Romanian ticket booking website Vola.ro triples profit in 2011

Vola.ro online ticket booking company posted a turnover of over EUR 15 million in 2011, up three-fold over the previous year. Vola.ro reported a record turnover in June last year, of EUR 1.6 million, up from around EUR 490,000 posted in the same month in 2010. The company recorded over 6 million airline ticket searches in 2011, double the searches in 2010. Madrid, Barcelona, London, Rome, and Paris were Romanians' favorite European destinations in 2011, while outside Europe, they went to New York, Dubai, Tel Aviv, Bangkok and Toronto. The company’s number of employees also increased from 17 in 2010 to around 50. The online ticket booking company was founded in April 2007. In 2008 the Tar Heel Capital investment fund located in Warsaw invested EUR 1.1 million in Vola.ro and its sister company in Poland - Fru.pl. Vola.ro offers flight tickets, hotel reservations, vacation packages, travel medical insurance services and rent a car services. In Poland, the business is represented through the sister company Fru.pl. In the first quarter of 2012 a third agency is set for opening in Ukraine. Vola.ro landed first position in Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 Central Europe 2011 ranking. It is the first time the competition has been won by a Romanian company. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com