UK / Spain: Cloud-based hospitality business intelligence platform OTA Insight has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Madrid-based vacation rental market intelligence company Transparent to create what is being called “the world’s most comprehensive platform for data and analytics across both the hotel and short-term rental industries”.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed by either company.
Founded in 2016, Transparent aggregates and structures data on more than 35 million listings across the globe. Its data originates from both proprietary and public sources, including Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and other industry partners.
The acquisition coincides with the increasing convergence of distribution channels, leading property management companies, destination marketing organisations [DMOs], hotels, investors, OTAs and other industry service providers to seek out market intelligence from companies such as Transparent, due to their advanced analytical and integrative capabilities and quality market data.
Meanwhile, OTA Insight integrates with industry tools, including hotel property management systems, RMS solutions and data benchmarking providers. Its team currently supports more than 55,000 properties in 185 countries.
The accelerating convergence between asset classes has made it increasingly difficult to categorise units, at a time when there is still a significant divergence in the tools used by property managers and hotel revenue managers alike.
OTA Insight CEO Sean Fitzpatrick said: “Distribution channels are converging, with OTAs offering both hotel and short-term rental accommodation. The lines are starting to blur between accommodation providers with hotel chains rapidly expanding their short-term rental portfolios.
“We’re delighted to join forces with Pierre Becerril and the incredibly talented Transparent team to help meet the needs of a fast-changing industry,” he added.
Transparent co-founder and CEO, Pierre Becerril, said: “Transparent’s high-quality data is the fuel that has enabled thousands of customers to make smarter pricing, distribution and investment decisions. With the increased levels of convergence of hotels and vacation rentals, we believe that the combined Transparent and OTA Insight teams will help to consolidate our position as a market leader.
“Today, we are proud to join the OTA Insight team. We have a lot of synergies to build on, which will ultimately benefit our customers, teams and investors as we continue to scale and grow,” he added.
Last July, Transparent received investment from JetBlue Technology Ventures [JTV], the venture capital subsidiary of American low cost airline JetBlue Airways, taking its total funding to $2.8 million. At the time, the company said that it would use the investment to continue to expand its commercial team, supporting JTV’s own vision of “reimagining the accommodation experience” and becoming a fully-fledged travel brand.
Then in November, OTA Insight announced that it had secured $80 million in new funding from Spectrum Equity to drive its growth phase. In doing so, OTA Insight will be able to leverage the expertise of a growth equity firm that already manages a portfolio of data-oriented companies, such as Ancestry and Survey Monkey.
