Rakuten teams up with OTA to launch vacation rentals in Japan
Japan’s leading e-commerce company Rakuten Group is forming a business collaboration with Booking.com to list vacation rental properties online.
Rakuten’s Lifull Stay Inc unit will make its Japanese vacation rental properties instantly bookable on Booking.com’s soon to launch Japanese subsidiary.
It will go live from June 2018 and the two companies will collaborate on joint marketing activities to boost inbound tourism to Japan.
"We are delighted to partner with Rakuten Lifull Stay. Japan is a very important market for us, and has grown remarkably as one of the most popular travel destinations in the world," said Gillian Tans, CEO of Booking.com.
"Through this partnership, we are able to offer an even greater selection of vacation rental properties which provide exciting opportunities for Booking.com customers from all over the world to experience more of Japan."
Rakuten Lifull Stay officially debuts its marketplace for vacation rentals in June as new home sharing laws In Japan roll out.
Rakuten has already inked similar partnership agreements with China’s answer to Airbnb Tujia, and Expedia owned HomeAway.
"We will work closely with Booking.com to promote Japan as an exciting travel destination to international travelers and to expand inbound demand. We look forward to offering more diverse accommodation options as we add more homes and apartments to our platform in the future," said Munekatsu Ota, Representative Director of Rakuten Lifull Stay.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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