Yamsafer

Yamsafer.com
Hotel booking service

Yamsafer is an online accommodation booking website in the Middle East, combining website, mobile app and call center booking methods in its service delivery. Coming from humble beginnings, the start-up is now growing at a remarkable pace in terms of booking value. It has been tokened by Tech Crunch, as the “Middle East’s Booking.com”.[1]

History

Yamsafer was founded in 2011 by Palestinian entrepreneurs Faris Zaher, Seri Abdelhadi, Al-Hassan Hleileh and Sameh Alfar.[2] The startup went on to become the first Palestinian company to secure an early-stage venture capital investment.[3] The close of the first early stage investment round in Ramallah marked a new era for entrepreneurship in Palestine. In June 2015 Yamsafer went on to secure $3.5m in its Series B round from Global Founders Capital, marking the largest round of venture capital financing to be raised by a Palestine-based company and the first-ever foreign led round of investment in a local company.[4][5]

Innovations

In January 2014, Yamsafer was the first in the travel industry to provide the unique feature of “Cardless Bookings™”,[6] where customers do not need a credit card to guarantee or confirm a hotel reservation (Yahoo Finance), but instead are required to make payment once they arrive at the hotel. The feature is currently available in select cities: Amman, Madaba, Aqaba, Dead Sea, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Cairo, Jeddah, Kuwait City and Manama.[7] “Cardless Bookings” feature has been introduced to its customers as a result of the significantly low credit card penetration rates in the MENA region compared to more global mature markets,[8] and to also help eliminate online customer fears of providing their credit card information online. With the “Cardless Bookings” feature, Yamsafer has removed the traditional deposit fee requirements usually requested by hotels of their guests." [9]

In 2015, Yamsafer released a mobile booking app with the purpose of pushing top deals with last minute prices. Such measures fill the gap between unoccupied hotel rooms and same day bookers.[10] The app enables users to browse city pages, find hotels, book themselves, or call the Yamsafer team for free, 24/7. In an interview, Faris Zaher, the CEO commented: "Expensive call roaming charges and long call-waiting queues both make for a horrible customer service experience. We’ve changed all of that by putting top VoIP (Voice over IP) technology to work.”

Recognition

Yamsafer is being recognized in the MENA region for its high quality Arabic and English content, targeting Arabic-speaking [11][12] clients, while still catering to all in the online travel space. Yamsafer also provides smaller hotels and guesthouses, which were previously offline, the opportunity to market themselves in an online space and serve international markets.[13]

In January 2011, Wamda selected Yamsafer as the Best ecommerce startup as part of the Best MENA Startups of 2011 competition.[14] In early June 2015, Yamsafer announced closing its 2nd round of investment of $3.5 Million USD, led by Global Founders Capital with participation by Sadara Ventures and other undisclosed investors.[15]

Company Culture

As a start-up emerging from occupied Palestine, Yamsafer is distinctive in many ways, by which of is its unique company culture, out of the ordinary work space, and aberrant principles. The Yamsafer headquarters tower over Ramallah, which as CNET describes, is on the vibrantly lit 11th floor of one of the city’s highest buildings, with open floor space designed as an outdoor promenade, complete with a bicycle, benches, street lamps, and hammock.[16] The company is always buzzing, with its various departments, and glassed 24/7 call center; the work never stops.

In addition, against all odds of restrictions in context of the unfavorable political situation, and corrupt surroundings, Yamsafer prides itself on its unshakable code of ethics and meritocratic structure. From the very first contact between potential employees and the company, Yamsafer communicates on its careers page, “Yamsafer is a place where people gain influence according to their abilities and achievements. Your religion, gender and family-member who knows a lot of people in government all don't make a difference here”.[17]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Zaher, Faris. “Yamsafer, The Middle East's Booking.Com”. Interview by Mike Butcher. MSN, 2015. Web. 17 October 2015
  2. ↑ "Guess Where the Latest Travel Start-Up Is From". Christopher M. Schroeder. allthingsdo. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Guess Where the Latest Travel Start-Up Is From". Christopher M. Schroeder. allthingsdo. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  4. ↑ Lomas, Natasha. 'Global Founders Capital Invests In Middle East Hotel Booking Startup Yamsafer'. TechCrunch. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015
  5. ↑ Rahal, Maya. 'Yamsafer Secures $3.5M In Series B Funding Led By Global Founders Capital'. wamda. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015
  6. ↑ IT briefing. Yamsafer, an Online Hotel Booking Platform Re-Launches its Website and is the First to Introduce the 'Cardless Bookings' Feature Worldwide. ITbriefing.net. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2015
  7. ↑ The Telegraph,. 'Yamsafer, An Online Hotel Booking Platform Re-Launches Its Website And Is The First To Introduce The 'Cardless Bookings' Feature Worldwide'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015
  8. ↑ Prnewswire.com,. 'Yamsafer, An Online Hotel Booking Platform Re-Launches Its Website And Is The First To Introduce The 'Cardless Bookings' Feature Worldwide'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015
  9. ↑ Financial Times,. 'Palestinian Travel Start-Up Bypasses Credit Cards - FT.Com'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015
  10. ↑ Andrews, Daniel. 'Arabiantravelnews.Com | Agents | Yamsafer Releases Mobile Booking App'. Arabiantravelnews.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2015
  11. ↑ Avriel, Eytan (2013-04-18). "Palestinians turn to high-tech as they lay groundwork for statehood - Middle East Israel News". Haaretz. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  12. ↑ Gabrielle Karol. "Obama Praises Palestinian Startup Scene | Fox Small Business Center". Smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  13. ↑ Avriel, Eytan (2013-04-18). "Palestinians turn to high-tech as they lay groundwork for statehood - Middle East Israel News". Haaretz. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  14. ↑ "Announcing the Wamda Best MENA Startups of 2011". Wamda.com. 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  15. ↑ Rahal, Maya. 'Yamsafer Secures $3.5M In Series B Funding Led By Global Founders Capital'. wamda. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015
  16. ↑ Rubin, Ben. 'In The Shadow Of Tel Aviv, Ramallah's Young Tech Scene Takes Flight - CNET'. CNET. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2015
  17. ↑ Yamsafer.me,. 'Yamsafer - Discover The Hottest Jobs In Palestine Today'. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2015
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