Secret Escapes
 | |
| Industry | Travel |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
Key people | Alex Saint, Tom Valentine, Troy Collins |
| Services | Flash deals |
Number of employees | 200+ |
| Website | www |
Secret Escapes is a members-only British travel company selling heavily discounted luxury hotel stays and trips through its website and mobile app. Secret escapes operates in the UK, USA, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain.
History
Secret Escapes was launched in 2010 by Tom Valentine and Alex Saint,[1] after identifying a demand in luxury travel deals in the UK.[2] In 2014, the company acquired the German mobile hotel booking application Justbook to compete with other last minute hotel mobile apps.[3]
In July 2015 the company secured an additional $60m in funding from existing investor Octopus Investments as well as Google Ventures to fund further expansion and acquired UK based mycityvenue in an all cash and stock deal adding another 1200 venues and 1.4 million members to its portfolio. [4][5][6][7] According to IBT, the company has over 19 million members and has sold 2 million room nights.[8]
In October 2015, Secret Escapes continued its expansion in Germany by acquiring flash deal site Travista.[9]
Advertising
In 2012, British actress Camilla Arfwedson starred in a television commercial for Secret Escapes, with follow-up adverts also released in 2013.
See Also
References
- ^ "Secret Escapes needed customers before it had a product".
- ^ "The Secret Escapes 'nerds' who found success with hotel luxury on cheap".
- ^ "Luxury Travel Site Secret Escapes Buys Germany's JustBook To Square Up To Jetsetter And Hotel Tonight".
- ^ City A.M., 26 July 2015
- ^ TechCrunch, 26 July 2015
- ^ Fortune Term Sheet, 24 July 2015
- ^ TechCrunch, 25 July
- ^ Sembhy, Ravender. "Google invests in Secret Escapes as online travel firm secures $60m funding". IBT.
- ^ "Google-backed luxury-trip site Secret Escapes buys german rival". hotelmarketing.com. Retrieved 6 October 2015.