Page 11 - bne_Tech_07_2019

Investment
July 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
can be used for catering and hotel services.
The government declared its goal is to increase the share of the sector to reach 16% of GDP by 2030 from 10% at present.
Szallas.hu is the largest online booking site in Hungary, which now offers its services in six countries: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The company saw revenue rise 23% to HUF4.2bn in 2018, half of it coming from its foreign units.
The Czech company reported similar growth with sales rising 20-25% in recent years. Last year it
Owner of Skyscanner Chinese Ctrip buys Russian peer Avia Center
Chinese online booking major Ctrip acquired
a minority stake in Russian peer online flight search and booking service Avia Center, Vedomosti daily reported on June 30 citing unnamed representatives of the company and investment bank Aspring Capital.
Reportedly, Ctrip acquired a 25% stake in Avia Center for an undisclosed amount, which is estimated at about $5mn-$7.5mn and could potentially consolidate 100% in the Russian company. Data Insight estimates that Russian e-travel market soared 12-fold to RUB850bn in the past eight years and gained 23% in 2018 alone.
posted HUF2.8bn in revenue. Hotel.cz offers some 6,000 accommodation facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which will be expanded by offers from Szallas.hu in Poland, Croatia and Hungary.
Szallas.hu is owned by PortfoLion, the venture capital company of OTP and Eximbank. The owners set the goal of making the online booking site the largest company in Central Europe by 2021.
The Hungarian company said non-organic growth this year will be funded with a capital injection from PortfoLion, bank credit and share swaps.
Avia Center was founded in 2005 by Sergey Bogachev and Alexander Grigoryev, who control 25% and 75% stakes in the company, respectively. The service has b2b partnerships with over 3,000 tour operators in Russia and CIS, while having retail point partnerships with MTS and Tele2 mobile operators and Russian Post branches.
Ctrip has capitalisation of $20.5bn and is one of the largest online booking agencies in the world and the largest in China. Ctrip owns Scottish Skyscanner, American-based travel site Tours4fun, travel research site Trip.com and Trip by Skyscanner, among others.