Venere.com
IndustryTravel, Hotel
Founded1995; 29 years ago (1995)
FounderMatteo Fago
Marco Bellacci
Renata Sarno
Gianandrea Strekelj
DefunctDecember 1, 2016; 7 years ago (2016-12-01)
(redirected to Hotels.com)
Headquarters
Rome
,
Italy
Key people
Johan Svanstrom (President)
Number of employees
150
ParentExpedia Group
Websitevenere.com

Venere.com was a website focusing on online hotel reservations. Its listing included various types of accommodation. Venere.com started in the year 1994 as Venere Net Srl, an online travel agency based in Rome, Italy.[1] In 2008, it was acquired by Expedia Group.[2] The president of the company was Johan Svanstrom.[3] The company offered scholarships for Business & Management and Tourism students in Europe[4] and Australia.[5]

History

In 1994, four partners launched Venere.com and developed the first beta version of the hotel booking engine. In February 1995, the first marketing activities were launched for hotels in Rome and Florence. The first reservation arrived in June 1995. In 2001, Venere.com became a Joint Stock Company (Venere Net SPA) and opened international offices in London (Venere UK LTD) and Paris (Venere France SARL).[6]

In 2007, the global private equity firm Advent International acquired a 60% stake in Venere Net. Expedia Inc. acquired 100% of Venere.com in 2008.[7] In 2008, Venere.com acquired the Italian online hotel booking agency Worldby.com.[8]

On December 1, 2016, Venere.com was redirected to Hotels.com (another brand owned by Expedia). The Venere.com app became non-operational after this date, with users advised to download the existing Hotels.com app and register an account there instead.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Venere.com". Bloomberg L.P.
  2. ^ "Expedia, Inc. Enters Into Agreement to Acquire Europe-Based Venere.com" (Press release). Expedia Group. July 15, 2008.
  3. ^ "Leadership". ExpediaInc.
  4. ^ "Venere Scholarship". European Funding Guide.
  5. ^ "Venere Business & Tourism Scholarship". Study Perth.
  6. ^ "About". Venere. Archived from the original on 2005-05-27.
  7. ^ "Expedia acquires Venere but what does it mean?". Hotelblogs. Archived from the original on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  8. ^ "Venere.com acquires Worldby.com | Travel Industry News & Conferences - EyeforTravel". www.eyefortravel.com. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  9. ^ May, Kevin (January 9, 2017). "Ciao Venere - Expedia Closes Headwind-Facing Hotel Booking Site". Phocuswire.
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