Australian-based online booking company Accommodation Guru is set to franchise in the UK as part of its international expansion plans. The industrial strength online reservation system has completed successful franchise trials in Australia and is now being franchised in the UK, Europe and beyond, as an increasing number of individuals seek opportunities in the burgeoning online travel accommodation business.

'To date, the response has been absolutely overwhelming,' says Upton, founder of Accommodation Guru. 'We've finalised licensing agreements in France, Germany, Spain, Greece and the UK. We also have new licensees in South Africa, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Mexico, and have recently added Bermuda, among other regions.'

According to Upton, Accommodation Guru's increasing popularity, in part, stems from a growing wave of people who are looking for business opportunities beyond the standard nine to five workday. 'More people today want a lifestyle business, one that provides for virtually unlimited income as well as tremendous flexibility in hours - not to mention great personal satisfaction,' says Upton. Since it costs very little to establish and is so easy to maintain, Accommodation Guru makes this kind of lifestyle attainable for normal, everyday people - not just those with significant capital to invest.

'Essentially what we're talking about is the democratisation of supply. In the early days, airlines controlled the distribution of travel content through the computer reservations systems (now called Global Distribution Systems). That gave the airlines a near-monopoly of the market. But that's no longer the case. Accommodation Guru is game-changing technology.'

Accommodation Guru is an industrial-strength online reservation system that allows the booking of holiday accommodation via the internet. Franchise owners become proprietors of their own accommodation website and are able to accept reservations for hotels, bed and breakfasts and other types of properties, earning a commission on every transaction.

Published: 23 April 2009

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