Skift Take
Venture capital firms are turbo-charging the European expansion of the Dutch group Otravo and the French startup MisterFly. Elsewhere, Rehlat and Jumia Travel are taking flight.
The conventional wisdom in some circles is that the world doesn't need another online travel agency.
One reason: Metasearch businesses, which help consumers compare prices but send customers off to other websites to book, are cheaper to launch because they require fewer employees.
Another reason: Expedia, Inc., and Priceline Group are supposed to be too intimidating as competitors because of the enormous money they spend on branding and search engine marketing.
Despite the odds, several online travel agencies have gained traction recently with consumers. While some of these are not strictly "new," they are all young, have yet to be covered by Skift before, and have all significantly accelerated their growth in the last two years.
Otravo isn't new, but it recently sped up its growth. The Dutch company debuted as Otravo in December 2013, the result of a merger of two large Dutch travel companies (Vliegtickets.nl and WTC.nl) trying to transition to the digital era. Since then, it has grown its turnover 40 percent a year, to become the most used online
