- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 September 1999 02.20 BST
Sir Bob Geldof's internet flight-booking service Deckchair.com yesterday made millionaires of a former rock band manager and a compulsive traveller by paying more than £2m for their one-year-old internet travel guide.
John Bentham, who has visited 130 countries, and Iain Gaynor, who used to manage bands on the north-west rock circuit and produce pop videos for MTV, set up kasbah.com last September.
Surfers can find details on more than 100,000 flights, hotels and destinations on the travel search engine.
"I guess we're very lucky to have arrived at a fortune through hedonism," said Mr Bentham, 51, who has been travelling almost continuously for 35 years. "When I reached 50 years of age I thought it was time to think about career options."
Deckchair.com co-founder James Page said: "Deckchair's essence is simplicity. Kasbah.com takes the hassle out of finding destination information."
Sir Bob and Mr Page, a founder of computer games company Eidos, established Deckchair.com in April. A new round of fundraising is under way, valuing the business at nearly £30m.
