Trade Me now after a slice of travel pie
A report in NZ’s The Dominion Post says that Trade Me will launch a travel website in mid-August as it aims to exploit a gap that founder Sam Morgan sees in the market.
It has already signed up more than 1000 of an estimated 7000 domestic accommodation providers, he said yesterday, adding that this would help to reach his goal of creating the country’s most popular travel and accommodation website.
The online travel market was wide open with no single, strong site dominating. with Mr Morgan saying, “I think there’s a real brand space there that’s very wide open and just hasn’t been done well in New Zealand to date.” “We think there’s an opportunity there in consumers’ minds to establish a beach-head.”
Expanding into travel follows the online auction site’s previous moves into property, motor vehicles and jobs, with Mr Morgan saying Trade Me would make money from the travel site in the same manner as its other services and it would take fees from accommodation providers only when sales were made.
He did not see any particular competitors for Trade Me’s travel service but noted that the Jasons and AA websites targeted sales to accommodation providers.
Trade Me owner Fairfax Media, which also publishes The Dominion Post, is also taking a 12.5% stake in Vianet International.
Kerikeri-based Vianet is a travel software and development company which is Trade Me’s main technology provider for the travel website.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, is subject to due diligence and Trade Me’s general manager, Jon Macdonald, will join Vianet’s board.
Mr Morgan said more expansion was likely for Trade Me following its push into travel and while nothing else was on the radar yet, “clearly we have over 1.5 million people registered on Trade Me, we have a huge number of people visiting our website every day and if we can build something which meets their needs and can make us some money on the way through, then we will look to do that.”
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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