Travelzoo AU and NZ launch imminent with appoint of new GM - Brad Gurrie

First there was an advertisement in the newspaper giving a hint of Travelzoo's arrival in the the Australian/New Zealand market. Now we have word that current Lastminute.com.au GM Hotels Brad Gurrie has been appointed as Travelzoo's Australian and New Zealand General Manager- starting next month.

The AU site is in beta already - as you can see from this shot - so Brad starts with something to work on.

For those of you that don't know Travelzoo are a NASDAQ listed company with a market cap of about US$320 based on revenues of $75mm. Their difference is that they are neither a retailer or a pure review/content/network site. They are a deal hunter. They use screened advertiser driven content to provide consumers with deals and specials.

If the rumours prove true, Brad may find himself working for Priceline. Would be the first Priceline employee in Australia since they shut down the Myprice joint venture with Telstra during the boom.

Congratulations to Brad on the new job. Not sure yet what this will mean for Lastminute staff retention post the Wotif acquisition.

UPDATE - Hotelmarket.com are reporting that the Sydney office will open on Nov 15 to be followed by a Taipei office on December 1

UPDATE 2 - Reliable rumours that in January at least one maybe more US based Travelzoo staff will be seconded to Sydney for an extended time to help Brad with the set up.