Despegar

Last updated
Despegar.com Corp.
Company type Public
Industry Travel agency
Founded1999;26 years ago (1999)
Headquarters Buenos Aires, Argentina
Area served
Latin America
Key people
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$ 774.1 million (2024) [1]
Increase2.svgUS$123.1 million (2024)
Increase2.svgUS$27.8 million (2024)
Total assets Increase2.svgUS$904.7 million (2024)
Number of employees
3,956 (2024)
Website www.us.despegar.co

Despegar.com Corp. (Despegar) is an online travel company based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was founded in 1999 and operates a booking platform for airline tickets, hotels, package tours, and other travel products in Latin America. The company has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: DESP) since 2017. Despegar is considered one of the largest online travel portals in the region and is active in 19 markets in the region. [2]

Contents

History

Despegar.com was founded in 1999 by Roberto Souviron, a former student at Duke University. In the years that followed, the company expanded rapidly from Argentina into other Latin American markets. Starting in 2009, the company integrated hotel bookings into its platforms alongside flight bookings. [3]

In 2017, Despegar went public on the New York Stock Exchange. [4] Despegar subsequently acquired several regional travel providers. In 2019, the company acquired the company Viajes Falabella (the booking portal of the Falabella retail group in Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina) for around US$27 million. [5] In January 2020, the Mexican Best Day Travel Group (one of Mexico's largest travel agencies) was acquired for over US$130 million. [6] Also in 2020, Despegar acquired Brazilian fintech company Koin, which specializes in “buy now, pay later” payments. [7] At the beginning of 2022, the acquisition of 100% of Viajanet, a large Brazilian online travel agency, was announced (purchase price approx. US$15 million). [8]

In December 2024, Dutch investment company Prosus, a subsidiary of South African group Naspers, agreed to purchase Despegar at a price of $19.5 per share (a total of approximately US$1.7 billion). [9] The transaction was completed in May 2025, meaning that Despegar will now function as a subsidiary of Prosus. [10]

Operations

Despegar operates an online platform through which consumers can book flights, hotels, package tours, and other tourism services. The offering is provided via websites and mobile apps. The business is essentially divided into three segments: airline ticket sales (“Air”) and other travel products, including package tours, hotels, rental cars, bus tickets, cruises, insurance, and other services at the destination. There is also a financial services division. Users can search for and compare travel offers and book them directly online via the one-stop marketplace. [11]

Despegar operates in around 20 countries in Latin America and markets its services under the brands Despegar (global) and Decolar (Brazil). [11] In addition to its end customer business (B2C), Despegar also offers white label solutions in the B2B sector, e.g. for banks, airlines, and retailers. The company has an AI assistant called Sofia. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "Despegar.com Announces 4Q24 and FY24 Financial Results". 2025-10-14.
  2. ↑ Prosus to buy Latin American online travel agency Despegar.com for $1.7 billion Reuters
  3. ↑ Miguel Dysenhaus Alumni. "Despegar: from tech darling to struggling business". Digital Innovation and Transformation. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  4. ↑ "tm254175-1_6k_DIV_02-exh99x1 - none - 17.2969417s" . Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  5. ↑ "Despegar.com se queda con Viajes Falabella por US$ 27 millones (alianza para potenciarse junto a CMR)" . Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  6. ↑ "Despegar buys Best Day and closes the largest acquisition in the Latin American travel industry" . Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  7. ↑ Antonio Larronda. "Fintech brasileña Koin invertirá US$5M para el desarrollo de sus plataformas de fraude y pagos en Uruguay" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  8. ↑ Despegar to Acquire 100% of Viajanet, an Online Travel Agency in Brazil.
  9. 1 2 it-times. "Prosus übernimmt Online-Reisebüro Despegar: 1,7 Milliarden US-Dollar für Lateinamerika-Markt" (in German). Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  10. ↑ https://www.prosus.com/despegar-acquisition
  11. 1 2 "Despegar.com, Corp.: Aktionäre Vorstände Geschäftsführer und Unternehmensprofil | A2DXPA | VGG273581030 | MarketScreener Deutschland" (in German). Retrieved 2025-10-12.
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