Charlottesville, Virginia (September 7, 2016) – Regatta Travel Solutions announced today that it has been acquired by Seekda. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Together, the two companies will focus on increasing direct booking volume for hotels through optimized meta-search and a powerful hotel booking engine. Seekda will also expand on Regatta’s work with Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs). Ashwin Kamlani, the Founder & CEO of Regatta Travel Solutions, has been appointed President of Seekda. His team will be expanding their offices in Charlottesville, Virginia over the next few weeks as they prepare to lead Seekda’s North America Division.
Seekda was founded in 2007 in Austria. Today the company offers meta-search connectivity to thousands of hotels in Europe and a smart bidding platform that algorithmically optimizes the hotel’s budget across meta-search channels. Regatta Travel Solutions, founded in 2010, powers the booking engines of independent hotels and hotel chains, as well as more than 50 official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) websites. Regatta has gained recognition in the industry with its cutting edge approach to the online booking process and innovative conversion tactics.
“You now have the most intelligent meta-search bidding platform on the market, combined with the most sophisticated booking technology available,” said Ashwin Kamlani, President of Seekda. “Hotels have never had such a powerful weapon in their arsenal before to capture direct demand through their own websites and meta-search engines. Meanwhile, we are going to accelerate the work that we have been doing with DMOs, successfully converting their websites into commission-free distribution channels for their hotels and attractions. For Regatta, we do not see this as an ‘exit’, but rather our grand entrance.”
“The technology that Regatta has introduced to the hotel industry is unparalleled,” said Randy Gilling, CEO of Seekda. “Together, our companies are going to empower hotels in a way that will finally allow them to effectively compete for their own customers. We don’t just level the playing field, we give our hotels a competitive advantage when it comes to capturing guests using their own websites and booking engines. The timing couldn’t be better for our two companies to be joining forces.”
Hotels everywhere are struggling to increase their volume of direct bookings. Most are focusing on traditional digital marketing efforts to compete for traffic, or advertising campaigns that effectively lower their Average Daily Rate by discounting against other channels. Seekda enables hotels to spend each marketing dollar much more efficiently to capture the most qualified traffic to their websites, and to give hotel customers ways to book online that even the largest OTAs cannot imitate to boost conversions and increase the profitability of their hotels.
Ashwin Kamlani will be moderating a panel about independent hotels driving direct bookings at the Triptease Direct Booking Summit in Washington DC on September 13, 2016.
