Holidaycheck

What Holidaycheck does

HolidayCheck is a DACH-region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) online travel agency and hotel review portal headquartered in Bottighofen, Switzerland, operating as a subsidiary of HolidayCheck Group. The company runs a consumer-facing website and mobile app where travelers can search 4+ million hotels, read peer reviews, compare packages from over 100 tour operators, and book packaged holidays, hotels, and rental cars with a best-price guarantee. Its core technical asset is the largest German-language database of hotel reviews (13+ million) and vacation photos (16+ million), overlaid with a proprietary recommendation rate algorithm that recency-weights reviews using a one-year half-life. The HolidayCheck Award, an annual recognition based on 892,000+ genuine 2025 reviews, and an anti-fake-review initiative underpin brand trust.

The business model combines four revenue streams: transaction-based booking commissions on packages and rentals, B2B advertising sold through a Munich-based Media Sales team (Premium Profile at €99/month, CPC-based Ranking Ad NEO, CPM/usage-based newsletter integrations, and premium drone/360° virtual-tour production services), subscription/membership revenue via HolidayCheck Premium Club, and revenue share from car rental bookings through a Driveboo/MietwagenCheck integration offered via API, widget, white-label, and banner channels. Distribution spans D2C web/app, a partner affiliate network via Awin, a free Business Center portal for hoteliers, and a B2B Media Center.

The platform serves two primary customer sets: long-tail individual travelers in DACH (Hotel Meta, Pauschalreisen, Last-Minute booking flows, magazine, and a 2.9M monthly visitor forum) and B2B partners including hoteliers, destination marketing organizations, tour operators, and car-rental lessors. The headcount of 251-500 supports a stable mid-sized operation with product, editorial, sales, and customer-service functions. AI deployment is limited to AI-powered help-page search and the deterministic recommendation algorithm rather than generative or predictive modeling.

Name

Holidaycheck

Legal name

HolidayCheck AG

Website

https://holidaycheck.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

HolidayCheck is a DACH-focused online travel agency and the largest German-language hotel review portal, letting travelers search, compare, and book hotel packages and rental cars while monetizing hoteliers through advertising and subscription tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Travel Agency

NAICS

Travel Agencies (561510), Travel Agencies (56151)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

OTA Package Holiday Platforms (Dynamic Packaging) (THAKAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hotel & Accommodation Booking Platforms (THALAFAB), Online Booking & Reservation Platforms (B2B/B2C) (THALAMAA)

Keywords

• Online travel agency
• Hotel review platform
• Travel booking platform
• Package holidays
• Price comparison engine

Headquarters

HQ city

Bottighofen

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Travel Booking Commissions: HolidayCheck earns transaction fees from booking packaged holidays, hotels, and rental cars. The platform compares prices from over 100 tour operators and integrates car rental services through Driveboo/MietwagenCheck, receiving commission on completed bookings.
2. B2B Advertising Revenue: Hoteliers, DMOs, tour operators, and other tourism partners purchase advertising formats including native ads, display advertising (AdBundle, billboards, skyscrapers), social media campaigns, newsletter integrations, and premium profile upgrades. Premium profiles cost 99 euros per month.
3. HolidayCheck Premium Club: Subscription/membership program offering exclusive discounts up to 50 euros on hotel bookings, ad-free experience in the app, and additional booking benefits.
4. Car Rental Integration (Mietwagen): Revenue share from car rental bookings through the integrated MietwagenCheck service, with partners receiving percentage of overall revenue based on integration type.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels9 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

HolidayCheck operates an online travel platform serving the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) where consumers can search hotels, read 13+ million authentic reviews, compare prices from 100+ tour operators, and book package holidays and rental cars. The company also provides B2B services including advertising formats, Premium Profile upgrades, Business Center tools, and content production for hoteliers, destination marketing organizations, and tour operators.

Product overview

HolidayCheck operates as a comprehensive travel platform consisting of multiple integrated products and services. The core offering is the HolidayCheck Website & App - a hotel review and booking portal with 13+ million reviews, 4+ million hotels, and 100+ tour operator comparisons. The platform is complemented by the HolidayCheck Club loyalty program, HolidayCheck Premium subscription, and HolidayCheck Award recognition program. For hotel partners, HolidayCheck offers the Business Center management platform, Premium Profile enhancement, Review-Tool for review collection, Widgets for website embedding, and Drone Video/360-degree Virtual Tour production services. The HolidayCheck Mietwagen service provides car rental comparison powered by Driveboo integration. Additional content through the HolidayCheck Magazin and Forum supports the travel inspiration and community engagement functions. Package holidays and last-minute deals round out the booking services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HolidayCheck Website & App Primary travel portal enabling users to search, compare, and book hotels and vacation packages. Features over 13 million hotel reviews, 4 million hotels worldwide, 16 million vacation photos, and comparison of 100+ tour operators with Best Price Guarantee.
• HolidayCheck Premium Premium membership tier offering enhanced features and exclusive benefits for subscribers, including ad-free app experience, up to 50 euros discount on hotel bookings via CHECKPOT50 code, and additional booking savings.
• HolidayCheck Club Loyalty/membership program offering exclusive benefits, rewards, and special offers for members, including ad-free experience and priority booking benefits.
• HolidayCheck Premium Profile Paid hotel profile enhancement at 99 euros per month (billed annually), featuring direct links to hotel website, Golden Rating highlight, property highlights including sustainability badges, promotional offers, social media channel links, and extended contact area.
• HolidayCheck Business Center Free hotel management portal enabling hoteliers to manage their profile, upload photos, respond to reviews and questions, update descriptions and facilities, access promotional tools, and track performance metrics.
• HolidayCheck Mietwagen (Car Rental) Car rental comparison and booking service comparing offers from multiple rental car operators. Integrates with Driveboo/MietwagenCheck for real-time search and booking, offering API, widget, white label, and banner integration options for partners.
• Review-Tool Free website-based tool for hotels to collect guest reviews. Hotels provide tablets for guests to enter email addresses, triggering automatic reminder emails after travel to submit reviews.
• HolidayCheck Magazin Online travel magazine featuring articles, travel tips, destination guides, and inspiration content with themed sections on camping, wellness, adventure parks, and destination-specific travel advice.
• Drone Video & 360-degree Virtual Tour Professional visual presentation services for hotels including FPV drone footage capturing exterior/interior shots and special lighting at sunset, plus immersive 360-degree virtual room tours. Produced on-site in a single day.
• Pauschalreisen (Package Holidays) Package holiday booking service comparing offers from over 100 tour operators, enabling users to find and book complete vacation packages including flights and accommodation.
• Last-Minute Deals Spontaneous travel booking section featuring discounted last-minute vacation packages and hotel deals, with savings up to 60% on select destinations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 68% of users decide on a hotel which comments on all reviews
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability6 records

Feature7 records

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Airbnb: Alternative-accommodation marketplace. Competes with HolidayCheck for leisure accommodation bookings with an inventory model that overlaps the 4M hotels portfolio, increasingly differentiated by short-term rentals and experiences.

Direct peers

• Expedia: Global OTA offering hotels, package holidays, flights and cars. Comparable core offering to HolidayCheck's Pauschalreisen, hotel and Mietwagen products, though Expedia's scale and breadth are materially larger.
• Trivago: Hotel metasearch engine that aggregates OTA prices and drives referrals. Closely comparable to HolidayCheck's hotel price-comparison and best-price guarantee model, with a metasearch-led funnel rather than direct booking.
• weg.de: German OTA specializing in package holidays and last-minute deals. Closely matched to HolidayCheck's Pauschalreisen and Last-Minute offerings, both targeting price-conscious German leisure travelers.
• Tripadvisor: Global hotel-review-plus-booking platform. Closest functional analog to HolidayCheck: combines user-generated reviews, price comparison and booking into a D2C funnel, though Tripadvisor operates globally while HolidayCheck is DACH-only.
• Kayak: Travel metasearch and price comparison engine owned by Booking Holdings. Directly comparable to HolidayCheck's price comparison across hotels, flights and cars via 100+ tour operator integrations.
• Booking.com: World's largest hotel and package booking OTA owned by Booking Holdings. Directly comparable in the OTA booking and price-comparison core that HolidayCheck operates, but at vastly larger scale across global markets.

Broad incumbents

• TUI Group: Europe's largest integrated tourism group, dominant in packaged holidays in Germany. Competes head-on with HolidayCheck's Pauschalreisen and last-minute booking, and is also a tour operator listed inside HolidayCheck's price comparison.
• CHECK24: Germany's leading comparison portal across travel, insurance, finance and more. A direct horizontal comparison competitor in hotel and package travel in the DACH market, with broader category reach than HolidayCheck.

Regional players

• HRS Group: German-headquartered hotel booking platform historically focused on corporate travel in DACH. Strong regional overlap with HolidayCheck in the German-speaking market, particularly on the B2B hotel side.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HolidayCheck
• Instagraminstagram.com/holidaycheck
• Pinterestpinterest.de/holidaycheck
• TikToktiktok.com/@holidaycheck
• Xx.com/holidaycheck
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/holidaycheck-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Holidaycheck