Hotelbeds Group and What Now Travel announce revolutionary partnership to “Make the Moment Matter”
London 22 September 2016. In a move to revolutionise the purchase funnel for the in-destination tourism industry, Hotelbeds Group has joined forces with pioneering tech start up What Now Travel, which powers The London Official City Guide App and is set to launch their own dedicated app, to introduce a whole new stream of revenue for the travel industry by providing a new purchasing tool for consumers travelling to a tourism destination.
The innovative partnership will see Hotelbeds Group and What Now Travel leverage consumer micro-moments and convert these into sales through a wide variety of touchpoints over the travel lifecycle.
Paul Anthony, managing director of the Transfer and Activity Bank (TAB) division of Hotelbeds Group said:
“Benefiting from the large product portfolio of Hotelbeds, the What Now?! app also aims to enhance ‘in-hotel’ distribution, adding value to the traveller experience by helping tourists to discover London and buy same day tickets at the last minute. The formation of this new partnership between Hotelbeds Group and What Now Travel will offer the tourism industry a new avenue to generate income whilst enhancing consumer travel experiences through smartphone technology.”
Along with electronic ticket redemption, which will allow users to make same day bookings and eliminate the need for paper tickets, the partnership will enable users to purchase seven-day flexi attraction tickets through API connections to Hotelbeds Group portfolio of more than 11,000 activities, which will be embedded into the What Now?! app.
It is through these API connections that hotels, airlines, tour attraction providers, travel agents, and other tourism industry partners will now be able to generate revenue through commissions earnt by purchases through the What Now?! app, whilst simultaneously adding value to the customer travel experience.
Tony Sandler, CEO and founder of What Now Travel said:
“Customer travel experience does not end at booking a flight, hotel room or holiday. We have set out to develop a platform that will allow continuous revenue opportunities for all travel brands which goes beyond the initial point of sale. We are excited to start this new venture with Hotelbeds Group to push the boundaries of how the travel industry can interact with consumers.”
The What Now?! app will allow users to get inspired and plan roughly what to do that day and book tickets through complimentary hotel Wi-Fi and download relevant information from trusted sources all in one place. Once out exploring a city, the What Now?! app will use a combination of GPS and low usage memory to simulate a live smart phone experience - while data roaming is switched off - enabling consumers to change plans and find restaurants, bars, galleries and other local attractions based on their current mood, the weather, time of day etc.
With the announcement of this new partnership, the travel industry has the opportunity to make the moment matter, enhancing customer travel experiences through the latest technological developments.
About Hotelbeds Group
Hotelbeds Group is a global provider of travel services active in more than 120 markets worldwide distributing products from more than 185 countries. Its businesses provide hotel accommodation, transfers, excursions, tours, incoming services, meeting and incentives, visa outsourcing and cruise handling services to the global travel trade.
Headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, Hotelbeds Group comprises of four key business units: Bedbank, Transfer and Activity Bank, Destination Management and New Ventures, featuring leading brands such as Hotelbeds, Bedsonline, Destination Services and Intercruises.
Transfer and Activity Bank (TAB) is the world's online distributor of transfers, tours and activities to the travel trade which comprises specialized business unit brands such as Transfer and Activity Bank (TAB), Hotelextras and Isango. It offers over 16,000 transfer routes - in 135 countries and 685 destinations- and 11,000 activity options – in 125 countries and more than 650 destinations. Through its network of partner brands, TAB distributes a wide range of products worldwide to 12,000 tour operators and travel agencies; 11,000,000 final consumers and over 1,500 direct points of sale.
