Vacation exchange platform VaShare, a new platform launched by Tujia, announced on July 24 that it has received millions of dollars in its Pre-A round financing supported by YI Capital. In less than six months, VaShare has completed its second round of financing, following an angel round of millions of dollars backed by Ctrip and Tujia in March. The company has raised a total of around ten million US dollars so far.
The transaction volume of China's online travel market amounted to RMB 590.36 billion in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 33.3%. With consumption upgrading and the middle class emgerging, the demand for leisure tourism is growing rapidly and the requirement for accommodation becomes more diversified. This brings opportunities for the products in the vacation rental business.
"VaShare was born when vacation became a lifestyle", said Mr. Hai Zhuang, CEO of VaShare. The company aims to select holiday destinations worldwide with quality properties for Chinese travelers. By sub-dividing the ownership of their houses, VaShare users can exchange their lodging rights in their properties. Users with respective points can exchange for free stays in properties in global destinations through the platform. This accommodation-sharing model can not only avoid high costs and long-time vacancy problem of buying a full set of vacation property, but also spare rental and marketing costs in the traditional hotel accommodation industry, lowering the holiday accommodation cost by 60%.
In managing the inventory, VaShare has brought in the hotel management system of Tujia’s Stweetome apartment brand. As of July 2017, the VaShare platform has exchangeable properties in 800 holiday destinations around the world, and it plans to increase the number to 6,000 in two years.
VaShare was launched by Chinese vacation rental firm Tujia in February. The company has around 30 employees, mostly from Tujia’s core management team.
