Webjet Limited is a global digital travel business operating in both consumer ( B2C) and wholesale ( B2B) markets. Webjet Limited's Registered Office is located in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. The consumer division includes Webjet, an online

travel agency A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...

(OTA) in Australia and New Zealand, and Online Republic, a New Zealand based online travel booking business. The wholesale division, WebBeds is a travel intermediary, providing accommodation and ground services to the travel industry through booking websites. The company trades globally operating three locally managed regional divisions -

Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

(APAC),

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

(AMEA) and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Brands

B2C Division

Webjet

Established in 1998, Webjet is an online

in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

GoSee

Webjet acquired the online travel booking group, Online Republic, in May 2016 for $NZ85 million. In 2021, Online Republic rebranded as GoSee which is a global e-commerce group based in New Zealand.

B2B Division

WebBeds

WebBeds is a travel provider brand established in February 2013. WebBeds currently operates trade-only booking platforms Lots of Hotels, Sunhotels, Fit Ruums, Totalstay and DOTW, and specialist travel brands JacTravel DMC and Umrah Holidays International.

Lots of Hotels

The WebBeds business launched with the establishment of Lots of Hotels in Dubai, during late 2013. In November 2015, Lots of Hotels North America was launched.

Sunhotels (Europe)

Webjet acquired European online hotel provider Sunhotels in September 2014. In August 2016, it was announced Sunhotels (as a subsidiary of Webjet Limited) was set to assume control of over 3,000 hotel contracts owned by European tour operating group, Thomas Cook. The transition of this partnership deal is expected to be complete by January 2019.

FIT Ruums (Asia)

Launched in November 2016, FIT Ruums focuses on B2B travel distribution for worldwide hotel accommodation and transfers in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. FIT Ruums has offices in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, China and Japan.

JacTravel

Acquired in September 2017, JacTravel is a global hotel accommodation supplier, specialising in inbound group travel services to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

. JacTravel is headquartered in London and has offices throughout the

, the

and North America.

Totalstay

Previously known as Exclusively Hotels, Totalstay.com was launched in Europe in 2006. Totalstay is a hotel booking tool for travel agents.

DOTW

Webjet Limited acquired Destinations of the World in 2018. DOTW is a B2B travel booking platform specialising in the Middle East.

Umrah Holidays International

WebBeds launched Umrah Holidays International in 2018, a specialist B2B brand providing online pilgrimage travel services to the travel industry.

History

Webjet was established by former Jetset Travel Chief Executive David Clarke, Allan Nahum and John Lemish in 1998. The company was publicly listed on the ASX in 2000 through a reverse takeover deal with Roper River Resources NL. /sup> Roper River Resources NL became Webjet NL on 18 April 2000 and was later changed to Webjet Limited on 15 June 2000. On 31 May 2001, Webjet became 100% automated, allowing customers to fully complete their bookings online. Webjet launched a WAP website in May 2002 for mobile phones and offered SMS customer support. In April 2010, Webjet Limited commenced operations in North America through a joint venture with Mathias Friess, formerly General Manager of Global Sales and Distribution of

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue'', with two ...

, and Head of Sales North America for Lufthansa. Webjet entered into a joint venture with Westminster Travel in Asia to initially cover the establishment of Webjet in Singapore and Hong Kong. This was followed by the launch of Webjet in Canada in December 2010. In February 2011, John Guscic was appointed as Webjet's Managing Director, after serving on the Webjet board since 2003. In the same month, Webjet launched Lots of Hotels. In April 2012, Webjet OTA signed as a major sponsor of the Melbourne Football Club, with players sporting the Webjet.com.au logo on the front of their club guernseys less than 24 hours after the deal was struck. In the same month, Webjet also partnered with Australian loyalty program flybuys. In July 2012, Webjet entered into its first international franchise agreement with BidTravel in South Africa. In March 2013, Webjet acquired Zuji in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore from Travelocity for $25 million. In November 2013, Webjet signed a two-year deal as the principal sponsor of

Sydney Thunder The Sydney Thunder are an Australian franchise professional cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League. Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Thunder are the successors of the New South Wal ...

for the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons. In February 2014, Webjet and Sydney FC agreed to a new major commercial partnership which renewed their status as the principal partner of the team since the beginning of the 2012/2013 Hyundai A-League season. Webjet entered into a binding Heads of Agreement to acquire the SunHotels Group in Europe, and was fully acquired by September 2014. In February 2015, Webjet began accepting Bitcoin on holiday package bookings, making it one of the first Australian retailers to accept the electronic currency in their payment process. In May 2016, Webjet formally disclosed its acquisition of former rival Online Republic through the airing of a video in national TV, showing the Airport Rentals (Australia) brand. On 9 November 2016, Webjet announced the sale of Zuji for $56 million, doubling its investment. In June 2017, Webjet announced the conclusion of its joint venture with Mathias Friess, by selling its remaining interest in Webjet in North America. Webjet re-acquired the rights to Webjet.com, with the remaining brand and operations transitioning over to 'Flyus.com'. In August 2017, Webjet announced the purchase of UK-based Jac Travel (who in turn had acquired its rival Totalstay in 2015). In March 2021, Webjet announced an investment in LockTrip.

References

{{S&P/ASX 200 Australian brands Australian travel websites Australian companies established in 1998 Transport companies established in 1998 Internet properties established in 1998 Travel and holiday companies of Australia Online travel agencies Travel ticket search engines Companies based in Melbourne Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange