Kasbah.com, perhaps the last, and largest, non-corporate owned major travel portal, faces the future

Globally recognised, Kasbah is a high traffic, independent retail travel and travel information site. Accordingly, he says, Kasbah will soon be seeking initial private investment for a stake in the company and the opportunity to participate in future growth in our valuation.

Globally recognised, Kasbah is a high traffic, independent retail travel and travel information site. Accordingly, he says, Kasbah will soon be seeking initial private investment for a stake in the company and the opportunity to participate in future growth in our valuation.

He adds. "The opportunity to invest in a pre-IPO product and core Internet brand such as Kasbah is now extremely rare. Kasbah has spent five years, and 1.4 million ($2 million) researching and producing travel information, and more recently developing a user friendly advanced system in which to rapidly expand our brand and customer base.

Kasbah.com is perhaps the last, and largest, non-corporate owned major travel portal. Globally recognised, Kasbah is a high traffic, independent retail travel and travel information site. Currently entering profitability Kasbah provides online travel reservation services and reliable, real-time access to schedules, pricing and availability information for over 400 airlines, 60,000 hotels and all major car rental companies. In addition Kasbah offers a comprehensive range of travel related goods. The site also contains the Internets largest travel specific search engine and a large range of destination information guides.

Since buying Kasbah back from parent company World Travel Holdings PLC in January 2002 Kasbahs managing director Iain Gaynor has transformed what was a purely information website to one with a wide and broad range of revenue streams. (A brief Kasbah timeline can be seen below). Gaynor says We seem to have achieved that delicate transition from free information site to full-on revenue site without losing core visitor loyalties. In fact since we introduced revenue streams back in September (2002) traffic has increased 5 fold"

But online travel is a tough sector and Gaynor has now been confronted with the difficult decision of, as he puts it, Sitting on the fence watching the big boys grow or getting into the trough and growing with them". He goes on to say" We have determined that at this stage in our growth it is the right time to seek outside investment in Kasbah. This would enable us to fast track and improve our infrastructure and perhaps, most importantly, increase our revenue and marketing resources".
Accordingly, he says, Kasbah will soon be seeking initial private investment for a stake in the company and the opportunity to participate in future growth in our valuation. Ideally, although not exclusively, Kasbah is seeking investment from existing online travel players. We feel this will provide an instant and mutually beneficial quick start for both parties instigating a rapid return on investment".
He adds. "The opportunity to invest in a pre-IPO product and core Internet brand such as Kasbah is now extremely rare. Kasbah has spent five years, and 1.4 million ($2 million) researching and producing travel information, and more recently developing a user friendly advanced system in which to rapidly expand our brand and customer base. This system consists of aggressive marketing and product strategies enabling Kasbah to tap into new travel markets, quickly, and at a fraction of the cost that a traditional travel agency would have to spend to develop either a 'bricks and mortar operation or a new web site". He is also quick to point out that, purely in terms of added traffic Kasbah should be a tantalising proposition to several of our competitors"
Gaynor firmly believes in the old adage of content is king"; he says, Despite the Kasbah brands continuing ascendancy and commercial growth within the online (travel) sector, Kasbah is still 100% committed to its founding principles, content and visitor satisfaction".
Kasbah is the Internets largest travel specific search engine. In addition to a continually growing editorial base contains in excess of 7,000 pages of travel related information. Kasbah content he states is core to the sites existing kudos and the key to its future growth".
Unlike many travel sites with similar traffic rankings Kasbah does not advertise on or off line, testament indeed to Kasbahs ability to maintain existing loyalties whilst continually growing new visitor numbers. Kasbah operates from a low cost base employing just 5 people.

Kasbah.Com believes that the worldwide travel industry is particularly well poised to benefit from increased Internet and electronic commerce application. Travel has already become the largest online retail category with estimated online transactions of 5 billion ($8 billion) in 1999, growing to 20 billion ($32 billion) in 2004, according to Forrester Research. Internet travel services are poised to be a multi-billion dollar market; Gaynor says, " We now intend to be a major player in this sector. We believe that with proper capitalisation, Kasbah and its unique position on the Internet can be leveraged into one of the largest global travel players, serving a global audience.
When asked about his confidence in achieving his aims in an already crowded sector in which many uncertainties loomed he appeared optimistic. Kasbahs greatest asset is its global reach. Socially and economically there are downturns throughout the world at different times and in different places, I believe Kasbah to be big enough through a global is local approach to compete at the top of the sector".
Kasbah Timeline
1997 Founded by Iain Gaynor as research project to provide him with travel information as a freelance journalist.
1998 Kasbah online.
1999   Kasbah purchased by Sir Bob Geldofs new Deckchair.com Flight Booking System.
2000   Kasbah and Deckchair purchased by World Travel Holdings PLC.
2001   Iain Gaynor buys Kasbah back from World Travel Holdings PLC (although they retain a small shareholding).
         Kasbah adds revenue streams.
2002   Kasbah growth continues apace. Currently receiving 250,000 unique visitors per month. (WebTrends.com)

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Optional Information
Key strategies for the future growth of Kasbah.Com:
Cementing the Kasbah.Com brand name into a worldwide recognized company.
Expanding our network of travel web sites.
Expanding into niche travel markets with targeted travel websites.
Expanding our marketing platform for advertisers
Expanding into other related areas of the travel market.
Building our licensed content resources to add additional value to our visitors.
Partnering with more technology, information and inventory providers.
Building our own affiliate network.
Expanding our corporate travel solutions (customised travel web sites for employees of small to medium size companies and travel agents).
Building the main Kasbah web site into the only truly Travel Community Gateway by introducing extra services.
Kasbah.Com main source of revenues:
Automated online reservations for air, car & hotel.
Leisure bookings consisting of cruise, tours and packages.
Miscellaneous commissions from other travel related products.
Advertising revenue generated from hosting ad space on our web site network.
Commissions generated from our numerous partner and referral relationships.

Contact.
Iain Gaynor or Mark Wilson
OMC Media
In the UK on +44 (0) 1253 788001
Email: iain@kasbah.com or info@omcmedia.co.uk
http://www.kasbah.com