Travel tech company Holidu acquires holiday rental platform Spain-Holiday and merges the business with its subsidiary Bookiply

The merger of the businesses gives the Holidu Group’s ongoing growth another boost. Holidu is active in 21 markets with its eponymous search engine for holiday rentals and is one of the fastest-growing travel tech companies worldwide. With the acquisition, Holidu’s subsidiary Bookiply, which provides software and services for holiday home owners, considerably expands its customer base and becomes the market leader in the brokerage and management of properties in Spain.

Johannes Siebers, CEO of Holidu, explains: “After our first conversations with the Spain-Holiday board, it quickly became clear that we share the same mission: to finally make the search and booking of holiday rentals easy. This is because the holiday home market is still not fully transparent and technologically lags behind other markets. With the acquisition of Spain-Holiday, we are writing a new chapter for both companies, in which we are expanding our innovative technologies and unique service in the holiday rental market Europe-wide. We welcome our new colleagues from the Spain-Holiday team and look forward to working together on our mission.”

The CEO of Spain-Holiday, Jannich Friis Petersen, says: “Both Spain-Holiday and Holidu aim to support holiday home owners in a professional yet simple way. The new partnership will help holiday home owners and their properties gain much more visibility. Holidaymakers will benefit from improved service thanks to Holidu’s technology, such as direct booking options.”

Claus Sørensen, the founder of Spain-Holiday, explains that extensive knowledge of the market and close relationships with the landlords were decisive factors for success. “At Spain-Holiday, we have focused on private holiday home rentals from the very beginning and sought personal interaction with the landlords. This approach has made Spain-Holiday one of the leading rental portals in the Spanish market. The acquisition provides both landlords and guests with an even more powerful portal that scores with top technology and customer service.”

“From the first contact with the Spain-Holiday team, it was clear to us that both companies have very complementary strengths and that a merger of both businesses will lead to sustainable, strong growth,” enthuses Darius Abde Yazdani, Vice President Operations & Strategy at Bookiply.

Spain-Holiday was founded in 2002 in Málaga and is one of the leading online portals in the management of holiday homes in Spain. The branch in Málaga will continue as well as the large majority of the Spain-Holiday team. Holidu will continue to operate the portal and use its technology platform to give the website a further boost.

Significantly more visibility for holiday home owners

Holiday home owners who have previously listed their accommodation on Spain-Holiday will receive significantly more visibility and many advantages in the management of their property with the integration: marketing on all major booking portals, synchronisation of calendars and central management of payment transactions. Landlords also benefit from customer service for themselves and their guests and can have professional photos and property descriptions created free of charge. Bookiply also relies on personal contact persons who can be reached locally in Málaga and by telephone in addition to all digital channels.

Holidu Group is on course for expansion and growth despite corona

Although the Covid-19 pandemic hit the travel industry hard, the Holidu Group was able to continue its growth course. Since May 2020, the search engine has been operating profitably. By August 2021, the Holidu Group had recorded a 2.6-fold growth compared to the same period in the “corona-free” year of 2019. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Holidu has responded to the changing needs of travellers and developed numerous new features, such as flexible cancellation and payment models. The company employs over 300 people in 13 locations worldwide. Bookiply offers services to homeowners from eleven offices across Europe. Bookiply is already the market leader in key tourist destinations such as Spain, Sardinia and Lake Constance. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

About Holidu
Holidu’s mission is to finally make the search and booking of holiday rentals easy. Its search engine for holiday rentals allows travellers to book the ideal accommodation for the lowest price. The company also helps holiday rental owners multiply their bookings with less work through its software and service solution under the Bookiply brand. Brothers Johannes and Michael Siebers founded Holidu in 2014. The high-growth startup is headquartered in Munich and has local offices in the most attractive travel destinations in Europe and the US. For more information, see www.holidu.co.uk and www.bookiply.com.