European Online Travel Champion obilet.com Ready for Record Growth
obilet.com, Turkey’s premier online travel ticketing platform, is set to enjoy rapid growth in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Having just acquired its arch-rival Biletall, Obilet is forecast to sell more than 20 million tickets in 2021 – up from 8 million in 2020 – and close out the year with $300 million GMV.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210804005055/en/
Having just acquired its arch-rival Biletall, Obilet is forecast to sell more than 20 million tickets in 2021, and close out the year with $300 million GMV. (Photo: Business Wire)
Thanks to its unique offerings and innovative business model, the Istanbul-based travel-tech firm is now poised to expand its geographic reach amid an expected post-Covid global recovery.
SaaS-Powered Business Model
Already known throughout the region for its enormously popular ticket-booking app, Obilet’s primary distinction lies in its SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) powered business model. Obilet, invested in by EarlyBird and EBRD, provides bus operators with a best-in-class Ticket Management System (TMS) featuring 24/7 technical support. The company thereby creates a “lock-in effect” for its business operations on the supply side.
By distributing its portfolio of bus operators using its SaaS to other online ticketing platforms on a revenue-sharing basis, Obilet adds additional revenue streams on top of its lucrative B2C sales.
One of the world’s top-10 platforms for online bus and flight tickets, obilet.com saw remarkable growth in the pre-Covid-19 2016-2019 period, boasting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 77%.
Biletall Buyout Cements Leading Position
Earlier last month (July 12), Obilet cemented its regional position by acquiring Biletall, its chief B2C and B2B competitor, which since the 2000s had played a pioneering role in the digitalization of Turkey’s travel industry. Although Obilet stole the top spot from Biletall in 2016 on the B2C side, Biletall nevertheless retained its leading position at B2B coverage.
The acquisition will give Obilet 100% destination coverage in one of the world’s largest bus markets, and the biggest in Europe. Turkey’s intra-state bus market currently generates some 200 million ticket sales per year, corresponding to roughly $3 billion annually.
Currently, more than 300 bus operators compete in this highly fragmented market, which remains largely unconsolidated despite the 2019 acquisition of the country’s largest domestic bus operator by Flix.
Plans for Expansion in Post-Covid Era
Obilet now is equipped with plug-and-play B2B and SaaS solutions to be offered to both operators and online/offline ticket resellers in neighboring countries, where there is huge revenue potential for the Turkish start-up.
Obilet’s vastly enhanced market share, coupled with rising travel demand in the post-Covid era, is expected to yield 40 million ticket sales in 2022 and a GMV of over $500 million. Company officials even suggest that, as Obilet gradually expands into fresh markets, annual GMV could reach as much as $1 billion within the next few years.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210804005055/en/
Contact information
Ali Yılmaz
external.relations@obilet.com
+90 212 963 03 53
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
BPP Signals Next Era of Growth, Unveiling New Global Parent Brand: Lyceum Education Group21.1.2026 11:03:00 EET | Press release
Today marks the launch of Lyceum Education Group, the new parent brand for 11 leading specialist education businesses across the UK, mainland Europe, Canada and Australia. Lyceum Education Group brings together leading specialist education providers, delivering a diverse portfolio of programmes to benefit learners and businesses globally. From its beginnings as BPP almost 50 years ago, to the creation of the Lyceum Education Group brand today, the move reflects the transition to become a leading, global education group, which will be the second largest post-secondary provider in the UK, and the fourth largest in Europe. Since its acquisition by TDR Capital in 2021, the Group has been acquiring new brands which encompass increased specialisms, diversifying its product ranges and entering new global markets. A clear focus for Lyceum Education Group will be emphasising skills development, employability and career progression, delivering impact for learners, businesses and our changing soc
Ageneau Group Chooses Generix WMS to Boost Growth21.1.2026 10:00:00 EET | Press release
Generix, a global business software company offering an expansive portfolio of SaaS solutions for supply chain, finance, commerce, and B2B integration, announces that Ageneau Group, a French transportation, logistics, and training company, has chosen Generix WMS and TradeXpress to modernize operational processes at its Angers (Trélazé) site, which has a covered area of 9,000 m² and state-of-the-art technological equipment, including automated guided vehicles (AGVs). “We needed a powerful and scalable tool that was in line with our values of cohesion, respect, and innovation. Generix was able to meet 100% of our specifications and support us with transparency and expertise,” said Arnaud Ageneau, co-director of processes, purchasing, and IT at the Ageneau Group. To support its growth and meet the changing needs of its customers, the Ageneau Group was looking for a solution capable of digitizing its operations, optimizing its flows, and providing advanced logistics to its teams. The group
International Zinc Association Partners With Pharmanova to Save Children in Zambia21.1.2026 10:00:00 EET | Press release
Zinc Saves Kids, a global child‑health initiative of the International Zinc Association (IZA), has announced a new partnership with leading Zambian pharmaceutical manufacturer Pharmanova Zambia Limited to expand access to life‑saving zinc treatments for children across Zambia. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260121178091/en/ Life-saving zinc-supplementation and oral rehydration salts kits are proactively distributed to Zambian children through the works of the International Zinc Association, Pharmanova, and the Zambian Ministries of Health and Education. The collaboration was formally celebrated during a ceremony in Lusaka with the Zambian Ministry of Health, Pharmanova Zambia Limited, and IZA represented by Environment Health & Sustainability Director Dr. Eric Van Genderen. IZA and Pharmanova have united in an effort to scale up treatment for childhood diarrhea using zinc, an essential micronutrient that stre
LatticeFlow AI Acquires AI Sonar, the Leading AI Discovery Platform, to Enable End-to-End, Secure AI Governance21.1.2026 09:22:00 EET | Press release
LatticeFlow AI, a Swiss deep-tech company leading evidence-based AI governance, today announced during the World Economic Forum (WEF) the acquisition of Dublin-based AI Sonar Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of CloudSphere Ltd. AI Sonar’s leading edge AI discovery platform allows enterprises and ISVs to detect shadow AI. AI Sonar’s solution will continue to be offered under its brand name by LatticeFlow AI. With this acquisition, LatticeFlow AI will introduce the industry’s first end-to-end, evidence-based AI governance solution securely connecting on-prem AI discovery and evaluations with centralized SaaS governance operations, and covering GenAI, agentic and traditional AI systems. As part of the acquisition, LatticeFlow AI assumes full ownership of AI Sonar’s platform, intellectual property, and engineering operations, establishing Dublin as its third R&D office alongside Zurich, Switzerland and Sofia, Bulgaria. The AI Sonar engineering team will continue the development of this enter
Ramboll and Acutro Form Strategic Alliance to Drive Smarter, More Sustainable Intelligent Buildings21.1.2026 09:13:00 EET | Press release
Ramboll, a global leader in engineering, architecture, and consultancy, has entered into a strategic, collaborative partnership with Acutro, specialists in building performance improvement and predictive, data-led maintenance. The partnership brings together Ramboll’s global engineering expertise and Acutro’s digital building intelligence capabilities, creating synergies that support innovation, learning, and value creation for both organisations and their clients. The collaboration enables Ramboll to explore advanced building intelligence tools that can strengthen its digital design capability, while providing Acutro with the opportunity to apply and evolve its platform across complex, real-world projects. Together, the partners will help clients make more informed decisions about performance, lifecycle value, and operational risk. The multi-year relationship provides Ramboll with access to Acutro’s cloud-native platform, creating opportunities to integrate real-time performance analy
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom