Updated: TripAdvisor confirms buying Jetsetter, will remain separate brand

TripAdvisor has finally made the announcement: It has acquired hotel private and retail sales service Jetsetter, from the Gilt Groupe. The Jetsetter brand will continue to operate out of New York City and will be incorporated into TripAdvisor’s Smarter Travel Media.

Skift broke the news last month that Tripadvisor was close to buying the site, after months of a sale process. This finally comes to an end now.

Jetsetter, which combines flash sales with traditional retail hotel sales, will become part of TripAdvisor’s Smarter Travel Media group, and complements TripAdvisor’s SniqueAway flash sales brand.

Jetsetter had been on the block for an extended period as Gilt Groupe sought to discard a non-core asset.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“Jetsetter is an outstanding brand and I am absolutely delighted to welcome the Jetsetter team to the TripAdvisor family,” said Steve Kaufer, co-founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. “With Jetsetter and our own SniqueAway brand, we now have two leading travel private sale sites under one roof.  We are excited by the opportunities this provides to continually help drive amazing value for our travelers staying at some of the world’s most highly-rated hotels.”

Michelle Peluso, the new CEO of Gilt, is the former CEO of Travelocity and Site59.

“In a short span of time, Jetsetter has emerged as a premier player in the travel space, and we are proud of what the team has accomplished,” Peluso said. “There are strong synergies between Jetsetter and TripAdvisor and we are confident that having Jetsetter be part of the TripAdvisor group will further accelerate its growth.”

The acquisition also comes at an opportune time for TripAdvisor as it expands into hotel metasearch, an initiative that Jetsetter may be able to assist with.

When Skift broke the story about the pending TripAdvisor acquisition of Jetsetter, TripAdvisor officials merely responded that they didn’t have any acquisition news to announce.

Today, they finally had something to announce.