New strategic partnership with Saudia’s AlFursan

Seçgin met with senior Saudia officials to announce the launch of a new strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier, Saudia. This will enable Halalbooking customers to earn Miles with the airline’s AlFursan loyalty programme.

Seçgin said: “The AlFursan partnership will support increased growth in Saudi Arabia. We are finding that customers now want to extend their stays beyond the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, to take in Jeddah or Riyadh, to explore the sights of this rich and varied Kingdom, and spend time relaxing in resorts. The rate of change in Saudi Arabia is phenomenal and we’re excited to see the new resort areas, currently being developed, which will be ideal for our clients.”

Essam Akhonbay, Vice President of AlFursan Loyalty Program at Saudia, said: “We’re delighted to launch this partnership with Halalbooking, providing a unique service for AlFursan members. We have many shared values, including a respect for tradition, combined with a commitment to innovation. We feel sure that our members will benefit from being able to use Halalbooking’s unique filters and features to find and book accommodation worldwide in line with their needs. This partnership will offer them the opportunity to earn additional AlFursan Miles on every accommodation booking, as well as having an immediate status match, giving them extra savings.”

Growth & diversity fuelled by partnership with mainstream giant, Expedia

Halalbooking has also held meetings at ATM with online booking giant Expedia, using the opportunity to cement its relationship. Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Enver Cebi said: “Our deepening partnership with Expedia continues to be one of our most significant and strategically important global collaborations, reflecting our shared commitment to innovation and inclusivity in travel. We will be working even more closely together to deliver competitive, value-driven options for halal-conscious travellers.

He continued: “It’s clear that niche travel sectors such as ours require specific and highly granular content. A leading player such as Expedia can benefit significantly from partnering with a specialist like Halalbooking, to enable it to unlock access to fast-growing segments that demand cultural sensitivity and specific expertise, such as ours.”

The partnership with Expedia has allowed the halal travel expert to leverage Expedia’s vast inventory and global infrastructure to expand quickly beyond its focus on Türkiye, pioneer of halal resort hotels. Halalbooking now features more than 500,000 hotels in over 100 countries, enabling Muslims to find accommodation to suit their needs wherever they wish to travel. In 2019, Halalbooking’s customers stayed in just 732 different hotels; whereas results for the first quarter of 2025 show that on a rolling 12 month comparison this has now increased to encompass stays in over 15,000 different hotels in 98 countries.

Cebi explained: “The alignment with Expedia has allowed us to scale our operation quickly and efficiently to better serve our global customer base, whilst staying true to our mission of offering a unique service, designed specifically for and tailored to the needs of Muslim travellers. This is a powerful example of how both parties benefit when a large mainstream platform such as Expedia aligns with one like ours which is designed to serve a specific niche audience.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:
Halalbooking is the leading international search and booking app and website for halal-friendly hotel and villa accommodation. It features over 500,000 properties in over 100 countries worldwide, which can be filtered according to halal needs such as availability of halal food and alcohol-free areas. Leisure facilities such as beaches, pools and spas can be filtered according to the degree of seclusion and the type of swimwear which can be worn, so that women and families can find the level of privacy which suits their requirements.

Halalbooking has over 1,500,000 loyalty club members from more than 110 countries and more than 3,000 affiliate agency partners providing a unique service to halal-conscious travellers throughout the world. The platform has more than 50 API integrations.

In 2019, Halalbooking was ranked #33 in the UK in the prestigious “Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100” and #237 overall in Europe in The Financial Times “FT 1000” league tables, making it the #1 fastest-growing travel company in the UK and #8 in Europe. In 2020, Halalbooking won Phocuswright’s Innovation Launch award, Travolution’s Rising Brand of the Year award. It was ranked number 8 in “London’s Fastest Growing Businesses Index in 2023’ in the Fast Growth 50 Index, shortlisted for leading travel industry awards including the Skift IDEA Awards and in 2024 won the Islam Channel Founder’s Award for Business of the Year.

Additional images are available for download here.

Image caption:
Huseyin Mercan Account Manager, Middle East & Turkey at Expedia Private Label • Carolina Cabero Manrique, Senior Vice President Expedia Group Private Label Solutions • Enver Cebi, Chief Operating Officer Halalbooking • Eldar Hamzayev, Supplier Data and Products, Halalbooking

For further information about Halalbooking:
Email Joanna Marsh, Head of Communications, at [email protected].