Women Entrepreneurs

Saria Alderhali: The Vision Behind Bondai’s Rise in Travel Tech

Discover how Saria Alderhali, founder of Bondai, is building the digital backbone of Saudi Arabia’s travel industry, scaling B2B infrastructure, winning global recognition, and aligning with Vision 2030.

As Saudi Arabia accelerates toward its Vision 2030 tourism goals, Saria Alderhali stands out as a founder turning policy momentum into tangible digital infrastructure. By 2025, she led Bondai, a travel-tech B2B platform powering domestic and global booking access, making her one of Forbes Middle East’s 30 Under 30 in Science & Technology.

Backstory & Spark

Raised in Jeddah, Saria was no stranger to the dynamics of Saudi hospitality. She pursued a Bachelor’s in Hospitality Administration from Boston University, followed by an MBA in Tourism & Hospitality Management from EAE Business School in Barcelona. But her career-defining moment came at 18, when a university marketing project for a luxury hotel turned into a consulting engagement. Her recommendations helped increase winter occupancy rates, a win that validated her instinct to bridge strategy with execution.

Identifying the Opportunity

Returning to Saudi Arabia during a moment of rapid reform, Saria sensed an opportunity. Travel was opening up not just internationally, but domestically. Local tour operators, however, lacked the tools to scale.

By 2019, she joined Draper University’s Hero Training Program, gaining a startup playbook grounded in Silicon Valley rigor. That same year, she immersed herself in Saudi’s emerging startup scene, absorbing its unique blend of tradition and tech.

Execution & Growth

Bondai launched in 2020 as a B2B marketplace designed to power the travel supply chain. From the outset, the mission was clear: enable travel partners to book, bundle, and scale without the friction of fragmented systems. Today, Bondai connects:

Flights from thousands of carriers
Over 100 global tour operators
~70,000 destinations
100,000 activities
More than 1 million hotels

Building the Platform

Bondai's white-label solutions and API integrations made it possible for local agencies to offer world-class booking capabilities without building their own tech stacks. The platform also offers multi-language support, dynamic pricing, and real-time availability, key features for regional relevance.

Strategic Partnerships

Strategic partnerships accelerated growth. SAUDIA, Visit Saudi, Viator, TUI, BookingBash, and Zahid Travel integrated with Bondai’s platform. Funding came from a robust investor pool, including 500 Global, Impact46, HALA Ventures, Zayani VC, and DraperU Ventures. Each investor brought not just capital but alignment with Saria’s vision of ecosystem enablement.

In 2022, she signed an MOU with Salam Booking to expand halal tourism offerings across MENA, tapping into a segment where cultural nuance is essential. That same year, Bondai launched an API with SAUDIA Holidays, further cementing its role as a backend enabler for national carriers.

Leadership Style & Culture

Saria leads with operational clarity, a founder fluent in both tech and tourism. Her team, split between Riyadh and San Mateo, operates with lean principles and shared purpose. The internal culture at Bondai reflects her own values: hospitality, humility, and high standards.

Ecosystem Presence

Her visibility in the regional ecosystem is notable. She’s spoken at WTM London, Saudi Tourism Forum (STF) in Riyadh, and TechWadi events, not just as a founder but as a representative of Saudi’s new generation of operators: ambitious, grounded, and globally aware.

Recognition & Global Relevance

At 27, Saria topped Forbes Middle East’s 30 Under 30 list in Science & Technology, a signal that Bondai’s impact reached beyond travel to tech innovation. She also earned "Best in the Batch" at Draper University’s Hero Training Program, selected from a competitive international cohort.

In 2023, she was recognized by Visa’s “She’s Next” initiative in Saudi Arabia, winning the People’s Favorite award. Selected from over 880 applicants, Saria earned a $10,000 grant after public voting, adding yet another milestone to her journey. For a sector often dominated by Western giants, Saria’s ability to build region-first technology positioned her as a rare voice in global travel-tech conversations.

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Key Lessons for Founders

1. Find a meaningful early win: Turning a class project into measurable business value can build the confidence that drives a founder’s vision.

2. Leverage national momentum: Bondai is not just aligned with Vision 2030, it helps implement it by empowering SMEs and digitizing tourism.

3. Partner strategically: Early integrations with SAUDIA and Visit Saudi weren’t just logos, they were catalysts for ecosystem credibility.

4. Lead with humility and local authenticity: Saria’s approach is deeply rooted in Saudi values: hospitality, service, and community enablement.

5. Think B2B from day one: While consumer platforms get visibility, B2B platforms like Bondai build long-term infrastructure. That’s where scale lives.

6. Embed global structure, not just global ambition: Exposure to DraperU and international accelerators gave Saria frameworks to execute locally with world-class standards.

Vision Forward

Bondai’s next chapter, as described by Saria Alderhali in her public statements, includes expanding into adjacent verticals like wellness tourism, eco-travel, and religious tourism. There's also an increased emphasis on enabling Saudi SMEs through white-label tools.

“We are expanding our suite of products … to not only include inbound tourism in Saudi, but internationally as well. Bondaiportal.com offers our B2Bondai capabilities as a whitelabelled platform‑as‑a‑service (PaaS). We are already piloting and plan to make it even better and smarter.”

— Saria shared via LinkedIn.

Deeper integrations across airlines, OTAs, and hospitality providers are also part of the roadmap. While these plans originate from the founder’s own announcements, they reflect Bondai’s continued alignment with Vision 2030 and the evolving needs of Saudi’s tourism economy.

Follow Founder’s Tale as we spotlight the entrepreneurs building tomorrow’s Saudi Arabia.