Hotelbeds Group confirms APAC appointments for Sourcing Team

Andrew Hughes appointed to lead Sourcing Team for Asia Pacific (APAC)
Regional management team reporting to Andrew Hughes also confirmed
Progress towards complete integration will accelerate growth in the APAC region

Shanghai, China – October 11, 2018 - Hotelbeds Group, the world´s leading bedbank, announced today the appointment of Andrew Hughes to serve as the Asia Pacific (APAC) Regional Director for Sourcing.

In this role, Hughes will be responsible for all commercial aspects of the relationship with hotel suppliers, reporting directly to Sam Turner, the Wholesale Sales & Sourcing Director with global responsibility.

Prior to this appointment Hughes already worked at Hotelbeds Group in hotel sourcing for the Group’s GTA brand. Hughes’ hotel industry career started with Best Western Australia before moving to IHG, where he was responsible for 43 hotels in Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, Hughes moved to Dubai to open Atlantis, The Palm Dubai luxury hotel resort, followed by two openings for Mövenpick in the region. In 2012, Hughes moved into the distribution space to work for GTA and relocated to Singapore.

Additionally, the regional management positions that will report to Hughes have been confirmed. They have all been appointed from within the Group. Maria Garcia will be the Head of Thailand and Patrick Torres will take the role of Head of East Asia. In regional manager roles, Andrew Boocock has been appointed to the Pacific region; Colm Flanagan will cover South East Asia; Dan Zhao will be in charge of Indochina and the Philippines; and Marta Gonzales will lead China and Taiwan.

Sam Turner, Wholesale Sales & Sourcing Director at Hotelbeds Group, said, “We are really pleased to have Andrew lead sourcing for APAC. Andrew has a wealth of hospitality operations and management experience with a deep understanding of our hotel partners’ needs and demands when it comes to distribution. His global perspective, collective knowledge and expertise will make him an invaluable member of the Group. The strong and integrated new team will ensure that we remain at the leading edge of the sector and continue to grow in the vital APAC region.”

Andrew Hughes, APAC Regional Director for Sourcing at Hotelbeds Group, said, “Following the integration of Tourico Holidays and GTA into the Group there are now over 170,000 hotels and 18,000 activities in our portfolio, which we offer to our more than 60,000 travel selling-clients, including niche channels such as airlines and points redemption schemes. I am very excited about the opportunity to be part of the world´s leading bedbank and to help the company on its continued growth. The localized expertise, integrated business strategy, strong collaboration with partners as well as the Group’s leading technology platform will make our offering unbeatable in the APAC region.”

Since January, the Group has been identifying top employee profiles from the three companies, at both senior management and management levels, in order to better respond to the needs of the Group’s expanded operations following the integration of Tourico Holidays and GTA. Three hundred and fifty appointments have been made to date.

The product portfolio has also been expanded to over 170,000 hotels, and over 60,000 travel-selling clients now use the platform. Recently, the Group confirmed that all of its bedbank brands – Hotelbeds, Bedsonline, Tourico Holidays, and GTA – will be transitioned onto the same technology platform by the close of this year.

Earlier this year, the Group also announced plans to increase its sourcing teams globally by 200 people in order to drive up the number of exclusively contracted hotels by 10,000 over the coming three years.

For Hotelbeds Group, growing the business in the APAC region is a top priority. China remains the number one source market in the wholesale channel for Hotelbeds Group in Asia-Pacific and is now the 4th biggest for the Group globally, up from 5th place only last year. Other top Asian source markets include India, South Korea, Indonesia and Australia.

About Hotelbeds Group

Hotelbeds Group is the world´s leading bedbank.

The Group’s proprietary technology helps providers of travel services distribute their offering to travel sellers globally via an easy-to-use, advanced technology platform that increases reach, revenue and yield for both the provider and the seller.

Operating mainly under the Hotelbeds, Bedsonline, Tourico Holidays and GTA brands, the company connects over 60,000 travel intermediaries across more than 140 source markets globally with travel providers in over 185 countries representing more than 170,000 hotels, 24,000 transfer routes and 18,000 activities.

In September 2016, the company became independent under the ownership of Cinven and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). In June 2017, Tourico Holidays became part of Hotelbeds Group, followed by GTA also joining the Group in October; both companies remain independent brands whilst they are being integrated into the Group.

The Group is headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

And twitter: @HotelbedsGroup

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Hotelbeds Group Media

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