Uber
- Uber is now offering hot air balloon rides in Turkey's Cappadocia region for $159.
- It appears to be part of the company's broader push to diversify its services beyond ride-hailing.
- The new offering joins Uber's unconventional ride options like booking boats, tuk-tuks, and flights.
Uber is now offering hot air balloon rides for passengers in Turkey's Cappadocia region, as the company pushes to diversify offerings beyond ride-hailing.
The service — which is available today through November 19 — requires a 12-hour advance booking via the Uber Reserve feature and costs 150 euros, or around $159, the company said Monday. For that price, users get a 1.5-hour sunrise balloon ride over Cappadocia's volcanic scenery.
Cappadocia, famed for its volcanic scenery and ancient sites, is one of Turkey's most popular tourist destinations. The region accounted for roughly 10% of Turkey's 44.6 million foreign visitors in 2022, per the Turkish tourism and culture ministry. And Uber said in its statement that international trips to Turkey increased by more than 30% in 2023, and almost 26 million people accessed the app this year.
A 2022 report by local booking platform Upballoon said that over 150 hot air balloon launches occur daily in Cappadocia.
The new Uber Balloon feature appears to be part of the company's pivot toward areas beyond ride-hailing. Back in 2019, Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, said he wants his company to become the "operating system for your everyday life."
And hot air balloons aren't the only way Uber has expanded its offerings. The app already allows users to book Uber Boat rides along the Thames River in London or Mykonos in Greece, tuk-tuks in Sri Lanka and India, and helicopter rides in New York. The company also rolled out the ability to book flights for users in the UK in May.
For context, Uber reported second-quarter revenues of $9.2 billion in 2023, a 14% increase from the same period last year. This also marked the first time that Uber reported quarterly profits. Despite this, the company's stock value remains below its peak in 2021.
The company also said users would start seeing ads in its app across major markets in the US in June.
Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment, sent outside regular business hours.
from All Content from Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-air-balloons-turkey-cappadocia-ride-hailing-tourism-2023-10
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