Japanese e-commerce brand Rakuten is backing fellow Asian web brand MetroResidences with a USD 2.8 million investment.
Switch.CM, a London-based startup specialising in building reservations platforms for the hotel and airline industry, has been sold to flymya.com for USD 600,000.
Andrew McConnell, founder and CEO of Rented.com, talked about his speculations on what Airbnb and the vacation rental sector might do in 2017.
Hotel direct booking platform Triptease has raised another USD 9 million and will use some of the capital to open an office in Singapore and launch its service into Asia.
Chinese home-sharing firm Xiaozhu is in discussions with Airbnb to cooperate in overseas markets such as Japan, South Korea and others. The tie-up will also likely cover China.
Travelzoo appears to be returning to its deals publishing roots after telling the market that it has decided to “discontinue” its fly.com and SuperSearch businesses.
There is now a cottage industry of short-term-rental start-ups, whether started before or after Airbnb.
The vacation rental marketing and technology service provider Rentivo has raised USD 425,000 on the CrowdCube platform.