Irish travel-tech company CarTrawler is to create 50 new jobs as it announced the introduction of a new equity scheme for staff and confirmed plans to make hybrid working permanent.
The company said the new roles will be across a number of areas, including product and technology, operations, and commercial and customer service.
Dublin-headquartered CarTrawler makes software used by airlines and travel partners to connect to car rental, airport transfer and lift-hailing providers. It said the jobs were being created on the back of demand from new partnerships in different segments that it has signed during the pandemic.
CarTrawler said the new roles will be based at the Dublin headquarters, which is being redesigned to better facilitate hybrid working. It also said it is granting an equity pool to all staff in the event of a successful exit.
British private equity group TowerBrook took control of CarTrawler in return for a €100 million cash injection in 2020 after the company was thrown into emergency debt restructuring talks due to the grounding of airline fleets globally amid the pandemic.
CarTrawler chief executive Cormac Barry said the company was witnessing a strong recovery in travel in regions that have opened up again, with its North American business already back at pre-pandemic levels.
It added that in Europe things are slower, particularly in Ireland and Britain due to ongoing restrictions.
“People want to travel more than ever, and we’ve seen a significant uptick in regions like the US where there is freedom of movement, but also strong signals of pent-up demand in places like Europe, where restrictions continue to fluctuate.
“In uncertain times our travel partners are finding ancillary revenues more important than ever to diversify their revenue streams, benefitting even when flights were grounded. The data insight we offer our partners has also been a fundamental tool to allow them to react at pace to demand and make informed decisions on recovery,” Mr Barry added.
