Travelstart Celebrates 20th Birthday by Bringing Home Africa’s Leading Online Travel Agency Title

South African travel brand recognised among Africa’s best at the World Travel Awards in Zanzibar

Travelstart has been named Africa’s Leading Online Travel Agency at the prestigious 2026 World Travel Awards Africa Gala Ceremony, held in Zanzibar, Tanzania, reaffirming its position as one of the continent’s most trusted and innovative online travel brands.

Widely regarded as the “Oscars of the travel industry,” the World Travel Awards recognise and celebrate excellence across every sector of global travel and tourism. The Africa’s Leading Online Travel Agency award honours the online travel company that has demonstrated exceptional customer experience, innovation, service excellence and industry leadership, with winners determined through votes cast by both travel professionals and travellers worldwide.

The accolade comes during a milestone year for Travelstart as the company celebrates 20 years of making travel more accessible across Africa, recognising two decades of innovation, customer-focused technology and a continued commitment to simplifying the way millions of travellers search, compare and book their journeys.

Wouter Nel, Head of Sales: Offline B2C at Travelstart, says the award is ultimately a reflection of the trust customers place in the brand. “Winning this award is a proud moment for our team, but what matters most is the trust behind it. Travellers want a platform that is easy to use, great value and real support when they need it. Our focus is to deliver that experience to even more customers across Africa. If we continue to earn their trust, growth will follow,” says Nel.

Celebrating two decades of making travel more accessible

Founded in 2006, Travelstart has played a pioneering role in transforming the travel landscape across Africa. As one of the continent’s first homegrown online travel agencies, the business has continually evolved alongside changing traveller expectations, embracing new technologies while remaining focused on delivering value, convenience and choice.

Over the past two decades, Travelstart has helped millions of travellers book flights, accommodation, car hire and holiday experiences, becoming one of Africa’s most recognisable online travel brands.

Andy Hedley, CEO of Travelstart, notes that Travelstart was built on a simple belief that travel should be easier and more accessible, and two decades later, that is what still drives the team. “This award is a reflection of the people who have built Travelstart, the partners who have grown with us, and the millions of travellers who have trusted us along the way.”

“The travel industry is completely different now compared to twenty years ago. When we started Travelstart as Africa’s first homegrown online travel agency and during the last two decades we’ve been there every time the industry changed,  meeting the new challenges, reinventing ourselves  while always driven by our guiding principles of making travel easier.  Most companies don’t even survive 20 years, but for us 20 years isn’t a finish line. There’s still a lot more we want to build, improve and change about the way people experience travel,” Hedley adds.

Continuing to shape the future of travel

The award also reflects the evolution of online travel over the past 20 years. What began as a pioneering online booking platform has grown into a comprehensive digital travel ecosystem, connecting millions of travellers with airlines, accommodation providers and travel partners across Africa.

Looking ahead, Travelstart remains focused on investing in technology that delivers a faster, simpler and more personalised booking experience, while expanding the ways consumers and partners can seamlessly access travel through digital platforms.

Mikha’il Ernest, Chief Commercial Officer at Travelstart, says the company sees the award as motivation to continue raising the bar. “Awards like this are a wonderful acknowledgement of the work our team has done, but they also raise the bar. Our ambition is to continue making travel easier, whether that’s helping a customer book their next holiday in minutes or enabling partners to seamlessly integrate travel into their own platforms. That’s where we believe the biggest opportunities lie.”

As Travelstart celebrates its 20th anniversary, being recognised as Africa’s Leading Online Travel Agency serves not only as recognition of the company’s journey to date, but also as an endorsement of its continued commitment to innovation, customer experience and shaping the future of travel across the continent.