Web Reservations International (WRI), a leading provider of online bookings for the budget, independent and youth travel (BIYT) market, today announced that it has acquired U.S. based Hostels.com.

Hostels.com
was founded in 1994 and lists over 6,000 hostels worldwide and attracts almost ten million page requests per month. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

This acquisition will make WRI the largest international booking agent for hostel accommodation online and builds on WRI’s own spectacular organic growth over the past two years.

WRI President & co-founder Tom Kennedy said “The purchase of Hostels.com is an important strategic move for us - it gives us more hostel bookings, more hostel product and an unrivalled brand name that is synonymous with our business of hostel reservations. In a single deal we have doubled our property base from which we can grow revenues even faster than previously.”

WRI
  will integrate its online reservations technology into the Hostels.com site and it is expected that the Hostels.com site will add bed sales in excess of $10m in the current financial year. The company’s current flagship domain, www.hostelworld.com
, will continue to operate as a separate site.

This acquisition further consolidates WRI’s position as global leader in hostel reservations, a tourism and travel sector that is worth in excess of US$4.5 billion annually. The demographic profile of the BIYT sector consists of young, budget conscious frequent travellers who prefer to book online.

WRI’s strategy going forward is further dominance of this sector which the company will continue to pursue through organic growth and further appropriate acquisitions.

 

——-