Lastminute.com launched a joint venture in the United Arab Emirates through an investment in a flights-focused startup.
That startup, founded as MenaStar in 2021, has rebranded through the strategic partnership as lastminute.ae.
Lastminute.com and its UAE partner hope to cash in on the tourism boom in the Middle East.
This is lastminute.com’s second joint venture in the Middle East. In 2021, it launched lastminute.co.il in Israel in partnership with Issta Lines Group.
There will be plenty of competition for lastminute.ai. Competitors in the region include Booking.com, Expedia, Cleartrip, Rehlat, Wego, and Musafir.com.
A lastminute.com spokesperson said the company has a small investment in the UAE joint venture, which the local partner is running independently. The learnings from the operation would be the most important takeaway at this early stage, the spokesperson added.
“We’ve learned that local knowledge on everything from traveler intent to how people want to pay is crucial for launching in a new region,” said Corrado Casto, lastminute.com operations director, in a statement.
Three Models for Geographic Expansion
Lastminute.com is exanding its global reach through joint ventures, B2B partnerships, and through powering dynamic packages on Booking.com.
Based in Amsterdam, Lastminute.com’s core market is Europe, where it touts itself as the market leader in dynamic packages.
In the first half of this year, Lastminute.com expanded into Iceland, Mexico, and Chile.
“Our B2B segment in general facilitates geographic expansion,” then-CEO Luca Concone said during an earnings call in August. “It allows us to test new markets without any direct investments, so without taking risk onboard before we actually enter them. So we also leverage on Booking.com partnership to expand our geographical coverage. Once we are in the market, we then decide if it’s worth for us going also direct with our B2C marketing experience.”
Lastminute.com faced financial pressure during the first half of 2024, but rebounded in the third quarter with all of its key financials showing improvement.