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Key people at lastminute.com.
lastminute.com was founded in 1998 by Brent Hoberman (Chief Executice Officer and Co-Founder).
lastminute.com operates as an online travel and leisure retailer, providing a comprehensive platform for booking a wide array of travel products including flights, hotels, package holidays, and experiences. The company specializes in offering last-minute deals and packages, leveraging technology to aggregate and present options that cater to spontaneous travelers and those seeking value across the leisure and entertainment sectors. Its core capability lies in efficiently connecting consumers with available inventory.
The company was founded in 1998 by Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman, who identified a market opportunity in the vast amount of unsold inventory within the travel and entertainment industries. Their insight was to create a digital marketplace where suppliers could offload perishable goods like empty hotel rooms or airline seats at reduced prices, appealing to consumers looking for immediate and affordable options in the burgeoning internet economy.
lastminute.com serves a broad customer base of individuals and groups seeking flexible and economical travel solutions for both planned trips and spur-of-the-moment getaways. The company’s long-term vision focuses on simplifying the process of discovering and booking leisure activities, aiming to make global travel and unique experiences more accessible and convenient for everyone by continually enhancing its digital offerings and user experience.
Key people at lastminute.com.
lastminute.com is a leading European online travel agency (OTA) and tour operator specializing in dynamic holiday packages, flights, hotels, and leisure deals. It serves millions of consumers across Europe and beyond, solving the problem of unsold travel inventory by offering last-minute and customized deals through a tech-driven platform that leverages data, dynamic pricing, and vast supplier networks.[1][2][4] Originally a dot-com pioneer, the company has grown into a pan-European powerhouse via acquisitions, boasting steady revenue growth and profitability in the competitive online travel market.[2]
lastminute.com was founded on April 1, 1998, in London by Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox, who left consulting jobs to address unsold airline seats, hotel rooms, and event tickets by reselling them at discounted "last-minute" prices online—a novel idea when only 9% of UK households had internet access.[1][3][4][5] The concept quickly expanded to "everything a young professional wants to do," including theatre tickets and lifestyle experiences, gaining traction despite dot-com skepticism; Martha's charisma helped recruit an experienced board during early challenges.[3]
The company evolved through ownership changes: sold in 2005 to Sabre Holdings (Travelocity's parent) for £600 million amid maturing competition.[1][3] In 2015, Italian entrepreneurs Fabio Cannavale and Marco Corradino—founders of Volagratis (launched 2004 as Italy's first low-cost flight search engine)—acquired the lastminute.com brand for £76 million via their Bravofly group (roots in 2004), rebranding it lastminute.com group in 2015 and listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange in 2014.[1][2][4] This merger created a tech-focused entity with brands like Volagratis, driving international expansion into Spain, France, Germany, and more through acquisitions like Rumbo (2012), Jetcost (2013), WAYN (2016), and others.[1]
lastminute.com rides the digital travel revolution, transforming high-street agents into online experiences since 1998, accelerated by internet adoption, Google’s rise, and the Euro’s facilitation of cross-border travel.[2][4] Its timing capitalized on low online penetration turning into ubiquitous access, while dynamic pricing addressed fluctuating demand in a perishable inventory industry (e.g., empty seats).[4] Market forces like low-cost carriers, post-dot-com consolidation, and M&A (e.g., acquiring local players like weg.de) favor its pan-European model, influencing the ecosystem by setting standards for tech-savvy OTAs and tour operators amid rising mobile bookings and personalization trends.[1][2]
lastminute.com is poised to dominate dynamic holiday packaging in Europe, expanding via tech innovations like AI personalization and further M&A to counter giants like Booking Holdings. Trends such as sustainable travel, VR previews, and post-pandemic revenge spending will shape its path, potentially evolving influence through B2B data platforms or metaverse integrations. From dot-com rebels filling empty rooms to a profitable travel-tech leader, it exemplifies resilient adaptation in a borderless digital market.[2][4]
lastminute.com was founded in 1998 by Brent Hoberman (Chief Executice Officer and Co-Founder).
