UNITED KINGDOM; Secret Escapes Announces More Global Expansion

Secret Escapes, the London-based flash sales site for affordable luxury travel, has expanded into Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The move follows a $60 million investment in 2015, led by Google Ventures and Octopus Ventures, and forms part of the company's ongoing international expansion plan.

In the last 12 months, Secret Escapes has begun operating in additional markets in Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy), and is planning further openings later in 2016. In addition, it will continue to grow its operations in North America.

Since launching in 2011, Secret Escapes - which offers its members exclusive deals on hand-picked hotels and holidays at up to 70% off - has established itself as a major player in the travel scene, reporting an average year-on-year growth of 230% and securing over $650 million cumulative global turnover.

Its membership base has grown from four million in January 2014 to over 28 million members worldwide and has now sold over 3.6 million room nights across the world.

Chief executive Alex Saint said: "Last year's $60 million cash injection is helping us to realise our ambition to become a truly global brand, enabling us to open up opportunities in Asia, continue our expansion throughout Europe and capitalise on our good start in the US.

"We want to be the number one destination for customers looking to book affordable luxury holidays, and it seems pretty clear to us that there is a strong desire for our kind of product in Asia."