BookingAgora Grows 30 Percent in the First Half of 2025

Global tourism technology brand BookingAgora achieved remarkable success, growing by over 30 percent in the first six months of 2025. Providing international travel resources to over 10,000 travel agencies, the platform offers access to more than 2.5 million hotels and over 400 airlines.

BookingAgora's Founding Partner, Murat Kahraman, shared key data on travel trends in the outgoing market in the first half of 2025. Kahraman emphasized that travel preferences are shifting from Europe to Asia, particularly due to visa appointment difficulties and high rejection rates for the Schengen area.

Visa-free countries are coming to the fore

Kahraman said, "Passengers without visa issues continue to travel to the Schengen area; however, those facing visa barriers are opting for destinations that require visa-free entry or require online visas." He noted that economic conditions and rising airfare costs are among the factors influencing this shift, and that BookingAgora has achieved steady growth during this period thanks to its dynamic product structure and strong distribution network.

Hotel Preferences in Europe, Flights to Asia

According to the platform's data, the most popular cities for hotel bookings in the first six months of 2025 were Dubai, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Milan. Barcelona, Rome, Munich, Baku, and Berlin also followed. Despite the challenges of visa appointments, it's noteworthy that cities requiring visas still dominate accommodation choices.

Meanwhile, Asian countries dominated flight ticket sales. Twelve of the top 20 destinations were in Asia, with Dubai, Bali, Seoul, London, and Baku taking the top five spots. These cities were followed by Paris, Bangkok, Barcelona, Casablanca, Phuket, Beirut, Cape Town, Miami, Madrid, Rome, Tokyo, Düsseldorf, Ashgabat, Abu Dhabi, and Sydney.

Interest in Asian Culture is Growing

Kahraman stated that interest in Asian culture in Türkiye has increased significantly in recent years. He noted that Asian destinations offer more affordable holiday opportunities compared to domestic destinations, and that the increase in the number of direct flights by airlines supports this trend. Furthermore, the abundance of connecting flight options has made Asia more accessible.

It was reported that BookingAgora will continue to offer new opportunities to its partners by closely monitoring this transformation in the outgoing market.