User:Macgillie/sandbox

BookingPal, Inc. is a privately-owned cloud based travel technology company, providing a global distribution system and a centralized booking platform for vacation rental properties. BookingPal was founded in September 2013 after it's Founder and CEO, Alex Aydin recognized a need for real time availability in the vacation rental industry. Vacation rental properties, campgrounds and RV parks worldwide can use BookingPal’s guest generation capabilities.

History
BookingPal, Inc was founded in 2013 and acquired Razor-Cloud the same year.

Financing
BookingPal announced in October 2013 its $1.5 million in financing to proceed "building a global distribution platform for vacation rentals." The company centralizes reservations, thus allowing rental properties to be available on OTAs (online travel agencies) and other listing websites. By creating this centralized inventory capability, the company says it will be able to provide real-time availability and instant bookings across the web. One of BookingPal’s advisors is David Baggett, co-founder of ITA Software, who emphasizes this point in the funding announcement: “The vacation rental industry is attracting a lot of attention from the largest travel companies as increasingly sophisticated consumers look for alternative experiences from the usual hotel vacations. Early movers, such as BookingPal, are very exciting propositions for companies in the travel industry.”

Competitive environment

 * Several companies offer vacation rental services
 * Craigslist also lists vacation rental properties.
 * Booking.com is the largest lodging site in the world, and 22% of its properties are vacation rental offerings.
 * Expedia and HomeAway have an agreement to launch a service early in 2014 providing vacation rental bookings.