"Only you know how much your place is worth." This simple philosophy underlies Travela's approach to transforming Bangladesh's multi-billion dollar short-term rental market.
While global platforms like Airbnb have transformed how people think about accommodation worldwide, they are often not well-suited for local markets like Bangladesh due to a lack of local payment gateway integration, limited property listings, and cultural differences.
Travela, a short-term rental platform in Bangladesh, is filling this gap by building a locally rooted marketplace of homes, apartments, and spare rooms. In the process, the company is changing how people find a place to stay and quietly becoming Bangladesh's largest short-term rental platform.
The story of Travela is a fascinating one. It is as much about the evolution of a business as it is about the personal journey of its founder, Mir Ishtiqaue Ahmed, who began with dreams of filmmaking and stumbled into the role of an accidental innkeeper.
The company presents an equally fascinating case study of how a seemingly simple idea – connecting travelers with available lodging – can become a powerful force in a specific market. It highlights the critical importance of understanding the unique nuances of a particular market, the constraints of starting a business in that market, and ultimately, how to build a sustainable business that works in that context. In the rest of this article, we explore how Travela has been doing it. We explore:
Let's dive in.
The story of Travela begins not in a startup incubator or tech company, but on film sets. Founder Mir Ishtiaque Ahmed's journey from aspiring filmmaker to tech entrepreneur offers fascinating insights into how diverse experiences can shape product intuition. Ishtiaque was passionate about filmmaking. "When I was in A levels, I was very much into films and filmmaking," Ishtiaque recalls. As part of chasing his dream, he pursued mass communication after completing his A levels. Upon graduation, his sights remained set on directing. He recalls the frustration of trying to break into the film industry, an experience that led him to seek out any director who might offer him an opportunity to learn. He describes standing outside the house of a well-known director, hoping for a chance encounter. This unorthodox approach worked. He eventually landed work as an assistant director, a formative experience, yet ultimately unsatisfying as a career path.
He then started his own production house. But the world of independent film-making in Bangladesh is precarious, and he found financial stability elusive. Advertising offered a more reliable income stream, leading him into the world of commercials.
While working on film and advertising, Ishtiaque noticed a significant gap in the market that would eventually lead to the idea of Travela. He noticed that no platform aggregated flights, hotels, and package bookings in Bangladesh. Platforms he’d used, such as MakeMyTrip, were not available in Bangladesh. This planted the seed for a tech-driven travel app.
In 2018, inspired by platforms like MakeMyTrip, Ishtiaque embarked on his first entrepreneurial venture, an app that he hoped would be Bangladesh's answer to MakeMyTrip. He assembled a team of developers. After a year and three months, launched an app that offered flights and bus tickets.
The timing, however, was calamitous. The platform began to gain traction, but as fate would have it, the government announced a nationwide lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought all travel to an abrupt halt. Unable to generate revenue, Ishtiaque was forced to shut down the platform.
"We launched with flight tickets and bus tickets. Fortunately or unfortunately, now I would say fortunately, the government announced a lockdown, which halted the entire travel industry," Ishtiaque reflects.
This failure, while painful, taught him valuable lessons that would come in handy during his second attempt at venture building. "My biggest lesson was you need to launch fast and early instead of waiting to build a perfect product. Just launch whatever you have. When you are in the market and if you see a demand, then you build a company, build an app, however that suits you and your business. The idea that you have to start with a perfect product is a bad idea.”
While reeling from the setback, Ishtiaqe didn’t give up on the notion of working in the travel sector.
This time, his inspiration came from a completely different angle. During his travels around Bangladesh and market observation, Ishtiaque noticed a persistent problem—accommodation. Group travel is popular in Bangladesh, and he noticed the lack of reliable and easy-to-book accommodation
While platforms like Airbnb existed globally, they weren't accessible to most Bangladeshis due to the limited listing of Bangladeshi properties, payment gateway limitations, and other cultural limitations of the platform.
"Airbnb doesn't allow local payment gateways. You have to have a dual currency credit card," Ishtiaque explains, identifying a crucial barrier.
Ishtiaque sensed an opportunity for a platform where people could rent out their homes or spare rooms to travelers. This was the genesis of Travela—building a localized platform that connects property owners with travelers. It was a simple but powerful thesis: by removing the barriers to short-term rentals in Bangladesh and creating a trusted local marketplace, Travela could unlock significant value for both property owners and travelers while building a sustainable platform business.
Ishtiaque decided to test the market by listing his place on Airbnb, earning an impressive 3 to 4 lakh taka in a couple of months, which gave him a sense of the potential. He later used the money as initial capital to build the first version of the Travela platform.
In June 2021, Travela was born. Ishtiaque applied the lessons from his first entrepreneurship experience—starting with minimal resources and launching faster. Initially, he bootstrapped the platform with earnings from listing properties on Airbnb.”
The first month generated a modest 20 to 25 thousand taka, which grew to 70-80 thousand the following month.
What was notable was the speed of the platform’s growth without spending much on advertising.
The demand was clear: homeowners could make more money through short-term rentals than they could through the regular rental market. Istiaque’s first hire was a friend who had been inspired to become a host, and who grew his income from 8,000 taka to over 150,000 taka per month using the platform.
However, the early days of Travela were not easy. While Travela received initial investment from a local investor, the startup faced significant challenges when promised follow-on investments didn't materialize. This led to one of the most difficult periods in the company's history—laying off the entire team. He was forced to lay off his entire team of 10-12 people, a decision that he described as "heartbreaking".
At this time, Travela had about 500 properties listed on its platform. Yet, the platform continued to operate. People were still booking accommodations, and the founder was encouraged by these small, continuous signs that Travela was serving a real need.
"That email kept me going," he says, referring to booking notifications. "I'm going through a bad time but there are popups that someone booked a place, someone paid for the place." This persistent market validation motivated through difficult periods.
During this period, one of his homeowners became an angel investor, providing both funds and encouragement. It was a peanut, as he says, but he had the support of his users. He made a point not to touch the money that he had, and he took steps to focus on making revenue.
After a while, Ishtiaque began building his team again, this time with a different approach. He learned that experienced hires were not always the best fit, as they tend to adhere to preconceived ideas, and so he began hiring freshers and interns who better understood the vision for the company. He created a sales team, a host team, and a marketing team.
These new team members were trained by other interns, who had become department heads, creating a culture that was collaborative, and not top-down. He held weekly and monthly meetings, emphasizing employee satisfaction in a workplace where people spend most of their time.
Today, Travela is a thriving platform with over 3500 properties listed, more than 1,20,000 registered users, and approximately more than 7500 monthly active guests which suggests healthy utilization of property inventory. Over 45,000 nights have been booked through the platform. The platform's rapid growth validates the massive unmet need in Bangladesh's accommodation market.
Homeowners can register their properties in under 15 minutes, setting their own prices. Travela takes an 18% commission on each booking, which, according to the founder, has been a model that's been growing ever since.
The platform verifies host IDs to ensure safety, a measure that also helps to provide a sense of security for guests.
Ishtiaque admits that the market in Bangladesh is competitive, with other platforms also vying for a share of the short-term rental business. However, he says that Travela is differentiated by its focus on homes rather than hotels, and by launching a mobile app first, which made the platform more convenient, especially for older homeowners who were used to using apps like Facebook.
Travela's approach to product development reflects a deep understanding of local market dynamics with a platform architecture that's been carefully crafted to address the unique challenges and opportunities in Bangladesh's short-term rental market.
Travela took a mobile-first approach, differentiating itself from competitors who focused on web platforms. This decision proved crucial for user adoption, particularly among property owners.
The platform's core components prioritize simplicity and local market fit. This focus on reducing friction has been crucial to the platform’s growth.
The host-side experience forms the backbone of Travela's marketplace. Understanding that property owners in Bangladesh might be hesitant to adopt new technology, Travela has designed an onboarding process that can be completed in just 15 minutes.
This streamlined approach represents a delicate balance between gathering necessary information and maintaining simplicity.
Property owners retain complete control over pricing, a strategic choice that differs from the algorithmic pricing suggestions common on global platforms. This decision stems from Travela's belief that local property owners understand their market value better than any algorithm could. "Unlike Uber or Pathao, we don't set out the prices. You set your own price. You decide that because only you know how much your place is worth." This approach has resonated strongly with property owners, contributing to rapid inventory growth.
The platform's host dashboard provides essential property management tools while maintaining simplicity. Rather than overwhelming users with complex analytics and optimization tools, Travela focuses on core functionalities that matter most to Bangladeshi property owners: booking management, payment tracking, and guest communication.
On the guest side, Travela has built its platform with a mobile-first mindset, recognizing that most Bangladeshis primarily access the internet through smartphones.
The booking interface prioritizes simplicity and speed, with integrated local payment methods that remove the friction points common on international platforms. This approach has proven particularly effective in markets where digital literacy is still evolving.
Trust and safety form the third crucial pillar of Travela's platform architecture. The company has implemented a comprehensive verification system that requires both hosts and guests to provide government-issued identification.
This approach addresses a key concern in the Bangladeshi market, where trust in peer-to-peer transactions is still developing. The property verification process adds another layer of security, helping to ensure that listed properties meet basic standards and exist as advertised.
Table 01: Travela’s core platform architecture
| Category | Component | Details |
| Host Side | Listing Process | 15-minute listing process |
| Pricing Control | Flexible pricing control | |
| ID Verification | ID verification system | |
| Property Management | Property management dashboard | |
| Guest Side | Interface | Mobile-first interface |
| Payment Integration | Local payment integration | |
| Booking Management | Booking management | |
| Review System | Review system | |
| Trust & Safety | ID Verification | Mandatory ID verification for both hosts and guests |
| Secure Payment Handling | Secure payment handling | |
| Property Verification Process | Property verification process |
Travela operates on a commission-based model. The 18% commission rate positions the platform well in terms of unit economics. This rate is high enough to build a sustainable business but low enough to maintain attractiveness for both hosts and guests. It's particularly impressive that Travela has maintained this rate while growing its user base, suggesting strong value proposition alignment with market needs.
Travela's growth story is particularly interesting for its capital-efficient approach to market expansion. The company’s journey can be analyzed across three distinct phases, each characterized by different growth strategies and challenges.
The validation phase in 2021 demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness. Starting with a single property, the team used a creative bootstrapping approach by listing properties on Airbnb to generate initial capital. This generated 3-4 lakh taka, providing crucial seed capital for platform development. "Through Airbnb, I made 3 to 4 lakh," Ishtiaque shares, describing how he funded the platform's initial development. "That was enough actually to build the platform, just to check if the platform works or not."
The focus on organic growth through Facebook marketing kept customer acquisition costs low while allowing for rapid learning about market needs.
The early days were lean but showed promising growth. The early growth phase saw monthly revenue expand from 20-25,000 taka to 70-80,000 taka, validating its market approach. The beautiful part of Travela was it kept growing.
This organic growth validated Travela’s market approach and the expansion to over 100 properties marked a crucial milestone, providing enough inventory density to create meaningful choices for guests. This growth attracted the company’s first angel investment, providing capital for further expansion.
In the acceleration phase, Travela demonstrated its ability to scale efficiently. Growing to 500 properties while maintaining quality required significant operational sophistication. The expansion of the team to 15 people was carefully managed to maintain culture and efficiency. The company’s current 5-7% monthly growth rate suggests sustainable scaling while maintaining operational quality.
When its first investment arrangement fell apart leading to significant challenges for Travela, Ishtiaque decided to not raise external capital for a time. The company has not raised any additional external capital since. Today, the company runs a profitable business and has been funding its growth from its profits.
Table 02: Travela’s Growth Playbook
| Phase | Key Activities | Metrics |
| Phase 1: Validation (2021) | Started with a single property, used Airbnb to generate initial capital, focused on organic growth via Facebook | Initial capital of 3-4 lakh taka |
| Phase 2: Early Growth | Expanded to 100+ properties, secured first angel investment | Monthly revenue grew from 20-25,000 taka to 70-80,000 taka |
| Phase 3: Acceleration | Reached 500 properties, expanded team to 15 people | Achieved 5-7% monthly growth rate |
Travela's growth tactics are focused on three key areas: host acquisition, guest acquisition, and team building. The company uses a combination of social media marketing and word-of-mouth referrals to attract users on both sides of its platform.
Table 03: Travela’s growth tactics
| Growth Tactic | Social media marketing focuses on urban professionals and families, platform reliability and trust building. |
| Host Acquisition | Social media marketing focuses on urban professionals and families, platform reliability, and trust building. |
| Guest Acquisition | Social media marketing, focuses on urban professionals and families, platform reliability, and trust building. |
| Team Building | Focus on hiring fresh graduates over experienced professionals, department-specific training programs, culture of ownership and learning. |
The company has created a successful aggregation platform on both supply and demand sides and ties both sides by reducing transaction costs for both parties.
Travela aggregates the supply of lodging, not from hotels but from individual homeowners. This is a critical point of differentiation, and it leverages the unique nature of the Bangladeshi market where many people have underutilized residential space.
On the demand side, Travela caters to travelers looking for affordable, flexible accommodation options. By aggregating this demand, Travela can connect supply with demand in an efficient manner.
Travela drastically reduces the transaction costs for both hosts and guests. It simplifies the booking process, handles payments, and provides a platform for communication and verification.
Standardizing the process increases trust and reduces friction in the marketplace. This was done by creating an app, instead of a website, which is popular among the target demographic of hosts.
Travela's approach isn't about brute force market dominance, but a calculated strategy of leveraging local insights and technological adaptations. It's about understanding the nuances of a society where the way business is done is as important as the business itself.
Travela has built several strong competitive moats that can potentially cement its position as the leader in the short-term rental market in Bangladesh.
First, Travela has tailored its services to the specific needs of the market. A crucial element is the support for local payment methods, a seemingly small detail but a significant barrier for international competitors. This speaks to a deep understanding of the Bangladeshi consumer, a factor often overlooked by companies aiming for rapid global expansion.
Second, a mobile-first strategy for a mobile-centric market where smartphones are often the primary point of access to the internet, Travela’s app-centric strategy is smart. This approach also facilitates easier onboarding of older property owners, who might be less comfortable with traditional desktop platforms.
Third, Travela's focus on building a robust trust infrastructure is a critical differentiator. This kind of effort can be invaluable in a market where trust is paramount.
Finally, as Travela grows its property inventory, it increases its attractiveness to users. This is a positive feedback loop: more users attract more property listings and vice versa, creating a powerful network effect that is hard for competitors to replicate.
Table 04: Travela’s Competitive Moats
| Competitive Advantage (Strategic Moat) | Description | Key Aspects |
| Local Knowledge | Tailoring services to the specific needs of the Bangladeshi market. | Support for local payment methods, removing a barrier for global competitors. Demonstrates an understanding of the local consumer. |
| Mobile-First Approach | Using an app-centric strategy that is aligned with local user preferences. | Facilitates easier onboarding for older property owners. Recognizes that smartphones are the primary access point to the internet in the region. |
| Trust Infrastructure | Building a system that promotes security and legitimacy. | Includes an ID verification system and property verification process. Commitment to transparency and security. |
| Network Effects | A positive feedback loop where increased property inventory attracts users and vice versa, creating a powerful network effect. | Growing property inventory creates user attraction. - More users attract more property listings. Geographic density in key markets enhances convenience and relevance. |
Travela's future growth potential lies in several key areas. The company has already expanded geographically to cover all divisions in Bangladesh. Going forward, the company sees potential expansion to tourist destinations and other countries in the South Asian region.
On the product side, Travela aims to provide enhanced host tools and further improve its trust and safety features. The company aims to become the default choice for accommodation, building brand recognition, and expanding market share.
"The goal for Travela is that if anyone thinks about accommodation in the coming 2 or 3 years, it should be Travela," Ishtiaque states. "Either it's in metro cities or in tourist spots, Travela should be the platform you should always think of whenever you're planning for a tour or travel or planning a stay."
As Travela continues its growth trajectory, several key questions will determine its ultimate success:
The answers to these questions will shape not just Travela's future, but potentially the future of Bangladesh's entire short-term rental market. What's clear is that Travela identified a crucial market gap and is executing with impressive efficiency. Whether the company can maintain this momentum while scaling will be one of the most interesting stories to watch in Bangladesh's startup ecosystem.
Bangladesh’s short-term rental landscape can be viewed through a combination of pure-play platforms such as Travela (leading player in short-term rentals), Hurray (mixed hotel and rental focus), adjacent players such as traditional hotels, travel agencies, and property management companies, and global platforms such as Airbnb (Limited presence), Booking.com (Hotel focus), etc.
This market structure suggests significant room for growth and consolidation, with Travela well-positioned to capture market share through its focused approach and local market understanding.
The story of Travela is a lesson in resilience, and it’s also a lesson in the importance of following a passion. As Ishtiaque emphasizes passion must come before profit, and a good idea is not enough. “You need to be in love with the idea first, not because the business is giving you money or it will help you make money,” he says.
He also stresses the importance of patience, and of not rushing into things too quickly. He has learned that to understand the business thoroughly, you need to have passion, patience, and a good plan. It’s not always about big ideas or the next big thing, but sometimes it’s about being able to keep going, and doing the small things consistently, as he did with each payment notification that he received in his inbox during his toughest times.
Travela is more than a platform for short-term rentals. It's a story of how a filmmaker, who didn’t know much about travel or short-term rentals, learned the ropes as he was going, how he had a vision, and also, how he has helped to create a marketplace for the local people of Bangladesh who wish to travel, and the local people who have spare space to rent. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the most unexpected detours can lead to the most remarkable destinations.
