The technology and tourism industries in Brazil are erupting at the same time, and Hotel Urbano is at the epicenter of all the action. The site is a fairly straightforward OTA for making travel plans, which launched in 2011 and expects to surpass $450 million in revenue in 2013.
RIO DE JANEIRO – The online travel agency Hotel Urbano announced that it has raised $20 million in its third round of financing from Insight Venture Partners. The company is growing fast, and the capital will support its continued growth.
Brazil is one of the hottest emerging markets for startups. Internet use is growing at a rapid pace there, and the country recently reached 100 million Internet users. Venture capitalists are beginning to look toward Brazil for investment opportunities. Brazil’s hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, events that attract millions of tourists, and the country has an expanding middle class. Accordingly, the online travel market in Brazil is blowing up – it’s on track to surpass $7.5 billion in online travel sales this year. According to eMarketer, this is a “bellwether” for consumer-facing e-commerce and online travel sales serve to “anchor” an overall shift from offline to online purchasing.
Hotel Urbano is a fairly straightforward site for making travel plans. It launched in 2011 and expects to surpass $450 million in revenue in 2013. It has 15 million registered customers, and the company claims its 7.7 million Facebook fans are more than any travel brand in the world. The site presents listings for hotels, national travel packages, international travel packages, holidays and special deals, cruises, and tours. You enter a location and Hotel Urbano presents an array of relevant results. It has 180,000 accommodations options, in 35,000 destinations, across 83 countries.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
