From passion to travel icon

Sadia Haque 
Co-founder and CEO of ShareTrip

Leaving behind a flourishing corporate career to dive headfirst into the uncertain waters of entrepreneurship is not a path many dare to tread.

Yet that is precisely what Sadia Haque, the co-founder and CEO of ShareTrip, chose to do.

With over a decade of experience in marketing and leadership roles at companies like Grameenphone, BBC World Service Trust, Nokia, and Banglalink, she had the stability, reputation, and comfort that most professionals aspire to achieve.

But something in her was restless. She wanted to build, not just manage; innovate, not merely execute.

That desire would eventually propel her to become one of Bangladesh's most prominent travel-tech executives.

Her story is not just about setting up a travel booking company. It is about transforming a fragmented, offline-driven industry into a digital ecosystem, fighting through regulatory ambiguity, global crises, and the scepticism that every founder inevitably encounters.

Today, ShareTrip is not only a household name for a full-stack travel solution but also a symbol of resilience and digital transformation in Bangladesh's startup landscape.

When asked how the journey began, she smiled and went back to the roots.

"Our journey in the travel industry began in 2014. Back then, we operated under the name Travel Booking Bangladesh, but it was more of an offline mode of operation."

That was the seed -- Travel Booking Bangladesh -- founded in 2014, at a time when travel planning was still an offline hassle.

For Sadia and her husband Kashef Rahman, who founded the venture, it started from a personal passion.

Both were regular travellers, planning low-budget trips months in advance, often chasing AirAsia's "zero fare" campaigns.

Her story is not just about setting up a travel booking company, it is about transforming a fragmented, offline-driven industry into a digital ecosystem

They realised the pain points: complex processes of visa applications, hotel confirmations, local tours, and fragmented services.

Friends and family soon began asking them how to organise trips without hassle and with the best deals.

That was when the couple thought: why not build a platform that would do this for everyone?

But building a digital travel company was easier said than done.

"Our main focus was on digitalising the travel industry... but we needed technological support, we needed heavy investment, and at that time, we started only with our own funds," she recalled.

By 2016, they had managed to launch their first app with the hotel booking option only, built with baby steps and a lot of persistence.

In 2018, they met their very first investors—a turning point that provided validation and resources.

Soon after, they rebranded, shutting down the generic-sounding "Travel Booking Bangladesh" and launching ShareTrip, complete with an iOS app, Android app, and website offering an end-to-end travel solution.

The commercial launch came in July 2019, and with it came both excitement and steep challenges. The traditional travel industry was dominated by offline agents. Convincing customers to trust a local digital platform was not easy, especially one with very pricey tickets.

"We are all comfortable using global platforms like booking.com. But when it comes to a local platform, people hesitate—they wonder, will I really get the service?" Sadia said.

Still, they pressed on, introducing features that made ShareTrip stand out—gamification, loyalty programmes, and bundled services comprising flights, hotels, tours, and attractions.

For a country where tourism was slowly becoming mainstream, this was a game-changer.

And then came Covid-19.

For most travel companies worldwide, the pandemic was devastating. Flights were cancelled, borders shut, and revenues evaporated. Sadia described it as both a curse and a blessing.

"Of course, Covid devastated the entire world... but for us, it was also a blessing in disguise. Because people suddenly had no option other than digital. What I had been trying to educate customers about since 2019—Covid gave that push for us."

During those months of uncertainty, ShareTrip pivoted quickly. They launched a B2B model, allowing small offline agents to log in and continue selling tickets digitally.

They also developed ST Rooms, a hotel management system that has onboarded over 1,500 hotels to date in Bangladesh, bringing their inventories into one digital platform. This not only kept the company afloat but also expanded its portfolio.

"We launched B2B in May 2020, just after the lockdown started in March. We said your shop is closed—but you can still log in from home and serve your customers. That changed everything."

The resilience paid off. ShareTrip attracted further rounds of investment, including support from Startup Bangladesh and eventually securing series funding with global participation. In total, the company raised over $11.5 million—one of the highest funding figures for a Bangladeshi travel-tech startup.

With that capital, the company has diversified into lifestyle services—ShareTrip's homegrown wallet "STPay." Licensed under the central bank, it offers travel loans, insurance, EMI facilities, and partnerships with retail brands.

"Travel is no longer just our business. We have also gone into the lifestyle segment. When customers started reaching out to us about how they could get benefits from other brands and retail outlets, a new vertical for business expansion came to light for ShareTrip."

But behind the milestones lies a tougher story—the struggle of being a founder in the startup ecosystem. "Our biggest challenge has not just been building technology," she said.

"It has been navigating unclear policies, regulatory delays, and sometimes, the absence of recognition that startups are different from traditional businesses."

The travel industry in particular suffers from fragmented policies involving visa processes, aviation regulations, and tourism guidelines—all operating in silos.

For a digital platform that connects all these dots, the lack of an integrated policy framework has often been frustrating.

"Sometimes you feel like you're fighting battles on too many fronts," she admitted. As a female co-founder, she faced additional scepticism. Many doubted whether a woman could scale a tech-driven venture in a male-dominated travel industry.

"But once you start delivering, results speak louder than bias."

Looking ahead, Sadia is cautiously optimistic. The government has spoken about supporting startups and bringing regulatory clarity to industries like travel and fintech. If fully implemented, these could unlock huge opportunities.

She hopes Bangladesh will soon recognise travel as one of the mainstream industries, an essential part of economic growth—one that creates jobs, boosts cultural exchange, and integrates the country with the global economy.

And she knows that ShareTrip has only scratched the surface.

With over 1.5 million downloads and a steadily expanding loyal customer base, the company is now eyeing regional growth. It has already established a branch office in Dubai, becoming Bangladesh's first travel agency to operate internationally with the approval of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

Over the years, ShareTrip has earned the trust and appreciation of its customers, which has been recognised through prestigious awards, including Leading Online Travel Agency by World Travel Awards (WTA), with a roll of honour from 2019-2024, and Digital Commerce of the Year in 2022, among other notable achievements.

But her biggest lesson so far has been about resilience.

"If there is one thing entrepreneurship has taught me," she said, "it's that no plan survives reality unchanged. You must adapt, and adapt fast. That is the only way to survive."

According to her, the story of building a startup is not just about one company's growth. It is about the evolution of Bangladesh's startup ecosystem, the rise of digital adoption, and the sheer grit required to build something new in an uncertain environment.

And as she looks ahead, she carries both pride and responsibility.

"We started because we loved to travel," she said softly.

"Now, we continue because millions of people trust us with their journeys. That is a privilege… and a duty we will never take lightly."