Tag: Booking.com

Travel app downloads reach 143m installs in Q2

Reading Time: 2 minutesWorldwide: The travel app category reported strong year-on-year growth rates in Q2, with vacation rental apps leading the way in the recovery of the accommodation sector post-pandemic.  With the vaccination and infection rates rising and dropping simultaneously, travel app downloads reached 143 million installs during the second quarter. Overall downloads were up by 104 per […]

Booking to repay $110m in Covid aid to governments

Reading Time: 2 minutesNetherlands / US: Online travel agency Booking Holdings has revealed it will repay up to $110 million in coronavirus aid to governments who supported the company during the height of the pandemic. including around $78 million [€64 million] to the Dutch government over an executive pay row. Booking announced it would repay the aid in a […]

Holidu appoints Thresh as MD for North America

Reading Time: 2 minutesGermany / US: Munich-based holiday rental search engine Holidu is extending its growth into the United States with the appointment of former Booking.com regional director for North America, Stephen Thresh, as its new managing director for North America. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic hitting the travel industry especially hard, Holidu has emerged from it by achieving […]

Booking.com partners with cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com

Reading Time: 2 minutesHong Kong: Booking.com has announced that it has partnered with payment and cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com to deliver travel deals to Crypto.com users, exclusively via the company’s app. As a result, Crypto.com users will be able to benefit from discounts of up to 25 per cent when making accommodation reservations through Booking.com. Those who pay using […]

Vacation rental revenues halved, $35b loss in 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutesWorldwide: According to data from StockApps, the revenue of the global vacation rental industry is expected to drop by $35 billion in 2020, which equates to a 42 per cent drop year-on-year. In 2017 the industry generated $78.7 million in revenue, which rose by seven per cent to almost $84 billion in 2019. However in […]

Booking.com and Properly partner for minimum cleanliness score commitment

Reading Time: 3 minutesWorldwide: Global online travel agency Booking.com has partnered with world-class quality assurance platform Properly to introduce its minimal cleanliness score commitment, which requires alternative accommodation providers to commit to a minimal cleanliness score, re-affirming its commitment to prioritising traveller health and hygiene.  Based on active guest feedback, only properties which live up to this cleanliness […]

Booking.com partners with Futurestay for online check-ins

Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Booking.com has partnered with cloud-based vacation rental management solution Futurestay to provide online check-in options for the latter’s partner properties booked through the platform, as a way of allaying customer concerns in the wake of Covid-19.  According to Philip Kennard, founder and CEO of Futurestay, the two companies began their automated check-in venture late last year due […]

Holidu secures €4m funding from former Booking CEO Koolen

Reading Time: 3 minutesGermany: Munich-based holiday rentals search engine Holidu has announced that Kees Koolen, the former CEO of Booking.com, has invested more than €4 million into the company from his personal fund. The funding injection from Koolen is part of a €5 million extension to the €40 million Series C round that the company secured last year. […]

Booking.com to close at least five of its global offices

Reading Time: 2 minutesWorldwide: Online travel agency Booking.com is closing at least five of its offices around the world, in Bellevue, Washington [US], London and Cambridge [England], Toronto [Canada], and Split [Croatia]. The company announced the redundancies and economic cutbacks on a live call with more than 800 employees on Thursday [10 September]. The layoffs are effective with […]

Booking.com introduces weekly and monthly rate plans

Reading Time: 3 minutesWorldwide: Booking.com is introducing two new rate plans to satisfy evolving customer demand for longer stays and help its partners to drive occupancy: weekly rates and monthly rates. According to the platform, the weekly rate plan requires a minimum length of stay of seven nights, and for the monthly rate plan, a length of stay […]