WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--StudentUniverse, the leading resource for student travel discounts, today announced that it closed 2014 with 41% year-over-year sales growth. Record growth in ticketing to and from the Indian, Canadian, Latin American and Chinese markets, combined with an increase in passengers booked on tours (up 28% year-over-year) and hotel bookings (up 51% year-over-year) contributed to this record-breaking year.
StudentUniverse continues to expand into new markets to provide discounted travel options for students and youth. In 2014, StudentUniverse entered the Canadian market, and established a new office in Toronto to expand its ticketing authority into Canada. StudentUniverse also celebrated the one year anniversary in the United Kingdom. With over 400,000 international students studying in the UK every year, the market represents a huge opportunity for StudentUniverse.
In addition, StudentUniverse expanded the scope of several airline partnerships (including: Emirates, Aeromexico, Qatar, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and TAP Portugal) to feature global content, allowing students to book discounted travel to an increased number of international destinations via its mobile application and websites.
Additional StudentUniverse milestones in 2014 included:
- An 80% growth in the size of the Travel Services division, which books travel for 10 or more people traveling together in a group
- A 31% growth in the global, employee headcount
- The addition of four new airline partners (Aeroflot, Eva Airways, Air India and Ukraine International Airlines)—for a total of 68 airline partners worldwide
“2014 was our biggest year yet and we continued to build a global service that young travelers love to use. With great growth in the number of new partnerships, team members and most importantly members, we are very excited about 2015. We will roll out a number of exciting new projects that we expect will fuel our growth even further,” said Atle Skalleberg, StudentUniverse CEO.
About StudentUniverse
StudentUniverse is a tech company that empowers students and youth to travel. Through negotiations with a network of global partners, StudentUniverse offers discounted rates on flights, hotels and tours via its website and mobile applications. Its Travel Services department manages bookings for groups of 10 or more.
Founded in 1999 with headquarters in Boston and offices in London, Toronto, New York and the Philippines, StudentUniverse believes that travel is essential to a modern education. For more information, please visit www.studentuniverse.com or follow @StudentU_Inc on Twitter.
