HolidayCheck Group

HolidayCheck Group AG is an exchange-listed internet group, registered in Munich, Germany. It provides online portals for package travel reviews and bookings in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, under the HolidayCheck brand.

HolidayCheck Group AG
TypePublic
IndustryDigital media content provider
Founded2001
Headquarters
Munich, Germany
Key people
Georg Hesse, CEO
Markus Scheuermann, CFO
Nate Glissmeyer, CPO [1]
ProductsOnline portals
Revenue€138.9 million (2018)
Number of employees
470
ParentHubert Burda Media 
Websitewww.holidaycheckgroup.com

The group was created in 2001 as Tomorrow Focus AG by the merger of Focus Digital AG and Tomorrow Internet AG,[2] and renamed HolidayCheck Group AG in 2016 to reflect its focus on travel businesses.[3]

Origin

HolidayCheck was started in 1999 by students in Konstanz, Germany, including Markus Schott, Hakan Öktem, Jens Freiter, Jörg Kampshoff and Sascha Vasic.[4][5][6][7][8]

Initially, the site was operated privately under the domain hotel reviews.de. In 2003, the television station RTL reported on the portal.[9] The ensuing publicity prompted the founders to register the site as a commercial venture, debuting on 11 November 2003.

Co-founder Hakan Öktem led the company until 2009, followed by Jörg Trouvain (2009 to 2012),[10] Gilles Despas (2012 to 2015),[11] Anja Keckeisen (2015 to 2017)[12] and Christoph Ludmann (mid-2017 to present).[13]

Operations

HolidayCheck users can book travel, compare offers and rate their experience.

The company claims 2.5 million members and 8 million reviews, from an average of 24.13 million visits and 133 million page impressions per month (June 2017).[14] HolidayCheck also publishes an online travel magazine, Away.[15]

HolidayCheck also operates Zoover, a Dutch-language hotel review portal, as well as weather platform Meteovista and car rental comparison site MietwagenCheck.

The company was a founding member of the Association of New Tourism (VNT), an industry group of non-corporate travel agents promoting new distribution channels, latterly the Association of Internet Travel Distribution (VIR).[16]

Ownership and acquisitions

In July 2006, Hubert Burda Media Holding acquired 80 percent of the shares in HolidayCheck AG for €60 million, through its subsidiaries Burda Digital Ventures and Tomorrow Focus AG. Tomorrow Focus took a 51% share and Burda Digital Ventures took 29 %.[17]

In 2007 Burda Digital Ventures sold its shares to Tomorrow Focus AG. At the time, HolidayCheck was the market leader among German-speaking hotel and travel review sites, having Hotelcheck.de.[18] In 2008, HolidayCheck acquired rival portal Urlaub.com.[19]

In January 2009, Tomorrow Focus AG acquired a further 14 percent stake for €21.6 million, taking its stake to 94 percent of the company.[20] The founders sold their remaining 6 percent of the company in June 2013; Tomorrow Focus AG then became the sole owner.

The site's parent company made further investments in the travel sector in 2015, while selling several online publishing businesses at the time, including Focus Online and the Huffington Post.[21] The company changed its name from Tomorrow Focus AG to HolidayCheck Group AG in 2016.[22]

Financial results

For the 2018 financial year the firm reported operating EBITDA of €10.7 million (7.7%), on total revenue of €138.9m. HolidayCheck is listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt stock exchange.[23]

As of July 2019, the company had 471 employees in Bottighofen, Munich, Poznan and Warsaw. The management board consists of Georg Hesse (Chief Executive Officer), Dirk Scheuermann (Chief Financial Officer) and Nate Glissmeyer (Chief Product Officer and SVP Engineering).[24]

  1. "Annual Report 2016" (PDF). HolidayCheck Group. HolidayCheck Group. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  2. http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,149011,00.html
  3. "HolidayCheck press release". HolidayCheck Group. HolidayCheck Group. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  4. Molitor, Andreas (April 2016). "Keine Experimente!". brand eins. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  5. "Vom Wohnzimmer in die erste Liga" (PDF). Update. Magazin für Führungskräfte im österreichischen Reisemarkt. December 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  6. Kläsgen, Michael (18 May 2018). "Das Timing muss stimmen". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  7. "Tomorrow Focus lijft HolidayCheck volledig in". Emerce. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  8. Wolf, Uwe (January 2008). "Holidaycheck.de Urlaubsretter im Internet" (PDF). digital life. Die Welt von morgen. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-26. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  9. Holzapfel, Tim (18 May 2007). "Die WG-AG". fvw. Magazin für Touristik & Business Travel.
  10. "Trouvain löst Öktem als CEO bei HolidayCheck ab". kress.de. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  11. Sieberhaar, Hand-Peter (15 May 2012). "Gilles Despas übernimmt Chefsessel bei Holidaycheck". Handelsblatt. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  12. "Zu Anja Keckeisen siehe In drei Schritten zum CEO". fvw. Magazin für Touristik & Business Travel. 3 July 2015.
  13. "Wechsel an der Spitze von Holidaycheck". Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  14. "Mediadaten". HolidayCheck. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  15. "Holidaycheck startet Reisemagazin". fvw. Magazin für Touristik & Business Travel. 6 January 2017.
  16. "HolidayCheck tritt dem VIR bei". presseanzeiger.de. 15 January 2008.
  17. Jacobsen, Nils (24 November 2008). "HolidayCheck: Der wahre Wert der ToFo". Meedia. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  18. Teggatz, Timo (22 June 2007). "Offensiver Neuling". fvw. Magazin für Touristik & Business Travel.
  19. "Holidaycheck macht Urlaub". fvw. Magazin für Touristik & Business Travel. 9 May 2008.
  20. "Tomorrow Focus AG übernimmt weitere 14 Prozent an der HolidayCheck AG". tomorrow-focus.de. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  21. "TOMORROW FOCUS AG verkauft ElitePartner an Oakley Capital". Focus. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  22. "Tomorrow Focus wird Holidaycheck". Börsen-Zeitung. 6 May 2016.
  23. MarketScreener. "HolidayCheck : publishes annual results for 2018 - Revenue and earnings significantly up - shareholders in line for dividend | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  24. "HolidayCheck Group AG: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-07-24.

[1] [2]

  1. "Annual Report 2016" (PDF). HolidayCheck Group. HolidayCheck Group. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  2. "HolidayCheck press release". HolidayCheck Group. HolidayCheck Group. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
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