Holidaycheck
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersBottighofen, Switzerland
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
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.
Holidaycheck firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Holidaycheck industry classification
Industry- 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
Where Holidaycheck is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bottighofen
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Holidaycheck business model
Business model- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Premium Profile for Hoteliers |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Standard Hotel Profile |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Ranking Ad NEO (CPC) |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Newsletter Integration |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Stand Alone Newsletter |
| Subscription | Monthly | HolidayCheck Premium Club |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | App Download Discount |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels9 records
Marketing channels7 records
Holidaycheck product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Holidaycheck
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Holidaycheck technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
AI capability6 records
Feature7 records
Holidaycheck partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Holidaycheck competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging 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
Holidaycheck social profiles
Digital presenceHolidaycheck financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Holidaycheck leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Holidaycheck funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Holidaycheck M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Holidaycheck
What does Holidaycheck do?
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.
Is Holidaycheck a public or private company?
Holidaycheck is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Holidaycheck founded?
Holidaycheck was founded in 2000. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Holidaycheck based?
Holidaycheck is headquartered in Bottighofen, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Holidaycheck make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Travel Booking Commissions are the primary driver. The others are B2B Advertising Revenue, holidayCheck Premium Club and car Rental Integration (Mietwagen).
Who are Holidaycheck's main competitors?
Airbnb is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Expedia, Trivago, weg.de, Tripadvisor, Kayak and Booking.com. Broad incumbents are TUI Group and CHECK24. HRS Group is listed as a regional player.
Does Holidaycheck have an API?
Yes. HolidayCheck offers API integration capabilities for its rental car service (HolidayCheck Mietwagen). The rental car API provides real-time searchable and bookable offers, pre-filtered/adapted offer options, complete integration with no external links required, synchronization with partner design specifications, and backend maintenance provided through MietwagenCheck. Four integration options are available: (1) API Integration - full real-time search and booking capabilities, (2) Search Widget Integration - easy integration with simple adaptation, (3) White Label Integration - appearance of partner's own website, and (4) Banner/Ads Integration. Partners can receive revenue share based on successful transactions. Developer documentation is at Not specified.
What industry is Holidaycheck in?
Holidaycheck's product category is Online Travel Agency. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAAAE, OTA Package Holiday Platforms (Dynamic Packaging), with a secondary code of THALAFAB, Hotel & Accommodation Booking Platforms. Its NAICS code is 561510 and its SIC code is 7000.