Hoteliers gain access to bookings from United States’ credit union members via latest Hotelbeds agreement
- CU Travel, the official travel partner of the credit union industry in the United States, signs first-of-a-kind accommodation distribution agreement with Hotelbeds.
- The 180,000 contracted hotel properties working with Hotelbeds around the world can now gain bookings from CU Travel’s 12 million users.
- Over 50 closed-user groups such as loyalty programs, employee benefit and points redemption schemes now work with Hotelbeds worldwide, many in the U.S.
- Closed-user groups provide hotels with incremental and high-value guests that complement the direct channel and allow them to sell opaque rates.
February 18th 2020, Palma, Spain – Hotelbeds, the world’s leading bedbank, has today confirmed a first-of-a-kind strategic partnership with Credit Union Travel (CU Travel), the official travel partner of the credit union industry in the United States.
CU Travel offers exclusive travel discounts to credit unions – a form of financial cooperatives popular in the United States that are owned by members and offer traditional banking services – who in turn offer the deals to their consumer members.
As part of the agreement the 180,000 hotel properties available from Hotelbeds globally, many of which are directly contracted at the best price and under exclusive terms & conditions, now gain access to CU Travel’s 12 million users across the United States.
This news follows a strategic push from Hotelbeds to work with more closed-user groups – such as points redemption schemes, employee benefits programs and loyalty cards – as part of the company’s commitment to provide hotel partners with high-value and incremental bookings.
Many reservations from this channel come from long-haul markets and on average book further in advance, pay higher rates, cancel less, stay longer, spend more in destination, and return more often.
Already the company can confirm over 50 existing closed-user group clients, many of them in the North American market.
Jason Soss, Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, Bedbank at Hotelbeds states: “I just know that our 180,000 hotel partners around the world will be hugely excited to hear that we will be working with CU Travel.
“Hoteliers everywhere are always looking for new ways to access incremental, high-value bookings from channels that they couldn´t access easily themselves. What better way to do that than through accessing the 120 million members of credit unions across the United States?
“We’ve been working hard over the last few years to offer our hotel partners access to more and more closed-user groups, such as CU Travel, and I´m pleased to confirm that we now have over 50 such partners, including loyalty cards, points redemption programs, and employee benefit schemes.”
Mike Neill, CU Travel Board Member and founder of ServiStar Consulting, comments “Credit Unions are known for providing tremendous value to their loyal members through great products, as well as personalized customer service. Our strategy is to help credit unions expand their reach by offering a great product – over 180,000 hotel properties worldwide, many sourced under exclusive terms at the best prices – for their members whilst generating both interest and non-interest income. It’s the ultimate win-win!”
About Hotelbeds:
Hotelbeds is the world’s leading bedbank.
In a fragmented and complex travel landscape, Hotelbeds provides over 180,000 hotels properties across the globe with access to high-value, complementary distribution channels that significantly increase occupancy rates and optimise RevPAR – whilst not competing with the hotelier’s direct distribution strategy.
Hotelbeds does this by offering hoteliers access to a network of over 60,000 hard-to-access B2B travel buyers such as tour operators, retail travel agents, airline websites, and loyalty schemes in over 140 source markets worldwide. These channels provide hotel partners with returning guests that book further in advance, cancel less, spend more in-destination and stay longer.
In addition to accommodation, Hotelbeds is also the world’s largest B2B seller of travel ancillaries, offering 24,000 transfer routes and 18,000 activities, as well as attractions, tickets and car hire.
Operating under the ‘Beyond the Bed’ product line, it provides both hoteliers and travel distribution partners with an efficient platform and powerful tools to easily integrate and commercialise its leading portfolio of high-margin products.
The company is headquartered in Palma, Spain and employs around 5,000 employees across over 60 offices globally.
For more information, visit www.hotelbeds.com
Media Contact for Hotelbeds:
Roman Townsend
Media Relations & Corporate Affairs Director
About Credit Union Travel
CU Travel is the official travel partner of the credit union industry. Through nationwide strategic relationships exclusively with Credit Unions, the company is on the forefront of shaping the way consumers view travel. CU Travel is committed to bringing awareness to the credit union movement and being a champion for the credit union story at every turn.
Learn more at info.cutc.com or www.credituniontravel.com .
