Nine months after launching in the US, group buying and flash sale giant LivingSocial is extending its Escapes travel service into Europe for the first time.
UK will be the first country to get the travel-dedicated deals, following by Ireland, Holland and France by the end of 2011, the company says this week.
LivingSocial has hired a former TUI Travel executive, Nick Stafford, to run the new division as general manager in Europe.
The system will work in the same way as the US and Canada version of Escapes, with subscribers sent ten travel-related deals each week, all of which must be purchase within seven days. The LivingSocial iPhone and Android apps will also carry the Escapes products.
The company claims to have sold 400,000 room nights via Escapes since November 2010, covering products such as hotels, vacation rental-type properties, tours and activities.
LivingSocial currently has four million members in the UK, out of a total of 42 million worldwide.
Stafford says LivingSocial is looking to expand the wider brand - and with Escapes following on - in other markets around Europe, either organically or via acquisition.
The UK, Ireland and Holland divisions were launched from scratch, whereas operations in France came about by way of buying the 14-month-old local startup Dealissime.