A highlight at the event was Ticket Gadget’s announcement of nine key partnerships with industry giants, a testament to the super app’s impact on the air travel industry and its success since its inception during the pandemic in 2020.
The partnerships announced were with Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, MasterCard, Oman Air, British Airways, FlyDubai, Jazeera, and FitsAir.
Ticket Gadget was also the recipient of many endorsements by the airlines and industry partners.
Sajith Amarasekera, Sales Manager, Malaysia Airlines added
“Ticket Gadget has made great strides – they have used technology very well and made a real difference in the air travel industry.
I think it’s correct to say that they have basically revolutionized the air travel industry.”
Ticket Gadget’s approach to identifying and addressing the issues faced by an audience crucial to Sri Lanka’s travel industry, during an extremely challenging time, has paid off.
As observed by Shaminda Fernando, CEO of John Keells’s Airline Division of Mack Air “Ticket Gadget's innovation in the online space, has managed to capture the market very well, both the B2B and B2C segments and due to that, they’ve been the market leader.”
Ticket Gadget was also the recipient of many endorsements by the airlines and industry partners.
“The Ticket Gadget team has been fantastic.
They are very dynamic and it has been great working together” noted General Manager of British Airways, Suranjaya Rajaguru, whilst Sanjika Perera, Country Manager, Sabre stated
“It has been amazing working with Ticket Gadget as a technology partner because they are bringing out the best in technology to provide B2B solutions.
They have been an innovator right throughout”.
Co-Founder Dr. Harshani Perera stated
“Today is not just about us celebrating our achievements, it’s about us celebrating the extraordinary work we have been doing to revolutionize and move the travel industry forward in Sri Lanka.”
Its success in alleviating the problems has seen the platform generate over LKR 1 billion in monthly sales, becoming Sri Lanka’s largest online travel consolidator and the largest revenue generator for most airlines.
Ticket Gadget also became the overall largest revenue generator in the IATA BSP Sri Lanka market in December 2022.
As a start-up, Ticket Gadget also embodies the innovation and zeal Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem needs to have, to uplift the country’s economy – points which were highlighted by Dialog Axiata PLC Group Chief Customer Officer, and SLASSCOM Past Chairperson Sandra De Zoysa.
She underscored the importance of entrepreneurs such as Dr. Harshani and Yashas to accelerate economic development, disrupt industries, and create employment, through the creation of progressive new products and services.
Chalinda Abeykoon, Managing Partner of nVentures PTE LTD, and Ammar Kassim, Director of FitsAir, also featured as guest speakers at the event.
A ground-breaking travel platform, Ticket Gadget was born of the chaos that ensued in 2020, when the global travel industry hit rock bottom.
The brainchild of the founders of Inqbaytor, Dr. Harshani Perera and Yashas Sumanasekara, Ticket Gadget was the duo’s way of leveraging technology to reset, reposition and thrive.
Its target audience interestingly was not the end-consumers but instead, travel agents and corporate travel managers.
Ticket Gadget is not limited to traditional Global Distribution System (GDS) content, but also distributes IATA NDC and direct airline inventories.
Today, the super app Ticket Gadget is the preferred option among Sri Lankan travel agents and corporates for booking air tickets, hotels, tours, and car hires more efficiently and conveniently, with zero set-up costs.
It aims to help overcome common barriers to entry faced by travel agents and focuses on giving its users a seamless, easy-to-use experience, and the independence to issue tickets instantly at any given time, on their own, from anywhere, with access to the best market prices.
Ticket Gadget is a registered trading name of Inqbaytor Group.
Photo captions (L-R):
1. Iroshan Edussuriya - Senior Operations Executive, Emirates, Viroshana Herath - Assistant Manager, Emirates, Dinuka Sumithrarachchi - Head of Commercial Operations, Emirates, Chandana De Silva - Country Manager, Emirates, Devika Ellepola - Head of Passenger Sales, Emirates, Dr Harshani Perera - Co-founder / Chief Executive Officer, Ticket Gadget, Yashas Sumanasekera - Co-founder / Chief Business Development Officer, Ticket Gadget, Keshini Perera - Head of Operations, Ticket Gadget
2. Shan Perera - Sales Manager, Singapore Airlines, Nelka Perera - Senior Executive Corporate Sales, Singapore Airlines, Radini Fernando -General Manager Passenger Sales, Singapore Airlines, Zac Liew - General Manager, Singapore Airlines Sri Lanka , Dr Harshani Perera - Co-founder / Chief Executive Officer, Ticket Gadget, Yashas Sumanasekera - Co-founder / Chief Business Development Officer, Ticket Gadget, Keshini Perera - Head of Operations, Ticket Gadget
3.Sandun Hapugoda - Country Manager - Sri Lanka & Maldives, Mastercard, Dr Harshani Perera - Co-founder / Chief Executive Officer, Ticket Gadget, Yashas Sumanasekera - Co-founder / Chief Business Development Officer, Ticket Gadget, Keshini Perera - Head of Operations, Ticket Gadget
4. Tuan Kitchilan - Manager, British Airways, Avinda Godahewa - Executive, British Airways, Anupama Illanganthilake - Executive, British Airways, Suranjaya Rajaguru - General Manager, British Airways, Dr Harshani Perera - Co-founder / Chief Executive Officer, Ticket Gadget, Yashas Sumanasekera - Co-founder / Chief Business Development Officer, Ticket Gadget, Keshini Perera - Head of Operations, Ticket Gadget
5. Navoda Bandara - District Sales Manager, Oman Air, Dinushka Ranasinghe (Assistant District Sales Manager, Oman Air, Ameer Al Balushi - Country Manager, Oman Air, Dr Harshani Perera - Co-founder / Chief Executive Officer, Ticket Gadget, Yashas Sumanasekera - Co-founder / Chief Business Development Officer, Ticket Gadget, Keshini Perera - Head of Operations, Ticket Gadget
6. Kyle De Silva - Senior Executive Sales and Marketing, Qantas, Sudeshinie Jayawardena - Commercial Manager, Qantas, Dr Harshani Perera - Co-founder / Chief Executive Officer, Ticket Gadget, Yashas Sumanasekera - Co-founder / Chief Business Development Officer, Ticket Gadget, Keshini Perera - Head of Operations, Ticket Gadget
