Booking.com, a Priceline Group member, signed a business partnership with Rakuten LIFULL STAY, a private accommodation platform of Rakuten Group, on December 11, 2017 to enter the private accommodation market of Japan.
Through this partnership, the private accommodation on Vacation STAY (the Rakuten LIFULL STAY platform to be launched in 2018) will be listed on Booking.com. Private accommodation will appear alongside hotels, ryokans and hostels on the booking site.
Launched in Amsterdam in 1996, Booking.com is the world’s biggest OTA with 1.5 million or more listings for more than 120,000 destinations in 220 countries and regions, and its booking service is available in 70 countries in 43 different languages. Rakuten LIFULL STAY expects the partnership to increase the number of international users for private accommodation in Japan.
Besides, Rakuten LIFULL STAY has already agreed to business partnerships with a vacation rental platform of Expedia Group (HomeAway) and with a major private accommodation provider of China (Tujia). Thanks to these partnerships with three major online platforms, the hosts listed on Vacation STAY should extend their sales channels worldwide.
The CEO of Booking.com Gillian Tans indicated that the partnership will give Booking.com users from all over the world wonderful opportunities to enjoy deeper experiences in Japan, defining Japan as a strategic market for Booking.com.
