Over 70% of airline bookings in Kenya will be done through the internet by 2017, matching the global average. Travelstart founder Stephen Ekbergh says this will be powered by continued internet penetration and innovation.
Currently, online accounts less than 10% of all air travel bookings, Mr Ekbergh said, way below the the global average of 70%. “Going forward anything that can be sold online will be available on the internet. I believe that the internet is really the salvation for Africa. If African governments could come together and invest in it, the growth thereafter would be phenomenal,” he says.
The growth forecast for the continent is encouraging with the Swedish company now commanding a 70% share in the South African online travel market. Besides, the company operates in Egypt, Tanzania, Nigeria and Namibia. It has been in the Kenyan market for two years and only last week put travel agents charging travellers as much as double the ticket value on the spot.
Mr Ekberge spoke during a meeting of various companies engaged in e-commerce.
Mr Peter Ndingiu, OLX country manager, attributed the success of the online classifieds company to aggressive marketing. He said the company invested heavily in TV advertising to break the mistrust that people have towards online trading.
“We had to turn to TV advertising to get it right, to convince people that they can do business online. When we first entered the market we started by advertising on the internet which did not bear any fruit. When we went for TV, we started seeing some traction,” said Mr Ndingiu.
He cautioned businesses against overlooking the importance of developing platforms that can be accessed via mobile phones. “Over 70% of OLX traffic comes from mobile devices,” according to Mr Ndingiu. “If you are not focused on mobile you are definitely not in tune with the reality. I have it on good authority that one of our telephone network providers will import one million smartphones in the next few months and that translates to more opportunities to drive our business using this channel,” he says.
Leave a comment