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Hospitality unicorn OYO has acquired Europe-based vacation rental company Direct Booker for $5.5 million.
Direct Booker said it has over 3,200 homes and has serviced 2 million customers. It was started in 2010 by Nikola Grubelic and Nino Dubretic from Dubrovnik, a key tourist destination in Croatia.
In Europe, OYO also owns and operates brands such as Belvilla (Belvilla by OYO), DanCenter, Traum Ferienwohnungen, among others. Direct Booker’s inventory will be available on Belvilla.com (Belvilla by OYO) and over time on its other platforms. This acquisition is said to strengthen OYO’s presence in Europe and Croatia specifically, where it already has nearly 1800 vacation homes on its Belvilla platform and over 7000 homes on its Traum Ferienwohnungen platform.
OYO has in the recent past declared its intent of actively scouting for ‘tuck-in’ acquisitions, especially in the European market, as a strategic growth lever. OYO already has a strong footprint in The Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Austria etc.
Commenting on the acquisition, Ankit Tandon, Global Chief Business Officer, OYO, said, “Homes continue to be an important strategic segment for OYO. With our leading Operating System, Dynamic Pricing capability, and other data science-enabled features, we have been able to add value to our over 140,000 Home Storefronts globally and I am excited to welcome Nino, Nikola and the team at Direct Booker under the OYO umbrella. I am sure OYO’s cutting-edge technology, distribution systems, and data sciences will add more value to their current 3,200 homes and enhance our collective growth in Europe. We continue to focus on going deep in Europe and delivering the best Vacation Home experiences to our customers.”
Adding to this, Nino Dubretic, CEO & Co-Founder of Direct Booker said, “We are happy to join forces with a global travel tech company like OYO. We strongly believe that by merging our technologies and expertise, this partnership will positively impact the Croatian tourism economy, further driving demand through OYO’s existing platforms spread across Europe. Being a part of OYO’s network will also increase visibility for the homes listed on our platform, especially across Scandinavian, Benelux and surrounding countries. The next couple of months will be truly exciting as we work towards building our business together.”
OYO is a global platform that connects hotels and homestay owners to customers with the help of technology products and services. OYO said it offers 40+ integrated products and services to patrons who operate over 157,000 hotel and home storefronts in more than 35 countries, including India and those in Europe, and Southeast Asia, as of March 31, 2021. With the acquisition of Direct Booker, the Dubrovnik-headquartered company will become a part of the OYO platform with a presence across Europe.
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