Travelstart Egypt, the country’s leading online travel agency, was crowned “Best Online Travel Agency” for the second consecutive year at Amadeus’ annual gala in Egypt.

With sales totalling over EGP30 million ($3.9 million) in 2014, Travelstart Egypt has shown a tremendous performance. In addition to nearly tripling its sales from 2013, last year saw Travelstart Egypt customers increase their ticket purchases by 263 per cent. Travelstart Egypt’s online presence also grew at a similar rate, with 1,200,000 unique website visitors in 2014, increasing total web traffic at a rate of 215 per cent. 

“This award, along with our nearly 300 per cent increase in sales, is evidence that Travelstart’s focus on tech-savvy, adventurous customers is an effective strategy,” said Ahmed Saadeddine, country manager of Travelstart Egypt, “But this is only the beginning. As tourism continues to grow in the region, we expect to have even greater gains next year.”

Travelstart Egypt’s performance in the first quarter of 2015 has set the company on track to shatter the high bar set by its 2014 standards. Compared with the first quarter of last year, Q1 2015 sales, website visits, and new users have doubled. Moreover, awareness of the Travelstart Egypt brand has increased significantly and social media traffic has increased at an astounding rate as well. 

The Travelstart platform is increasingly recognised as the industry standard. Customers looking for flights, hotels or car rentals can seamlessly compare rates of a wide range of carriers and providers. The platform also makes payment simple by offering five convenient payment options: cash on delivery, credit or debit card, direct deposits at accepted Egyptian banks, payments at Fawry outlets all across Egypt, or cash payments delivered to Travelstart’s Maadi office. In the coming months, travellers will also have the option to book their holiday in advance and pay through an installment plan with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE).

Travelstart Egypt will soon launch an Arabic language interface for their systems which will allow travellers from the Mena region to conveniently switch between English and Arabic using a simple toggle at the top of the navigation page.

In announcing the development, country manager Ahmed Saadeddine said, “The launch of Travelstart in Arabic will take our customers’ experience to the next level and strengthen our position as the leading travel website in the region. Being able to use Travelstart’s services in local language and currencies will allow even more people to benefit from Travelstart’s industry leading features.” – TradeArabia News Service