Web Reservations International
CASE STUDY
Web Reservations International: challenging industry norms
James A. Cunningham and William Golden
This case describes the market growth of Web Reservations International, an Irish SME company, which is a market leader in the budget, youth and independent travel (BYIT) market through its online reservation system and business model. The case covers the development of the company from inception through organic growth and its recent acquisitions which have enabled it to adapt and extend the business model and enter new international markets. ●
The world of independent travelling offers great expectations, new life experiences and opportunities to make new friends. For the independent traveller hostels provide low cost accommodation and are used as key staging bases to explore new countries and continents. In addition to accommodation hostels can provide a range of services including bar, bike hire, common room, free airport pick-up, guest kitchens, internal access, luggage storage and travel information desk.
Tom Kennedy owned the Avalon House Hostel in
Dublin, Ireland. In the mid-1990s, in an effort to make the business more efficient, he contracted Ray Nolan, an IT specialist, a self-taught computer programmer and owner of Raven Computing, to develop a software program which would allow his hostel to manage the check-in and checkout process. Following the successful installation of the software at Avalon House Hostel Nolan resold the reservations management system as Backpack to a number of hostels.
In 1999 Ray Nolan and Tom Kennedy founded privately owned Web Reservations International (WRI) and created an online reservation site for hostel bookings – www. hostelworld.com. The company’s revenue grew by 1436 per cent from 2000 to 2002 compared to the industry average of 269 per cent for the top 50 technology companies in
Ireland. By 2010 WRI employed over 100 people and was the biggest global provider of confirmed online reservations for the budget
Web Reservations International: challenging industry norms
James A. Cunningham and William Golden
This case describes the market growth of Web Reservations International, an Irish SME company, which is a market leader in the budget, youth and independent travel (BYIT) market through its online reservation system and business model. The case covers the development of the company from inception through organic growth and its recent acquisitions which have enabled it to adapt and extend the business model and enter new international markets. ●
The world of independent travelling offers great expectations, new life experiences and opportunities to make new friends. For the independent traveller hostels provide low cost accommodation and are used as key staging bases to explore new countries and continents. In addition to accommodation hostels can provide a range of services including bar, bike hire, common room, free airport pick-up, guest kitchens, internal access, luggage storage and travel information desk.
Tom Kennedy owned the Avalon House Hostel in
Dublin, Ireland. In the mid-1990s, in an effort to make the business more efficient, he contracted Ray Nolan, an IT specialist, a self-taught computer programmer and owner of Raven Computing, to develop a software program which would allow his hostel to manage the check-in and checkout process. Following the successful installation of the software at Avalon House Hostel Nolan resold the reservations management system as Backpack to a number of hostels.
In 1999 Ray Nolan and Tom Kennedy founded privately owned Web Reservations International (WRI) and created an online reservation site for hostel bookings – www. hostelworld.com. The company’s revenue grew by 1436 per cent from 2000 to 2002 compared to the industry average of 269 per cent for the top 50 technology companies in
Ireland. By 2010 WRI employed over 100 people and was the biggest global provider of confirmed online reservations for the budget