AA purchases stake in Bookabach.co.nz

AA purchases stake in Bookabach.co.nz and creates New Zealand’s largest online accommodation service

The AA has purchased a significant stake in New Zealand’s leading holiday home website Bookabach.co.nz.

AA Bookabach, as the joint venture will be known, makes the AA the largest accommodation player in the New Zealand travel sector.

The AA already lists 4,200 properties on its travel website www.aatravel.co.nz , including hotels, motels, backpackers, and lodges. AA Bookabach hosts over 1,800 New Zealand baches and holiday homes.

AA Tourism General Manager, Peter Blackwell, says “purchasing a significant stake in Bookabach made sense. Adding baches and holiday homes to the AA’s vast array of accommodation options really completes our line-up and we are now the largest and most comprehensive online accommodation provider in New Zealand.”

“The Bookabach team have built a wonderful product and a brand that shares many of the Kiwi values that are at the very heart of the AA. AA Bookabach will be a valuable resource to our 1.2 million members, many of whom are bach owners or renters,” says Mr Blackwell.

AA Bookabach is set to build on the success of Kiwi brand Bookabach.co.nz, started by entrepreneurs Peter Miles and Simon Morgan six years ago.

Peter Miles says “we started out with the curiosity to see how the internet could be best used to solve a common Kiwi problem - how to make it easy for families and friends to share their bach, and also how to give people ready access to rental baches. At the time, we were intrigued to discover how the internet could be used to build communities of interest around something quintessentially kiwi – the bach.”

“We’ve worked hard to establish the Bookabach brand and our users are extremely loyal. Our research shows that they have the same loyalty as brands like Harley Davidson and Apple,” says Mr Miles.

Simon Morgan says “the opportunity to work closely with the AA Tourism team is also a really important factor in this joint venture for us. The team’s great work within the tourism sector and particularly the marketing capability with campaigns like 101 Must Do’s for Kiwis and Great Kiwi Road Trips are strong drawcards for us.”

“Bookabach.co.nz has seen consistent growth of 100 per cent year on year for the last three years and has become a significant player in the online accommodation category, despite specialising only in private holiday home rentals. The site now has a membership of some 70,000 bach renters,” says Mr Morgan.

ENDS

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