Hostelworld to Acquire Local Events Aggregator to Build Out Social Network

Hostelworld plans to acquire U.S.-based "things to do" aggregator OccasionGenius for $12 million in cash as a way for the hostel-booking site to "supercharge" growth in its social travel network.

"We're well on the way to having a social travel superapp," Hostelworld CEO Gary Morrison told Skift Tuesday. "We have people, we have profiles, we have chat content, data that we mine using AI," he said. "We have places to stay in there. We have things to do."

Morrison said the Hostelworld social network has 3 million members, and the messages they sent