Sharjah-based online travel agent Musafir.com expects to ramp up its regional operations and raise funds for expansion this year as more people book their flights and hotels on the web.
It expects to launch its hybrid business model in the Arabian Gulf markets outside the UAE with online as well as traditional stores. Musafir.com has 14 stores in the UAE.
Musafir.com, which operates in the UAE, India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, plans to expand its retail footprint in the UAE, Qatar and India. This quarter, it expects to open the first retail store in Qatar with three more expected in the UAE. In November, Musafir.com launched Arabic websites in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“Each of these markets will feature our country-specific mobile apps with localised content and local payment options,” said Rajesh Pareek, its group chief executive.
“We’re speaking to strategic investors to come alongside our founding shareholders in supporting Musafir.com’s growth plans.”
Mr Pareek, the former DIFC chief financial officer, took over this week as the travel company’s new group chief executive to steer it through its first round of financing.
To compete with online travel agents, traditional offline travel companies such as Dubai-based Orient Travel, Bahrain’s Kanoo Travel, Saudi Arabia’s Al Tayyar Travel Group, Elaf Travel and Fursan Travel are also boosting their online presence.
While the low oil prices have hit corporate travel in the UAE and the region, currency fluctuations in key source markets for tourists for the UAE such as Russia had dented the demand for hotel rooms last year.
“With mobile e-commerce accelerating rapidly across the region, the online travel industry is expected to buck the overall market trend [this year],” Mr Pareek said.
By the end of this year, online travel bookings are expected to generate US$12 billion in sales, up from $7bn in 2014, according to a report from the travel tech supplier Amadeus and the travel research company Phocuswright in 2015.
Musafir.com, which was founded in 2007, now employs 400 people.
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