Hotelbeds Group to distribute Big Bus Tours globally
- Partnership forms part of commitment to continually grow portfolio of Group´s Transfer & Activity Bank (TAB) to offer clients best available products and prices.
- Big Bus Tours anticipates significant increase of passengers from new global partnership.
- Over 35,000 clients across Hotelbeds Group brands – including Hotelbeds and Bedsonline – will have access to walking tours, boat cruises and attraction packages.
Palma, July 5, 2017 - Hotelbeds Group, a leading bedbank worldwide and business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry, has continued to strengthen its fast-growing Transfer & Activity Bank (TAB) business through a global partnership with Big Bus Tours, the largest privately owned operator of open-top sightseeing tours in the world.
The long term deal is projected to deliver a significant increase in passengers for Big Bus Tours with consistent annual growth into the next decade.
As part of the “Preferred Partner” deal, both businesses will work collaboratively in developing a strong customer proposition for sale through Hotelbeds Group’s large portfolio of over 35,000 travel selling partners around the world made up of Online Travel Agencies, Travel Agents, Tour Operators and Airlines.
Javier Arévalo, Transfer & Activity Bank´s Managing Director, commented: “Taking a Big Bus Tour is recognized by tourists all around the world as the first thing to do when arriving in a new city – and we´re simply thrilled to be its global partner. This news forms part of our commitment to our customers to provide them with the best and widest range of product available, at the best prices, for real-time instant booking. The addition of the walking tours, boat cruises and attraction packages with the same hop-on, hop-off concept makes this agreement more exciting still”.
Omid Golshan, Executive Vice President of Global Growth at Big Bus Tours, adds: “We are very excited that Hotelbeds Group values the importance of working with a premium service provider within the open-top sightseeing tours sector. We look forward to deepening our partnership over the next few years through an even closer relationship with Hotelbeds Group and its extensive network of global distribution partners. Together we should be able to accelerate our growth whilst ensuring customers receive the very best value for their city experiences.”
Big Bus Tours is the largest operator of open-top sightseeing tours in the world, providing sightseeing tours in 19 cities across four continents, and offers its services in up to 26 languages. The Big Bus Tours philosophy is to “think global and act local” understanding each city, its character and culture. Its aim is to provide exceptional levels of service and a unique sightseeing experience to the millions of customers it receives every year. This complements Hotelbeds Groups’ commitment to proactively work with partners and their vision of “reshaping travel”.
This deal forms part of Hotelbeds Group´s strategy – announced last November at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London – of an ambitious plan to triple sales in its TAB business along with a commitment to expand its product portfolio to deliver best-in-class technology.
About Hotelbeds Group
Hotelbeds Group is a business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry globally.
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 and Bedsonline brands, the company connects 35,000 travel intermediaries across more than 120 source markets globally with travel providers in over 180 countries representing more than 120,000 hotels, 20,000 transfer routes and 14,000 activities.
Additionally the Group also operates a Destination Services division offering in-bound destination services, such as tours or transfers, in around 40 countries. The Group also owns several other B2B travel brands such as Pacific World (focusing on the MICE area), Intercruises (shore side cruise solutions), TT Services (visa outsourcing) and more.
In September 2016 the company became independent under the ownership of Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). In June 2017 Tourico Holidays became part of Hotelbeds Group, operating as a business unit within the Group whilst its integration progresses.
The company is headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and has 6,150 employees working across over 150 offices globally.
In the financial calendar year of 2014 / 15 Hotelbeds Group sold around 26 million room nights and achieved a Total Transaction Value (TTV) of €3.8 billion.
About Big Bus Tours
Big Bus Tours is the world’s largest operator of open-top sightseeing tours, fueling the spirit of adventure in 19 world-famous cities across four continents. Beginning its journey 25 years’ ago, with a fleet of only three buses, Big Bus Tours has swiftly expanded to a global fleet of 400 buses, turning 4 million tourists into explorers, every year. Big Bus Tours operates in London, Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Abu Dhabi, Budapest, Istanbul, Miami, Muscat, Rome, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Darwin, Sydney, Vienna and Washington DC, with a sightseeing concept that provides a flexible approach to city discovery. Each open-top bus tour provides a hop-on, hop-off facility at a variety of interesting landmarks and locations, with complementary extras to enhance the visitor sightseeing experience. In February 2015, private equity firm Exponent purchased Big Bus Tours, with a shared vision to make Big Bus Tours the number 1 thing to do in each world-famous city. In 2016 Merlin Entertainments PLC became a shareholder, offering a natural synergy with Big Bus Tours and Merlin attractions around the world. With entertaining guides and commentary and knowledge of the latest events in each city, every passenger leaves with a story to tell. The Big Bus Tours app can be downloaded at www.bigbustours.com/app. For further information, log onto www.bigbustours.com.
