Secret Escapes buys Berlin start-up

Tuesday, 16 Jan, 2014 0

Luxury flash sales website, Secret Escapes, has bought Berlin-based start-up JustBook as part of its continued expansion into Europe.

JustBook is a mobile and web platform for exclusive hotel deals.

Its founders, Stefan Menden, Ognjen Zeric and Sebastian Fallert, and a team of 25 staff will stay on and run the Secret Escapes Germany business.

Under the deal, Secret Escapes hopes to replicate its "rapid success in the UK market" in Germany and build the mobile strategy for the wider Secret Escapes group.

Founded in 2011, Secret Escapes has expanded its presence across Europe, launching in Sweden and Germany in spring 2013, and now has five milliom members.

Secret Escapes chief executive Alex Saint said: "We’ve proven that 90% of the sales we generate for hotels are incremental, and JustBook offers a similar benefit to its suppliers, so we’ve found a natural partner with which to grow in Germany and expand our marketing channels to include mobile and app distribution.

"Our major goal is to substantially increase hotel occupancy rates and reduce the dependency of hotels on the big OTAs."

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Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.

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