HolidayPirates Group

Discover our Story

Loved by millions of travellers, our award-winning team finds and shares the best travel deals, including packages, flights, hotels, car rentals, holiday homes, luxury stays, and weekend breaks.

Available in 7 languages and 10 countries

Across Europe and the US, users can find great deals via our Social Media, WhatsApp Channels, newsletter, and by visiting our websites and downloading our apps.

See what we’re all about:

Our Captains

David Armstrong

CEO & Co-founder

(Chief Executive Officer)

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Judith Eyck

COo

(Chief Operating Officer)

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Vivien Schwarz-Elbelazi

CPO

(Chief People officer)

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Sönke Kisker

CFO

(Chief Financial officer)

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Carlo Speth

Head of country management, DACH

Nick Cooper

head of market, UK

Stefano Bergamaschi

Head of country management, ITALY

Lucile Grigné

Head of country management, FRANCE

Pablo Santaella Robles

head of market, spain

Magdalena Klaffenböck

acting head of marketing

Our Timeline

2011

Igor Simonow founds the blog Urlaubspiraten, where he publishes travel deals online in Germany

2012

The legal entity “HolidayPirates GmbH” is registered by Igor and co-founder Sebastian Kaatz in Berlin. The English version HolidayPirates launches in the UK.

2013

PiratinViaggio is launched in Italy as well as Urlaubspiraten in Austria. Facebook is chosen as the company’s marketing platform.

2014

Travel e-commerce expert (and future CEO) David Armstrong is brought aboard as COO to further internationalise and scale the business. Together they co-found the HolidayPirates Group and start establishing several legal entities abroad. VakantiePiraten launches in The Netherlands, WakacyjniPiraci in Poland, and VoyagesPirates sets sail in France.

2015

ViajerosPiratas launches in Spain and Ferienpiraten in Switzerland. The Group also begins to integrate the booking capabilities of preferred partners.

2016

David Armstrong takes over as CEO of the Group and the other co-founders, Igor and Sebastian, step out of day-to-day operations.

2017

WhatsApp and Instagram launch in several markets and TravelPirates opens for the US-market.

2018/19

The Group’s annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) approaches half a billion Euros per year. YouTube and TikTok are launched as additional channels.

2020

The Group adopts a hybrid work policy. Employees gain the flexibility to work from anywhere.

2021

The company replaces its tech stack to facilitate the vision, strategy and future scalability of the business model.

2022

After weathering the pandemic storm without needing to raise funds or take loans, the HolidayPirates Group is back at the forefront of the industry, helping fulfill travel dreams all over the world.

2023

The company opens their new headquarters in Berlin – the central hub at the heart of the hybrid working model. The Group launches the first Virtual Tour Operating [VTO] booking capability in the Italian market, followed quickly by the German and Dutch markets.

2024

The Group has grown back to its pre-pandemic size and sets sail for ambitious future growth. Three new c-level roles are introduced (COO, CFO & CPO) to help manage and facilitate the company’s goals.