HalalBooking is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. It also welcomed the 1 millionth HalalBooking Loyalty Club (HBLC) member. Interest has grown tremendously in recent years, with HBLC membership growing to less than 100,000 in 2019.
General director Elnur Seyidli said: "It is exciting to celebrate this significant event at such a positive time for the company. We are making sure steps towards achieving our unicorn ambition. HalalBooking offers a unique service and is a truly global startup serving travelers from 144 countries, booking hotels and villas in 91 destinations around the world."
The fast-growing brand launched in 2014 with more than 100 hotels, all in Turkey. Sales that year were only $2 million. HalalBooking now offers nearly 500,000 hotels worldwide, and in 2023, its customers booked hotel stays in 91 different countries around the world. In 2023, 32% of sales were for stays outside of Turkey, demonstrating great progress towards its goal of diversifying its offering and becoming the platform of choice for all halal-conscious travelers' trips. The last quarter of 2023 saw particularly encouraging growth, with sales to Saudi Arabia increasing by 350%, the US by 300%, the UAE by 120% and the Maldives by 60%. In 2023, total sales were $66 million, an increase of nearly 30% year-over-year. To put this in context, the UNWTO forecast was that total tourism would recover to almost 90% of 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels by the end of 2023. HalalBooking, on the other hand, achieved more than double the sales in the same period. However, 2023 sales were below the company's target due to a number of external factors, including the effects of two major earthquakes in its most popular country, Turkey, and high inflation rates in February 2023. The global cost-of-living crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and the pandemic combined with the war on Palestine in the last quarter of the year. Despite this ongoing situation, the company is targeting $100 million in sales by 2024. Elnur Seyidli continued: "We have a number of interesting projects for 2024, which will help us achieve our goals. At the end of the first quarter, we will launch our new application. We are also further increasing our price competitiveness by implementing more APIs with industry partners. At the same time, we are increasing our promotional spend in key markets and building on existing successful marketing partnerships with airlines, financial institutions and influencers, and expanding into new markets such as the GCC.” Unique technological features
HalalBooking continues to develop new technological features. Most significant of these are the unique new Umrah features introduced for the company to cater to a growing sector, namely the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. HalalBooking is the only online platform in the world where users can search and filter results based on these features. For example, finding accommodation in Mecca with a direct view of the Kaaba. They can also filter by walking distance to the Haram (the Great Mosque of Mecca or the Prophet's Mosque in Medina) or whether the hotel has a free shuttle service there. In Medina, they can also find out which direction their hotel faces, which affects the view while praying.
Another functionality recently launched by HalalBooking increases the room options offered to large families. It was already the only online booking platform in the world that could take information about the family and the ages of the children and automatically calculate how many and what types of rooms were required to accommodate the family. Previously offered options only included multiple rooms of the same room type. The improved functionality now also offers the ability to combine different room types, which would be the best option, as well as providing information about possible connecting or adjoining rooms in any multi-room option offered.
The Series B investment round ended with $8 million
The company's Series B investment round closed with an additional $1.5 million in the last quarter of 2023, valuing the company at $102 million. This brought the angel investment for Series B from more than 40 angel investors to a total of $8 million. 85% of the company's cap table belongs to its founders.
HalalBooking has been ranked 8th in the Fast Growth 50 Index, "London's Fastest Growing Business Index 2023". It has also been shortlisted for leading travel industry awards in the 2023 Skift IDEA Awards Change Makers category and the Travolution Awards. He won the Islam Channel Business Aw, the UK's biggest award celebrating the best of British Muslim businesses is a shortlisted finalist in three categories at ards 2024.
