Online travel booking startup Travelbeta.com has launched in Nigeria, saying the company has anonymous investors willing to back it for “as long as it takes” to become the region’s top provider.
Travelbeta – “beta’” pronounced as pidgin English for “better” – said it aims to convert Nigeria’s offline shopping power to the online space, citing its own statistics that Nigeria has seen 9 million international flight bookings in the past 12 months, of which only 300,000 were booked online.
In a bid to bring more people online, the startup is promising superior customer experience, provision of the cheapest travel rates in the country, and a 95 per cent success-rate in visa advisory services.
“Our promise to every customer who uses Travelbeta.com is that you will get the best of professionalism from our well-trained team of customer travel consultants who will provide Nigerians with all the information they need about booking smarter when they travel while making available unbeatable travel fares especially in this season,’’ said co-founder and chief commercial officer (CCO) Onyeka Akumah.
The startup’s founding team includes Akumah – who has served as marketing head of online businesses in Nigeria including Jumia, Konga and online travel agency Wakanow; chief technology officer (CTO) Wole Ayorinde who claims over 13 years’ experience in technology management with numerous Silicon Valley startups; and operations manager David Asuku, with 15 years’ experience in the travel sector.
The platform currently provides bookings to over 300,000 hotels worldwide, including over 1,000 Nigerian hotels, and flights to 900 destinations.
According to Akumah, the company has the backing of Nigerian investors who are willing to grow the business for as long as it takes them to establish Travelbeta as the leading online travel destination management company in the region.
