Vacation rental giant HomeAway is aiming to arm property owners with a one-to-one mobile service for their guests after acquiring system provider Glad To Have You.
Terms of the acquisition announced this week were not disclosed, but is said to be an "all cash transaction".
HomeAway, which was already a technology partner for GLAD (as it is known), says it will make the platform available to all property owners as part of a plan to enhance the relationship they have with guests.
The service comes in two guises: GladOwners and GladProfessional. Both systems (GladOwners is free for HomeAway-registered owners) give guests in-depth details of a property prior to arrival as well as tools show nearby activities.
A "digital guestbook" allows guests to leave reviews and photos of their trip - all of which will feed into the main HomeAway website.
The pro version has communication tools between owner and guest, service requests and back-end functions such as analytics, branding and integration with existing platforms such as other reservation services.
HomeAway says some 300 property owners in the US are currently using the system, capturing on average some 15 uses of the app per visit by guests.
GLAD's co-CEOs and founders, Keith Landers and Jason Sprenkle, will stay with the business as consultants during the transition phase, but ultimately the service will fall under the auspices of software vice president at HomeAway, Bill Furlong.
HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples says:
"The GLAD team has created a hit product that has received rave reviews from both suppliers and travelers, and we expect it to have a meaningful impact on HomeAway’s customer experience by bringing an even higher level of hospitality and professionalism to our existing mobile product suite."