Dreamlines, an online cruise portal with global ambitions, has bought two Australian cruise sites for an undisclosed sum.
Its purchase of Cruisecentre and Cruiseaway gives the Hamburg, Germany-based business three routes to market in Australia, as it already runs Dreamlines.com.au.
Australia is one of the fastest-growing cruise markets, according to trade body CLIA. In 2013 around 800,000 Australians took a cruise with the number tipped to break through the psychologically important one million barrier in 2016.
Dreamlines was founded in 2012 and operates country-specific Dreamlines sites in Brazil, Russia, France, Netherlands and Italy, alongside its German and Australian sites.
Investors in the business include Holtzbrinck Ventures, whose other current investments include peer-to-peer ticket exchange Seatwave, reviews site TrustYou and a Russian OTA OnlineTours.
Hasso Plattner Ventures is also a backer of Dreamlines. It owns a stake multi-modal search platform GoEuro.
NB:Sydney Harbour image by Shutterstock.