Travelbug

What Travelbug does

Travelbug is a New Zealand-headquartered online travel marketplace founded in late 2007 and operated by Katch Up Limited, a 100% NZ-owned private company headquartered in Hamilton. The platform connects domestic and international travelers with more than 3,500 New Zealand accommodation providers — ranging from hotels, motels, and resorts to holiday houses, apartments, B&Bs, lodges, retreats, and luxury properties — as well as a broad catalog of experience operators covering adventure activities, walking and hiking, tours, food and wine, snow sports, and ground transport. Consumers access the service via a 24/7 self-serve website and a phone helpline; the platform also offers gift vouchers and a verified-review system in which only customers who booked through Travelbug can leave feedback, a feature the company markets as a first in New Zealand.

The core technology is the BookIt booking system (provided by BookIt NZ Limited), which auto-lists operator inventory, processes bookings, and connects Tourism operators to multiple resellers. Travelbug layers on a verified review system, "My Shortlist" saved listings, and promotional features including Secret Sale auctions on Trade Me and Treat Me deals. The company earns revenue primarily through marketplace commissions paid by accommodation and activity operators on bookings processed, supplemented by a non-refundable NZD$20 customer cancellation fee, gift voucher sales, and recurring advertising features sold to operators via Chargify. Distribution relies on direct website traffic, SEO and Google AdWords/remarketing, social media (Facebook, Instagram with #TravelbugNZ), email newsletters, and Trade Me marketplace listings.

Operationally, Travelbug remains a small private company (11-50 employees) with no disclosed funding, no institutional investors identified, and no recent leadership, M&A, or restructuring activity in the data. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The most recent product milestones on record date to 2011-2012 (Secret Sale/Treat Me launch and the addition of 150,000+ worldwide hotels); no subsequent product launches, AI capabilities, or geographic expansions are evidenced.

Name

Travelbug

Legal name

Katch Up Limited

Website

https://travelbug.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Travelbug is a New Zealand-based online travel marketplace that books domestic accommodation and experiences from 3,500+ NZ operators, serving domestic and international tourists planning trips to New Zealand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Travel Booking

NAICS

Travel Agencies (561510), Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (5615), Travel Agencies (56151)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Online Booking & Reservation Platforms (B2B/B2C) (THALAMAA)

Keywords

• Online travel booking
• Accommodation booking platform
• Tourism marketplace
• Travel experiences booking
• Hotel reservations

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Operator Commission: Katch Up Limited (Travelbug) receives non-refundable payments from accommodation and activity operators for providing booking services. Operators are listed through the BookIt system and pay commission on bookings processed.
2. Booking Fees: Travelbug charges booking fees for providing services to customers. A non-refundable fee of NZD$20 applies to all cancellations regardless of supplier policy.
3. Gift Vouchers: Pre-paid vouchers for accommodation or activities in New Zealand, valid for 12 months from issue date.
4. Advertising Features: Operators can purchase additional advertising features (such as 'make an enquiry' feature) charged on monthly or annual basis via credit card.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Travelbug operates an online national travel booking platform for New Zealand that allows travelers to search, compare, and book accommodation (hotels, motels, resorts, houses, apartments, B&Bs, lodges, luxury) and experiences (adventure, walking/hiking, tours, food/wine, shuttles, snow sports) directly with tourism operators. The platform is powered by the BookIt booking system and serves both domestic and international tourists planning trips to New Zealand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Travelbug Accommodation Booking Platform Primary online platform enabling users to search, compare, and book accommodation across New Zealand and worldwide, with over 3,500 NZ accommodation tourism businesses listed (hotels, motels, resorts, houses, apartments, B&Bs, lodges, retreats, luxury properties, holiday parks, backpackers).
• Travelbug Experiences Booking Platform Online platform for booking activities and experiences in New Zealand including adventure (sailing, surfing, kayaking, dolphin/whale watching), walking and hiking, tours, food and wine experiences, art/culture/heritage, shuttles and transport, and snow sports.
• Travelbug Gift Vouchers Pre-paid vouchers for purchasing accommodation or activities in New Zealand, valid for 12 months from issue date. Voucher value is used in a single transaction with any remaining balance forfeited.

Quantifiable outcome

• Started in 2007 with 1,200 properties, grew to 3,000+ NZ properties
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BookIt NZ LimitedcoreTechnology or IntegrationBookIt NZ Limited provides the BookIt booking system that powers Travelbug. Operators connect to BookIt which automatically lists their products on Travelbug. BookIt handles payment processing, booking management, and connects third-party resellers.
• Trade MeminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTrade Me partnership launched in 2011 for Secret Sale auctions on the Trade Me marketplace platform.
• Paystation LimitedcoreTechnology or IntegrationPaystation Limited processes credit card payments. Travel Booking Services uses Paystation for payment processing and may hold partial card details with Paystation.
• Google (AdWords, Analytics, AdSense, Remarketing)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerTravelbug participates in Google's AdWords pay-per-click advertising, Google Analytics for site statistics, Nielsen Online counting system, AdSense display advertising, and Google remarketing programs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Viator (Tripadvisor): Global experiences and tours marketplace offering tours, attractions and activities worldwide, including a deep NZ experiences catalog. Directly competes with Travelbug's experiences platform in adventure, food/wine and tours categories.
• Expedia: Global OTA offering hotels, flights, packages and activities. Competes head-to-head with Travelbug in NZ, particularly for international traveler bookings and package deals.
• Airbnb: Leading alternative accommodation platform with a strong NZ presence covering holiday houses, apartments and unique stays — directly overlapping with Travelbug's holiday houses, apartments and luxury sub-categories.
• Booking.com: Global OTA leader offering accommodation and experience bookings across 220+ countries. Directly competes with Travelbug for NZ domestic and inbound bookings, with substantially larger inventory and marketing scale.

Regional players

• House of Travel: New Zealand's largest retail travel agency network offering packaged holidays, flights and accommodation. Comparable as a NZ-focused travel intermediary targeting the same domestic traveler segment, though via in-store/consultative channel rather than pure online.
• Trade Me Travel: New Zealand's largest online marketplace with a travel vertical for accommodation and holiday rentals. Direct distribution overlap and existing Travelbug partnership (Secret Sale auctions) makes it both peer and partial channel.
• Wotif (Expedia Group): Australia/NZ-focused OTA brand under Expedia, offering hotels, holiday packages and deals. Operates in the same NZ consumer travel market and competes for budget-conscious domestic travelers.

Broad incumbents

• Tripadvisor: Global travel metasearch and reviews platform with booking capability for hotels and experiences. Comparable through its review-driven content and experiences booking vertical that overlaps with Travelbug's verified-review and experiences platform.
• KAYAK: Global travel metasearch engine comparing hotel, flight and car rental prices. Comparable through price-comparison and deal-discovery functionality that overlaps with Travelbug's Special Offers and best-price-guarantee positioning.

Others

• BookIt NZ: NZ-based booking platform technology provider that powers Travelbug's inventory, payments and operator integrations. Comparable as the underlying B2B booking infrastructure, and the most direct enabler/partner within the same NZ travel-tech ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Travelbug
• Instagraminstagram.com/travelbugnewzealand
• Xx.com/travelbug

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Travelbug