Busbud, a global ground travel booking platform, announced the acquisition of Ratality, a South Africa-based award-winning provider of revenue management optimization software for ground travel operators.
By integrating Ratality’s unique expertise, Busbud’s Business Suite will be enhanced with game-changing features such as advanced demand forecasting, dynamic pricing, fleet and driver management, as well as solutions for the charter and rentals industry.
Joining forces with Ratality enables Busbud to broaden its value proposition to become a complete solution provider for operators worldwide. The acquisition builds upon an existing partnership between the companies and extends Busbud’s reach in Africa.
A growing Business Suite for operators worldwide
Busbud Business Suite offers B2B business services to ground travel operators to help manage their operations more efficiently and expand their sales to the online market. The suite is used by over 350 partners worldwide and has powered hundreds of millions of tickets worldwide to date.
The Business Suite includes:
- An inventory management system (IMS), which includes a broad array of features, including: schedule and routes management, seat map flows, dynamic and automated pricing, payment options, manifests, ticketing scanning, and reporting & analytics. This acquisition follows the 2022 merger with Betterez, a leading B2B reservation & ticketing management platform.
- A white-label e-commerce platform (E-comm) for ground transportation operators to sell tickets online and can also help bolster route inventory through its distribution product.
- A revenue management system (RMS), allowing bus companies to maximize yield and revenue for their existing transportation services, via the current acquisition of Ratality.
The platform supports a multitude of payment and language options and has been configured in 16 countries, acting as a trusted partner for many operators including 4 of the top 5 in South Africa. The platform is flexible enough to support larger and smaller operators alike.
Operators can also opt-in to distribute inventory to worldwide marketplaces in the Busbud Group’s network, such as Busbud (global), Buson (Brazil), Recorrido (Chile), as well as other third-party marketplaces worldwide, that attract hundreds of millions of visitors annually.
Taking the Business Suite to the next level
“Uniting with Busbud expands the reach of our platform to bus operators around the world,” said Arend de Waal, CEO & Co-founder of Ratality. “Our innovative revenue management solutions generate immediate ROI for our partners and have already been proven in other travel sectors like airlines. Overall, this combination unlocks untapped potential for bus operators, maximizing revenue and operational efficiency.”
“This is a very special partnership that will add a key missing piece to our growing B2B offering,” said LP Maurice, CEO & Co-founder of Busbud. “We’ve heard first-hand from ground travel operators the tangible results they’ve achieved by using Ratality to generate more revenue for their businesses. We were extremely impressed by the technology and capabilities of their platform. It just really made sense to bring Ratality’s team of revenue management experts on board and integrate these features further into our core B2B platform. We wanted these capabilities to be in the hands of all of our operator partners worldwide. We have been partnered with ground travel operators for more than a decade and thrive on their success. We are excited to keep innovating together with Ratality for years to come for the benefit of our operator partners”.
The addition of revenue management capabilities to the Business Suite is another major step towards offering a best-in-class software platform tailored to the unique needs of ground travel operators.
Strong results from Ratality’s revenue management platform
Ratality’s revenue management capabilities unlock a whole new level of efficiency and economics for operator partners.
One of Ratality’s customers, a large South African-based ground travel operator, saw a major impact on sales and efficiency: 73% more passengers, 76% improvement in seat factor (SF%), 37% improvement in revenue, and 32% increase in revenue per kilometer (RPK). This impact happened only over several months, from November 2023 to February 2024.
The operator also saw two other key benefits:
- A positive shift in its booking window, as a result of dynamic pricing strategies making lower prices available for customers booking earlier.
- Improved operational efficiency, with 98% overall forecasting accuracy due to accurate advanced demand forecasting.
Ground travel operators interested in seeing how this suite of services can unlock growth and more easily manage their business can book a demo by reaching out to solutions@busbud.com or visiting https://www.busbud.com/en/about/partners.
About Busbud:
Busbud is a leading global mobility group that operates marketplaces focused on ground travel where travelers can book intercity bus and train tickets on over 3 million routes in 80+ countries worldwide. The company also offers B2B software that powers the business of ground travel operators across the globe. For more information, please visit busbud.com.
About Ratality:
Ratality is an award-winning cloud-based software solutions provider that seamlessly allows ground transportation operators to digitally manage their operations and optimize revenues. The company offers solutions across buses, coaches, ferries, charters, tours, transfers as well as many other types of ground transportation operators. The company’s fully integrated, multi-modal management solutions allow operators to better manage their fleets through advanced demand forecasting, dynamic pricing, revenue management, and fleet management among many other sought-after features.
