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US: Hotel marketplace Safara has acquired booking engine Skipper and has also raised additional funding.
Safara is a hotel marketplace that leverages community-sourced recommendations and pairs this with a loyalty programme. Travellers can earn up to 10 per cent cash back with every booking to use on a future trip.
The integration of Skipper’s booking engine – where hotel clients can embed reservations for dining, spa, golf, events, and more – has led to the creation of Safara 360. The “guest demand app” will give hotels visibility on Safara’s marketplace, used by more 60,000 millennial and Gen Z travellers, as well as capture guest preferences, data, and offer reservation management.
“We built Skipper to help independent hotels thrive in an increasingly competitive market,” said Jason Shames, CEO of Skipper. “Joining Safara allows us to combine our strengths and create groundbreaking tools for the hospitality industry.”
Doug Schuessler, CEO and co-founder of Safara, said: “By combining Safara’s best-in-class marketplace product with Skipper’s powerful direct booking technology, we’re creating a platform that’s never existed before. This union allows us to offer unparalleled value to both independent hotels and travellers, unlocking new ways for hotels to grow and for guests to benefit from a better digital experience.”
Alongside the acquisition, Safara also raised additional funding from defy.vc, Sequoia Capital, Thayer Ventures, and H20, bringing the company’s total funding to-date to $14 million.
Safara currently has more than one million global properties in its marketplace app.
Boutique hotel groups such as Ace Hotels, Aparium Hotel Group, Kirkwood Collection and more also use Skipper’s reservation product.
