Travalal's Ambition to Become a Muslim Friendly Travel Platform

The disclosure of the First Travel fraud case two years ago opened many bitter stories, especially those who were registered as prospective Umrah pilgrims. This is the case with Alki Adi Joyo Diharjo. He turned the story of his relative's failure to go for Umrah into a valuable business provision and established a Muslim-friendly Umrah and travel marketplace platform, Travalal.

From the First Travel case, he learned that information such as fares for Umrah departures and education for travel agent management was minimal.

"Apart from being marketplace umrah, Travalal also curates halal restaurants and Muslim-friendly hotels around the world," said Joyo DailySocial.

Travalal was founded in 2018 but started commercial operations last year through its website. The products they sell range from Umrah travel packages to ordering directories for halal restaurants and Muslim-friendly accommodations.

For now, only the Umrah marketplace can be accessed commercially, while the restaurant and lodging directory will launch in the near future. "At the end of February it can be accessed," added Joyo.

Indonesia as a country with the largest Muslim population in the world is clearly a very attractive market for Muslim-friendly Umrah and travel businesses. In 2018 alone, the number of Umrah pilgrims from Indonesia reached 1 million with a market value of around Rp. 20 trillion and is predicted to continue to grow every year.

business model

Sebagai umrah marketplace, Travalal cooperates with Umrah travel agents as service providers. Joyo said that currently there are 85 travel agents offering Umrah packages with a range of Rp. 18,5 million to Rp. 40 million and above. From every transaction that occurs, Travalal takes profit margin.

In addition, Travalal provides a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform to travel agents for Sales Data Management, Data User Management, and other data processing. According to Joyo, this product was created because the system used by travel agents in Indonesia is still too conventional.

"SaaS is to elevate their business to be systematic and more efficient."

Through this management system, said Joyo, travel agents can supply the information needed by Muslim travelers ranging from the best Umrah packages, hotels, halal restaurants, portable wifi, public transportation tickets. Travalal requires their travel agency partners to subscribe to the system.

Target

With a business model that prioritizes profit, Travalal is still looking for ways to get funding. Joyo said that currently his party has been involved in discussions with a number of potential investors for their initial funding phase.

In addition to funding issues, Joyo targets this year Travalal to partner with a total of 200 travel agents, 4.000 halal restaurants, and 2.000 Muslim-friendly hotels.

"So far there is no platform for Muslim travelerr as complete as us in Indonesia. After all for marketplace No Umrah yet marketing leader and the market is still very large," said Joyo.