Bookiply (part of Holidu) acquires Lohospo GmbH and my.IRS GmbH (TOMAS Software)
Munich, August 5th, 2022
The fast-growing vacation rental company Bookiply, headquartered in Munich, forms a strategic partnership with two companies specializing in the accommodation market in Germany. As part of the partnership, Bookiply announces today the purchase of Lohospo, the service company for hosts and destination marketing organizations (DMOs), and my.IRS, with the software TOMAS, the specialist for destination management in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The strategic merger, and thus expansion of the long-standing cooperation between the three companies, will enable them to utilize even more synergies within the group in the future and thus offer DMO partners and hosts the best possible marketing through a strong range of products and services. The offices in Freiburg (Lohospo) and Puchheim near Munich (my.IRS), teams and managing directors of Lohospo and my.IRS will remain in place and become part of the team at the Holidu Group with over 400 employees across Europe.
Christiane Schwaß, CEO of Lohospo, explains: “The already high demand for accommodation has increased significantly in recent years. Bookiply is one of the leading companies in the market with its innovative technology and outstanding customer service. We are convinced that together with Bookiply we will offer our host and DMO partners great technical possibilities, and they will benefit significantly from this – for example through even better visibility and many advantages in managing the offer for landlords and hosts.” As a service provider, Lohospo supports accommodation businesses in Germany through online marketing and sales, thus improving the occupancy of their vacation rentals as well as guest rooms. More than 7,000 hosts in and outside of Germany use the service of Lohospo and over 100 destination marketing organizations trust the know-how of the company.
Christiane Schwass, Theresia Datz, Rebecca von Schwerin (vlnr) / © Christoph Düpper
Frank Nowak, Managing Director of my.IRS: “Together we will further optimize our software products and drive innovations for DMO partners and hosts even faster in the future. Holidu and Bookiply thrive with an extremely strong tech organization and cutting-edge technological resources. We are very much looking forward to the cooperation.” With the TOMAS software, my.IRS offers its approximately 400 DMO customers and more than 100,000 bookable hosts, a powerful online tourism management system to facilitate the daily work of cities, municipalities as well as tourism destinations. Lohospo and their customers also use the TOMAS software. Uniquely, TOMAS covers the complete spectrum from vacation rentals and hotels to conventions, conferences, group travel, city tours, and experiences.
The merger of these companies gives a further boost to the ongoing growth of Holidu and Bookiply. Founded in 2016, Holidu’s subsidiary Bookiply is already the market leader in key tourist regions such as South Tyrol, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, the Canary Islands and Sardinia. Serving more than 10,000 homeowners with 17,000 accommodations in these regions, as well as 19 other locations in Germany and Europe. The new partnerships help accommodation providers with significantly more visibility and less effort in managing the offer. In addition, Bookiply strengthens the cooperation with tourism associations, and destination marketing organizations (DMOs).
Johannes Siebers, CEO of Holidu, explains, “We have been working with Lohospo and my.IRS for years and are now looking forward to working together to offer the accommodation market more opportunities for digitalization. We want to deepen our collaboration with DMOs, offering both regions and even more hosts better technological solutions and simplification of processes, from higher occupancy to payment management. In doing so, we rely not only on first-class technology but also on personal relationships with hosts and DMO partners. We welcome our new colleagues from both companies and look forward to working together on our mission: To finally make searching and booking of accommodations and vacation rentals easy.”
Johannes Siebers / © Renate Forster
About Holidu
Holidu’s mission is to finally make the search and booking of vacation rentals easy. The booking portal for vacation rentals allows travelers to book the ideal accommodation quickly and for the lowest price. The company also helps homeowners multiply their bookings with less work through its software and service solution, marketed under the Bookiply brand. The brothers Johannes and Michael Siebers founded Holidu in 2014. The high-growth company is headquartered in Munich and has local offices in the most attractive travel destinations in Europe. For more information, see www.holidu.com and www.bookiply.com/about
About Lohospo
Lohospo is a service company founded in 2011 that supports accommodation businesses and tourism organizations in Germany with their online sales and thus improves the occupancy rate of their accommodations. To this end, the company has built a sales network of well-known online booking portals, including Holidu. More than 7,000 hosts in Germany and abroad use the service of Lohospo and more than 100 DMO partners trust the know-how of this fast-growing company. Lohospo’s founders are Christiane Schwaß, Theresia Datz and Rebecca von Schwerin, who continue to manage the business of Lohospo GmbH. The company is based in Freiburg in Breisgau.
About my.IRS (TOMAS Software)
With over 400 DMO customers and more than 100,000 bookable hosts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, TOMAS is one of the leading systems in the market. In addition to standard functions such as room reservation, brochures and articles, TOMAS specializes primarily in the areas of city tours, packages, experiences & events, groups, conferences and specialized conventions. The office is located in Puchheim near Munich. The two managing directors, Markus Bschorer and Frank Nowak, have been working in tourism for over 30 years.