Hospitality News South Africa

AccorHotels to acquire 100% of luxury private rental player Travel Keys

AccorHotels has begun exclusive negotiations to acquire 100% of private vacation rental market player, Travel Keys - an elite travel broker representing a luxury collection of over 5,000 villas across more than 100 destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii & the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa (21 in South Africa, two in Kenya and four in Morocco).
- Villa Bleu Blanc, Cape Town
Image Source: Travel Keys - Villa Bleu Blanc, Cape Town

A pioneer in the industry, the Atlanta-based company focuses on guest satisfaction, offering professional vacation planning and 24/7 concierge services. The combination of Travel Keys with onefinestay and Squarebreak will provide AccorHotels with a unique offering of about 8,500 addresses in the luxury private rental market, with highly curated properties in both the vacation and urban segments.

The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2017 after customary due diligence. Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of AccorHotels explained: “We are extremely pleased to have Bobby Gibson and his team join the AccorHotels family. They have built a very robust business over the years that will be instrumental in our strategy to create the number one luxury private rental player in the world. Travel Keys brings an impressive portfolio of premium properties to our existing activities. This acquisition further demonstrates our agility and dynamic approach to offer comprehensive services to our clients.”

Bobby Gibson, CEO of Travel Keys declared: “We feel a strong link with the AccorHotels’ teams, and share in the vision of both Sebastien Bazin and the private rental leaders at AccorHotels about the future of our industry. We are very enthusiastic about this partnership, writing a new and exciting chapter of Travel Keys’ story. Our objective is to offer extraordinary experiences to our guests, i.e. the best homes in the best locations with the highest level of service. At the same time, we cater to extremely demanding hosts who find their unique assets mismatched to the mass market offerings found in emerging peer-to-peer marketplaces.”

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