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Kayak
Screenshot
Type of site
 Subsidiary
Available in18 languages
FoundedJanuary 14, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-01-14)
Headquarters Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Area servedGlobal
Founder(s)Steve Hafner
Paul M. English
Key peopleSteve Hafner ( CEO)
Giorgos Zacharia ( President)
Ko Baryiames ( CTO)
Amy Wei ( CCO)
Peer Bueller ( CFO)
Tore Pein Jensen ( CMO)
Industry Travel
Technology
Products Travel agency
Metasearch engine
RevenueUS$292.7 million (2012) [1]
Parent Booking Holdings
SubsidiariesSWOODOO
Checkfelix
Mundi
Hotels Combined
URL www.kayak.com
LaunchedFebruary 7, 2005 (2005-02-07) (Public) [2]
Native client(s) on iOS, Android, watchOS, Amazon Alexa, Facebook Messenger

Kayak (styled as KAYAK) is a metasearch engine for travel services, including airline flights, hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages. It is owned and operated by Booking Holdings. [3]

Kayak's website and mobile apps are currently available in about 20 languages and 30 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, [4] Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Belgium, Korea, Japan, and Singapore.

History

Kayak was founded in January 2004 by Steve Hafner and Paul M. English. [5] [6] Before Kayak, Steve Hafner, Kayak's current CEO, helped found Orbitz in November 1999 and led its business development, advertising sales, marketing, and product marketing activities. [7]

The company was originally named Travel Search Company, Inc. and the name was changed to Kayak Software Corporation in August 2004. [8]

The website launched in February 2005. [2]

In December 2007, Kayak raised $196 million in a new round of financing from a group of investors including General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and Oak Investment Partners. Using that funding, Kayak acquired SideStep, another online travel agency. [9] [10]

On March 5, 2010, Kayak sold certain assets related to TravelPost. [11] In May 2010, Kayak acquired German travel search platform Swoodoo. [12] [13]

In January 2011, Kayak shut down SideStep and redirected SideStep traffic to Kayak.com. [14]

In April 2011, Kayak acquired all of the outstanding shares of JaBo Vertrieb-und Entwicklung GmbH, or JaBo Software, operator Checkfelix, a travel search engine in Austria. [15] [16]

On July 20, 2012, Kayak became a public company via an initial public offering. On its first day of trading, Kayak opened at $26 per share and closed at $33.18 per share. [17]

On May 21, 2013, Booking Holdings, then known as Priceline.com, acquired the company for $2.1 billion. [18]

On September 25, 2013, it was announced that Connecticut would assist Kayak with a $2.5 million loan to help facilitate their move to the Harbor Point district of Stamford. [19]

In August 2017, the company acquired a Brazilian flight metasearch company named Mundi. [20]

In July 2018, Kayak assumed leadership of Hotels Combined, which was acquired by parent Booking Holdings. [21]

In September 2018, the company launched a feature to help travelers determine if their luggage fits in the overhead bin of planes. [22]

Awards

In 2013, Travel + Leisure named Kayak's app in its list of the Best Apps for Business Travelers [23] as well as its list for the Best Apps and Websites for Travelers.

Time named Kayak to its list of the 50 Best Websites of 2009. [24]

Mashable included Kayak in first place for the website's list, "10 Budget Airfare Tools Every Traveler Should Know in 2012". [25]

Kayak won the following Webby Awards:

  • 2008: People's Voice award in the travel website category [26]
  • 2009: The Webby Award in the travel website category [27]
  • 2011: The People's Voice award in the mobile travel app category in 2011 [28]
  • 2012: 3 awards: both the Webby and People's Choice awards in the travel website category, and the People's Voice award in the mobile travel app category. [29]
  • 2013: Nominee for Best Travel Mobile & App for Handheld Devices [30]
  • 2014: both the People's Voice and Webby Award in the Travel category for Tablets. [31]
  • 2015, Kayak Mobile won again the People's Voice Award in the Travel category. [32]

The World Travel Awards presented Kayak with the World's Leading Flight Comparison Website award in 2013 and the World's Leading Travel Search Website award in 2011. [33]

All-American Muslim advertising

In December 2011 Kayak announced that it would not renew a contract to advertise on the TLC reality television show All-American Muslim. The decision followed a campaign by the Florida Family Association, a one-man fundamentalist organization focused on “defending American values". [34] [35] In a statement posted to the Kayak website, Kayak chief marketing officer Robert Birge wrote that TLC “was not upfront with us about the nature of the show”. [36]

References

  1. ^ King, Danny (April 3, 2013). "Kayak turns 2012 profit". Travel Weekly.
  2. ^ a b "Kayak.com Launches Consumer Online Travel Site; Company Announces New Content, Features, and Distribution Partner; Plus, Kayak.com to Award Winter Getaways for Registered Users" (Press release). Kayak.com. February 7, 2005 – via Business Wire.
  3. ^ "Kayak.com: Private Company Overview". Bloomberg L.P.
  4. ^ Perez, Sarah (July 20, 2012). "Kayak Is Headed To Russia". TechCrunch.
  5. ^ "The Billion-Dollar Travel Agent". bostonmagazine.com. January 9, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  6. ^ "The Way I Work: Paul English of Kayak". inc.com. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  7. ^ Timmins, Beth; Cox, Josie (April 26, 2017). "A View from the Top: Steve Hafner, founder of travel comparison site Kayak". The Independent. London.
  8. ^ "Kayak Software Corporation 2012 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  9. ^ Arrington, Michael (December 20, 2007). "Breaking: Kayak Raises $196 Million, Buys Rival SideStep". TechCrunch.
  10. ^ Luzadder, Dan (December 21, 2007). "Kayak.com, SideStep to merge in $196 million deal". Travel Weekly.
  11. ^ Schaal, Dennis (February 11, 2011). "Kayak has stake in TravelPost rollout". Phocuswire.
  12. ^ Zinnagl, Lukas (May 6, 2010). "Kayak swoops on German travel search engine Swoodoo [Updated]". TechCrunch.
  13. ^ "KAYAK acquires swoodoo, Germany's leading travel search site" (Press release). Kayak.com. May 6, 2010.
  14. ^ Rao, Leena (May 27, 2011). "in-front-of-its-ipo-kayak-reports-growth-in-revenue-but-income-down". TechCrunch.
  15. ^ Taylor, Colleen (May 27, 2011). "Poised for IPO, Kayak Reports Sales Boost and Global Growth". Gigaom. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  16. ^ May, Kevin (April 5, 2011). "Kayak buys Austrian travel search engine Checkfelix". Phocuswire.
  17. ^ Empson, Rip (July 20, 2012). "That'll Fly: Kayak Closes IPO Day With Shares Up Nearly 30% And Market Cap Over $1.2B". Techcrunch.
  18. ^ "PCLN Form 10-Q". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  19. ^ "Gov. Malloy: Kayak to Expand and Create 50 Jobs in Stamford" (Press release). Connecticut. September 25, 2013.
  20. ^ O'Neill, Sean (August 4, 2017). "Kayak Acquires Assets of Struggling Brazilian Metasearch Company Mundi". Skift.
  21. ^ Schaal, Dennis (July 9, 2018). "Booking Holdings Buys HotelsCombined as Kayak Expands Into Asia Pacific". Skift.
  22. ^ Perez, Sarah (September 18, 2018). "kayaks-new-ar-feature-will-tell-you-if-your-carry-on-bag-fits-the-overhead-bin". TechCrunch.
  23. ^ Brown Hunt, Katrina; Samiljan, Tom (October 14, 2013). "Best Apps for Business Travelers". Travel + Leisure.
  24. ^ Fisher, Adam (August 24, 2009). "50 Best Websites 2009". Time.
  25. ^ "10 Budget Airfare Tools Every Traveler Should Know". Mashable. July 26, 2012.
  26. ^ "2008 People's Voice: KAYAK.COM". Webby Award.
  27. ^ "2009 Webby Award Winner: KAYAK.COM". Webby Award.
  28. ^ "Kayak Mobile For Iphone". Webby Award.
  29. ^ "We Won Three Webby Awards – Thanks to You". Kayak. May 1, 2012.
  30. ^ "2013 Nominee: KAYAK - MOBILE SITES & APPS". Webby Award.
  31. ^ "2014 People's Voice / Webby Award Winner: KAYAK Technology Team". Webby Award.
  32. ^ "2015 People's Voice: KAYAK - MOBILE SITES & APPS". Webby Award.
  33. ^ "Kayak". World Travel Awards.
  34. ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (December 16, 2011). "Waging a One-Man War on American Muslims". The New York Times.
  35. ^ Diaz, Johnny (December 14, 2011). "Kayak won't renew ads on Muslim TV show". The Boston Globe.
  36. ^ Elliott, Stuart (December 14, 2011). "Kayak Defends Cutting Ties to 'All-American Muslim'". The New York Times.

External links

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