SINGAPORE, Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeAway, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY), based in Austin, Texas, is the world leader in vacation rentals, with more than one million listings in over 190 countries. In 2013, HomeAway® acquired a majority share in Travelmob, an online start-up for vacation rental properties in Asia Pacific, co-founded in 2012 in Singapore by Turochas Fuad (T) and Prashant Kirtane (PK), who were then Travelmob's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer. This month, HomeAway completed the acquisition of the remaining minority stake in Travelmob and now fully owns the company.
As part of the transition, Travelmob is now re-branded as HomeAway and the team launched 14 new, localized HomeAway sites across Asia including the big travel markets of China, Japan, India, Indonesia and Korea.
Headquartered in Singapore, the HomeAway Asia team will report to PK in his new role as vice president of Asia. PK will report to Dan Lynn, vice president of Asia Pacific. T will be leaving the company to pursue another startup or strategic venture.
"We've been committed to investing in Asia Pacific since 2011, and with the Travelmob acquisition complete, we have a very strong and experienced team in place. We plan to ramp up our investments so that we can provide the highest quality of service and the very best selection of whole homes for Asian travelers," said Brian Sharples, HomeAway co-founder and CEO.
With over 90% of listings being whole homes, and a search function to highlight family friendly properties, HomeAway is uniquely designed to cater to group and family travel. Consisting on average of at least 4 people, groups can be anything from traditional families, families travelling with families, couples with couples, and multi-generational families.
Says Lynn: "Vacation rentals are immensely popular with families and groups, which is why HomeAway customers will generate US$14 to US$16bn in rental revenue this year[1]. For over ten years, we have helped people come together with loved ones and experience phenomenal, memory-defining holidays, in beautiful, whole homes. We see a huge demand for this type of unique travel experience in Asia, and are excited the Travelmob acquisition has significantly expanded our portfolio of properties in the region."
Says PK, VP Asia: "Asian travelers are quickly catching on to the benefits of renting a whole house - from a money saving, comfort and also experience point of view. We're seeing significant year-on-year growth driven primarily by women booking vacations for their families, from the likes of Japan, mainland China, Korea and Taiwan. We are absolutely thrilled to be part of the HomeAway family and are looking forward to be part of the next phase of growth."
Note:
| [1] |
Estimate based on HomeAway inquiry and booking data |
For more information contact Tanya Wilson +65-9736-3462, Tanya@kult.com.sg
HomeAway
HomeAway, Inc., based in Austin, Texas, is the world's leading online marketplace for the vacation rental industry, with sites representing over one million listings of vacation rental homes in 190 countries. Through HomeAway, owners and property managers offer an extensive selection of vacation homes that provide travelers with memorable experiences and benefits, including more room to relax and added privacy, for less than the cost of traditional hotel accommodations. The company also makes it easy for vacation rental owners and property managers to advertise their properties and manage bookings online.
Since April 2011, HomeAway has steadily invested in its Asia Pacific presence beginning with the purchase of the holiday rental business from REA Group Limited and the subsequent launch of HomeAway.com.au. HomeAway made a minority investment in China-based vacation rental company, Tujia.com, in partnership with Ctrip.com International, the leading online travel service provider in China. The company also has distribution partnerships with Wego.com and Tripvillas.com.
Prashant Kirtane (PK)
PK was the CTO & Co-founder at Travelmob and led all product, platform and marketing initiatives for the company. Previously, PK spent 12 years at Yahoo! Inc and had build and led large product & engineering organizations creating some of the leading consumer Internet products & platforms for Yahoo! Globally. He served as the Senior Director of Engineering for Yahoo's Video division globally, where he led a team of over 40 engineers in a complete revamp of Yahoo's consumer video experiences and platforms across the company. Prior to that he was responsible for Yahoo's Mobile Media products & platforms. PK started his career in India at Tata Infotech.
Dan Lynn
Dan has spent most of his career in online travel. He currently leads the HomeAway APAC business, which incorporates Stayz in Australia, Bookabach in New Zealand, and HomeAway Asia, as well as a stake in Tujia in China. Before this Dan spent most of his career at Expedia, latterly as founding CEO of the joint venture between Expedia and AirAsia that ran Expedia's business in Asia. Dan started his career in London at McKinsey and at VC firm Smedvig Capital.
