia, Travelocity ready India operations", Livemint & The Wall Street Journal, 2007-10-17
  12. "Travelstart Travel Agency Launches in Nigeria" (Press release). May 18, 2012.
  13. "Travelstart takes over rival Jumia Travel, plans to tap new customers | PhocusWire". www.phocuswire.com. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  14. "The Wrap: Travelstart takes over management of Jumia Travel's operations across Africa". WIT. 2019-12-11. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
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