Upstalsboom

What Upstalsboom does

Upstalsboom Hotel + Freizeit GmbH & Co. KG is a privately held German hospitality group headquartered in Emden, founded in 1976, that operates 10 branded hotels in the 3- to 5-star segment and approximately 850+ self-managed holiday apartments across 18 locations along the German North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts, serving individual leisure travelers, families, corporate groups, and property-owning investors. Revenue is generated primarily through transaction-based pricing — nightly room and apartment bookings at listed rates, plus €19 mediation fees and fixed end-cleaning and linen charges on apartments — alongside gift voucher sales and event venue rentals. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via the company's own booking websites (upstalsboom.de and upstalsboom-ferienwohnungen.de), supplemented by phone/email channels, online third-party portals, and the UPTOUR platform, which extends the group's commercial footprint to over 21,000 partner holiday apartments operated by third-party owners and managing agencies.

The underlying technology stack is conventional rather than differentiated: TYPO3 CMS for content management, DialogShift for chat-based customer support, and a standard martech layer (Google Analytics/Ads/Tag Manager/Remarketing, Facebook Custom Audiences, Bing Ads, econda, consentmanager for GDPR consent). No proprietary AI/ML capability is disclosed; the company's primary differentiators are a 50-year coastal operating history, a 98% guest recommendation rate across 300,000+ annual visitors, and a values-driven corporate culture ("The Upstalsboom Way") credited with raising employee satisfaction to 80% and reducing sickness rates from 8% to 3%. Ancillary revenue lines include the Upstalsboom Wegbegleiter external consulting/workshops sub-brand, the Tour of Life apprenticeship program, and the FLY & HELP charitable partnership for school construction in Rwanda (since 2013). The legal entity is a GmbH & Co. KG under private ownership led by Managing Directors Bodo Janssen, Maria Kuhl, and Romina Gaupels, with no disclosed private equity or venture capital backing.

Name

Upstalsboom

Legal name

Upstalsboom Hotel + Freizeit GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://upstalsboom.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Upstalsboom is a privately held German hospitality group operating 10 branded hotels (3- to 5-star) and 850+ self-managed holiday apartments across 18 North Sea and Baltic Sea coastal locations, serving 300,000+ leisure guests annually through direct booking websites and the UPTOUR partner-apartment platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality / Vacation Accommodations

NAICS

Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels (72111), Accommodation (721), Traveler Accommodation (7211)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000), Hotels & Motels (7011)

akta.pro primary industry

Resort-Area Full-Service Hotels (Non–All-Inclusive) (THAGAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family & Group-Friendly Rentals (Large Homes, Multi-Unit Compounds) (THAGANAI), Island, Beach & Resort Travel Agencies (THAKAFAL)

Keywords

• Hotel accommodation services
• Vacation apartment rentals
• Coastal hospitality
• Holiday packages
• Event venue rentals

Headquarters

HQ city

Emden

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Hotel Accommodation Bookings: Direct booking of hotel rooms at 10 Upstalsboom hotels along German North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. Prices shown include VAT. Standard check-in from 4 PM, check-out by 10 AM.
2. Holiday Apartment Bookings: Mediation/middleman service for holiday apartment rentals. Upstalsboom acts as service partner for investors and property owners. Service fee of 19 EUR per booking. End cleaning fee between 54-160 EUR. Optional linen package at 14.90 EUR per person.
3. Gift Voucher Sales: Sale of gift vouchers for hotels and holiday apartments. Vouchers available as value vouchers ( redeemable at all Upstalsboom properties) or property-specific vouchers.
4. Event Venue Rental: Conference, banquet, seminar, and event room rentals at Upstalsboom hotels. Direct inquiry with individual hotels required.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Upstalsboom operates hotels and holiday apartments along the German North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts, with 10 branded hotels in the 3- to 5-star segment and approximately 850+ self-operated holiday apartments across 13 destinations. The company supplements its own inventory with over 21,000 partner apartments via the UPTOUR platform, acts as a mediation service for property owners and investors, and offers curated vacation packages, gift vouchers, and event venue rentals for corporate groups.

Product overview

Upstalsboom is a German hospitality company operating a multi-brand portfolio of vacation accommodation and services along the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. The core offerings consist of 10 owned/operated hotels in the 3- to 5-star segment and approximately 850+ self-operated vacation apartments across 13 locations. An additional inventory of over 21,000 partner vacation properties is accessible through the UPTOUR platform. Complementary services include curated vacation packages and themed offers, an online voucher shop, and the Upstalsboom Wegbegleiter workshops for organizational development. The company also runs the Tour of Life apprenticeship development program featuring international expeditions. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Emden, the company employs approximately 650 people and operates 18 locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UPTOUR: Partner holiday apartment platform operated by the Upstalsboom group, listing over 21,000 curated accommodations at the North Sea, Baltic Sea, and inland Germany. Accessible via uptour.de.
• Upstalsboom Wegbegleiter
• Aquantis
• Upleven
• Tour of Life

Products and services

• Upstalsboom-Hotels Portfolio of 10 hotels in the 3- to 5-star segment along the German North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts, including Wyk auf Föhr, Wremen, Varel-Dangast, Emden, Bensersiel, Langeoog, Kühlungsborn, Trassenheide, Koserow, and Heringsdorf.
• Upstalsboom-Ferienwohnungen (Vacation Apartments)

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% guest recommendation rate across 300,000+ annual visitors
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• FLY & HELP Foundation (Reiner Meutsch)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Charitable partnership for school construction in Rwanda. Managing Director Bodo Janssen met Reiner Meutsch and was inspired to support FLY & HELP. Since 2013, donations collected in Upstalsboom hotels and service offices have funded multiple school construction projects in Rwanda. Over 30 Upstalsboom employees have traveled to Rwanda to witness the projects firsthand.
• Google (Analytics, Ads, Tag Manager, YouTube, DoubleClick)coreTechnology or IntegrationMultiple Google services for analytics, advertising, tag management, video content, and remarketing. Includes Google Analytics for traffic analysis, Google AdWords for paid search, Google Tag Manager, YouTube video integration, and DoubleClick advertising.
• Facebook (Meta)coreTechnology or IntegrationFacebook Custom Audiences and Facebook Analytics for retargeting and audience analysis. Pixel tracking integrated for marketing optimization.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Landal GreenParks: European operator of holiday parks and vacation rentals, including coastal locations in Germany. Comparable to Upstalsboom in short-stay vacation rentals, family-oriented positioning, and bundled-stay offerings.
• Lindner Hotels: German hotel group operating full-service and resort hotels across Germany and Europe. Comparable to Upstalsboom in mid-to-upper scale resort positioning, event offerings, and German leisure/business customer base.
• A-ROSA Resort: Operates German family resort hotels along coastal and lakeside locations. Directly comparable to Upstalsboom's family/leisure positioning and package-based vacation offerings on German waterside destinations.
• Steigenberger Hotels: German hotel chain operating city and resort hotels including coastal and island properties (e.g., Sylt). Comparable to Upstalsboom in the 4-5 star segment with similar group/event business and German-speaking leisure clientele.
• Center Parcs Deutschland: Operates holiday villages in Germany focused on family short-stay vacations. Comparable to Upstalsboom's family/short-break segment, indoor-outdoor amenity model, and German leisure customer base.
• Maritim Hotelgesellschaft: Germany's largest owner-operated hotel chain with strong coastal and resort presence. Directly comparable to Upstalsboom in operating full-service hotels and event venues across German leisure destinations, competing for similar leisure and corporate group customers.

Broad incumbents

• FeWo-direkt (Vrbo): Major German vacation-rental marketplace owned by Expedia. Directly competes with Upstalsboom's holiday apartment mediation business and UPTOUR partner network for the same property owners and German coastal leisure guests.
• TUI Deutschland: Germany's largest tourism conglomerate covering hotels, cruises, tour operations, and distribution. Overlaps with Upstalsboom in packaged German coastal holidays and acts as a broad incumbent shaping competitive pricing and channel dynamics.

Others

• Upstalsboom Herzensangelegenheiten e.V. Upstalsboom's nonprofit charitable arm supporting community projects. Listed as an ecosystem-level entity to highlight the company's social enterprise positioning rather than a direct commercial peer.

Regional players

• HRS Group (Hotel Reservation Service): Cologne-based hotel booking platform focused on the German-speaking market. Comparable distribution dynamics to Upstalsboom's direct channels and partner network, with overlapping hotel supply and corporate group booking segments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/upstalsboom1
• Facebookfacebook.com/DieUpstalsboomWelt
• Instagraminstagram.com/upstalsboom.de
• Xx.com/up_upstalsboom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries3 records

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 Upstalsboom