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]
It operates in South Africa, Bahrain, Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Kuwait, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, TanzaniaTurkey, 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]
