tripsta / travelplanet24

Tripsta S.A. emerged from the 2005 founding of Travelplanet24 in Athens, Greece, by co-founders Philipp Brinkmann and Kristof Keim. Brinkmann, serving as CEO, leveraged his International Business Administration background from Munich Business School to steer the company's growth. Initially focused on selling ferry tickets online, the company quickly expanded its offerings.

A pivotal moment in the company's history was the 2010 European expansion, which led to the formation of Tripsta S.A. as the parent company to facilitate growth beyond Greece, starting with Poland. This strategic push culminated in a significant 2015 merger with its competitor, airtickets®, making Tripsta S.A. the largest e-commerce company in Greece and a major player in the European online travel agency (OTA) market. Following the merger, Brinkmann remained CEO, while airtickets® founder Dimitris Kontogeorgos became president of the new entity. The combined company operated under the Tripsta, Travelplanet24, and airtickets® brands, serving over a million customers across 45 global markets with offices in Athens, Bucharest, and other international locations.

The business model centered on providing a comprehensive online booking platform for consumers to search, compare, and purchase tickets for flights, ferries, and trains. Its proprietary booking engine was engineered to handle a high volume of travel requests, processing vast amounts of data to offer a wide array of travel options. Revenue was generated from these consumer-facing transactions. At its peak, the company reported gross bookings exceeding €500 million and employed over 300 people.

Despite its rapid growth and market position, Tripsta S.A. faced a severe downturn. In June 2018, the company suspended all operations, citing a 'massive liquidity problem' and substantial debts to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and its members. The company blamed the collapse on the behavior of certain partners, specifically global distribution systems like Travelport, and initiated legal action. The failure led to the suspension of ticket sales, significant layoffs, and the eventual collapse of the company. Subsequently, airtickets.gr was repurposed into a metasearch engine, and Travelplanet24 was limited to selling only ferry tickets.

Keywords: Travelplanet24, Tripsta, airtickets, Philipp Brinkmann, Kristof Keim, online travel agency, OTA, flight booking, ferry tickets, Greece e-commerce, European travel market, travel technology, booking engine, IATA, Travelport, business failure, liquidity crisis, travel industry, Dimitris Kontogeorgos