WeTravel founders.
The world’s only integrated-payment platform for multi-day travel businesses exceeds its pre-COVID gross transaction volume in 2021, marking the business’s top-performing year since its beginning in 2016.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – WeTravel – the only integrated-payment platform for multi-day travel companies, streamlining complex booking and payment systems for thousands of travel businesses – transacted more payments than ever last year, marking the business’s best-performing year in its history and outrunning its pre-COVID levels.
In 2021, the business transacted nearly $150 million USD, with 40 percent of its transactions from new customers. Initially created for small- to medium-sized businesses – now used by more than 3,000 multi-day travel businesses and trip organizers – WeTravel saw last year a rise in enterprise businesses moving to its solution to promote a client-centric and interactive approach to collecting travel payments, while redefining cross-border supplier payments during the pandemic.
Although most of the company’s growth can be attributed to travel’s recovery increasing bookings and payments, the business saw many new businesses switch to its platform during COVID to better handle disputes, refunds and other COVID-related unexpected, unprecedented booking and payment issues.
“In our business’s sixth year, our growth excitingly exceeded predictions in 2021, though we're not surprised by its success in the industry. We created WeTravel to offer a solution for travel businesses to streamline their disjointed booking and payments platform with a simplified system, COVID accelerated -across industries- the need for comprehensive FinTech solutions” said Garib Mehdiyev, WeTravel’s CTO and co-founder. “As FinTech services continue to meet business’s needs, we are evidence that our services increase revenue and customer satisfaction, which is, arguably, extremely important in tourism businesses’ recovery plans; we’re thrilled to be a support to the industry and its recovery.”
WeTravel began in 2016, with three U.C. Berkeley MBA classmates Johannes Koeppel, CEO, Garib Mehdiyev, CTO, and Zaky Prabowo, CMO. The initial idea for the platform sparked from Koeppel’s time working for The Red Cross – with small communities and local travel businesses around the world – he experienced how disjointed the booking and payment process was for multi-day travel businesses. He believed technology could better the system and help local businesses and communities increase revenue and drive traffic to their trips. With Mehdiyev's finance and technical background, working for Azerbaijan's largest bank, and Prabowo's marketing experience, working for many years as an aide to the Indonesian Government, the three founded the business.
Now, WeTravel is the only integrated-payment platform offered in the industry, at the industry’s lowest rate of one percent transaction fee. To date, WeTravel has helped its customers increase revenue by 50 percent and customer satisfaction by the same percentage.
“I saw it during my time in the finance sector and I see it now, to offer a platform that is integrated and offers current payment solutions can empower businesses of all sizes to scale their models,” said Mehdiyev. “To offer this solution to travel businesses can be life-changing. As we’re constantly evolving our platform to meet the industry’s needs, we expect greater success in 2022, for us and our customers.”
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
