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For another consecutive year, Hotelbeds Group maintained its reputation for celebrating Fitur in style with its partners.

Every year Fitur brings together all the leaders of the Spanish travel industry, with thousands of exhibiting travel &amp; tourism companies, government institutions and tourism boards from across the globe.

In addition to having a strong presence at the trade fair, we like to bring together our leading partners from across the Group outside of the convention for private parties. Each year we throw two main parties: one for Hotelbeds, our wholesaler brand that focuses on OTAs, tour operators, re-sellers and airlines, and one for the Bedsonline brand, which is focused on travel agencies. The goal? To thank all of them for a year full of success and strengthen further the relationship.

On the Wednesday evening a cocktail party was hosted by Hotelbeds at Opium Madrid, perhaps the city´s most exclusive night club, bringing together more than 450 hotel partners alongside journalists from leading travel trade media. Sam Turner, Hotelbeds Group’s Director of Wholesale Sales &amp; Sourcing, gave a speech thanking guests for their continued partnership and the party continued into the early hours of the morning thanks to a live band.

Bedsonline also organized a special event to thank its top clients for another successful year. This took place on the Thursday in the restaurant of the chic Ramses bar, located next to the Puerta de Alcalá in Madrid´s sophisticated Barrio Salamanca. More than 200 senior executives from Spain´s leading travel agencies and selected invited media enjoyed the haute cuisine of Ramses before moving onto the dance floor in the private bar upstairs into the early hours.

Both events were mentioned by the media, including Preferente who listed the Hotelbeds party as one of the most exclusive of the whole week at Fitur.

With expectations so high, planning for 2019´s events will start soon. See you next year!









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Hotelbeds Group celebrates another successful Fitur

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	España se sitúa como mercado emisor y destino más reservado en 2017.
	Los turistas españoles aumentan sus reservas para el destino Estambul en un 15%.
	La compañía celebra en Fitur una fiesta dedicada a agradecer a sus clientes la fidelidad y los éxitos cosechados durante el 2017. &nbsp;


Madrid, 18 de Enero de 2018 – Bedsonline, el proveedor global líder de acomodación y productos complementarios exclusivo para agencias de viaje, ha anunciado hoy los resultados registrados en el último año en España como destino y mercado emisor.

Un año más, España consigue posicionarse como mercado emisor principal con un promedio de noches reservadas de 2,25 por estancia[1]. Le sigue el Reino Unido como segundo mercado emisor principal con promedio de 5,7 noches por estancia.

España también se ha situado como destino más demandado por los turistas españoles en 2017, siendo Madrid, Barcelona y Tenerife los más reservados. Fuera del país, la preferencia de los españoles en el último año han sido las grandes ciudades de Nueva York y París.

Asimismo, España también ha experimentado este año, un incremento substancial del número de turistas procedentes de Latinoamérica. Concretamente de Colombia, Costa Rica y Perú.

La compañía ha sido testigo también este año de la recuperación de Turquía como destino, donde los turistas españoles han incrementado un 15% el número de noches de hotel reservadas a través de la plataforma de Bedsonline para el destino Estambul. Esta recuperación se debe, en gran parte, a la recuperación de la estabilidad geopolítica y al incremento de viajeros europeos, que ha motivado a los turistas españoles a apostar otra vez por este destino.

Carlos Feliu, director de &nbsp;ventas de Bedsonline comenta: “En Bedsonline hemos apostado siempre por la internacionalización y la diversificación. Es por este motivo que, a pesar de ser España nuestro mercado emisor principal, hemos conseguido excelentes resultados en mercados de rápido crecimiento en América para España como destino y hemos experimentado la recuperación de mercados como Turquía como destino para los turistas españoles. 

“A pesar de los grandes resultados experimentados en el continente americano y Turquía, España y el Reino Unido, nuestros mercados emisores principales, mantienen su posición creciendo al ritmo que marca mercado.

“Paralelamente a esta apuesta este año nos hemos enfocado, también, en fortalecer nuestros equipos comerciales con especial enfoque en España. Ha sido en este mercado donde hemos conseguido aumentar en un 40% el número de comerciales con el objetivo de ofrecer un servicio más cercano y acorde a las nuevas necesidades de los agentes de viaje.

“Para el próximo año, tenemos como objetivo afianzar nuestra posición en estos nuevos mercados, seguir ampliando nuestra cartera de producto e incorporar nuevas soluciones tecnológica que ayuden a facilitar el proceso de reserva.”

Bedsonline ha querido agradecer a sus clientes – el jueves 18 de enero en el marco de Fitur- este año de éxitos en una fiesta celebrada en el restaurante Ramses de Madrid. La celebración congregará a más de 250 clientes y contará con la participación de Carlos Feliu, director de ventas, Paolo Boiano, director de ventas Iberia, y Cosme Maíz, director de ventas España.

Sobre Bedsonline

Bedsonline es el proveedor global líder de acomodación y productos complementarios exclusivo para agencias de viaje. A través de su plataforma online distribuye su producto -acomodación, excursiones, tickets y traslados- entre una cartera de clientes compuesta por más de 30.000 agencias repartidos entre 30 países. En España, 8.000 agencias confían en Bedsonline para hacer sus reservas.

La compañía destaca por su extenso portfolio – más de 170.000 hoteles en 200 destinos, 21.000 rutas de traslados en 140 países y 16.000 actividades en 120 países-, por un servicio personalizado local y una herramienta de reserva online intuitiva y fácil de usar. De esta manera, Bedsonline garantiza una alta disponibilidad, precios competitivos y una elevada satisfacción de sus clientes.

La mayorista, líder de la distribución online, ha centrado su estrategia en los últimos años en la expansión por nuevos mercados de Europa, América y Asia, como Alemania, República Checa, México, Estados Unidos, Colombia, China, Japón o Filipinas. Esta visión estratégica ha llevado a la compañía a ocupar una posición de ventaja en la industria.

Bedsonline forma parte de Hotelbeds Group, el proveedor global de servicios para la industria del turismo a nivel mundial. Con sede en Palma de Mallorca, emplea a 6.150 empleados entre sus 153 oficinas repartidas por todo el mundo.

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Síguenos en Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/hotelbeds-group

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bedsonline

&nbsp;

Y Twitter: @HotelbedsGroup

&nbsp;

Arenalia Comunicación&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

Irene Garcia-Arnau&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

igarciaarnau@arenalia.com &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Tel. +34 660 201 020&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Media Relations and Corporate Affairs

Anna Monreal

amonreal@hotelbeds.com

Tel.&nbsp; +34 971 624 687

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[1] Estos datos hacen referencia a reservas realizadas a través de la plataforma de Bedsonline entre Enero ’17 y Diciembre’17. &nbsp;




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España se mantiene un año más como mercado emisor principal para Bedsonline 

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak´s current advert for Vodafone sees him talking about the transformative impact of technology on all of our lives, stating “we are now absolutely the kings of a better world”. But what will be the impact of travel technology on our lives in 2018?

Travelers booking their holidays online today really do expect to be ´kings´. They expect a simple, fast and user-friendly experience that covers all the available options whenever and wherever they search, book and pay for a hotel or an activity.

But if there is one thing that develops quicker than technology, it is the expectations that we have of what technology should be able to do.



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And in 2018 we´ll be expecting a more personalized and predictive service. Here are a list of the five key technologies to keep an eye on this year to understand how the industry is going to meet that challenge:

Artificial Intelligence (AI): this is now a reality. AI organizes and makes sense of large amounts of data and responses are already quicker and more efficient. Voice search or bots are good examples of how far personalization could go.

Voice Search: this is likely to be greatly improved this year through devices such as Google´s Home or Amazon´s Alexa. Voice Search is, as mentioned before, an application of AI. When you do a voice search, an accurate and personalized response is required to give you the most relevant information.&nbsp; This is when AI and data analytics are crucial in order to provide you with the information needed in milliseconds.

Machine learning: as the name suggests, this is about making systems learn automatically and predict patterns of behavior. Whilst this is an application of AI, its key role is prediction science.

Cloud computing: apart from the evident advantages of storing information on remote servers – such as saving space and providing a safe back-up – cloud computing also offers a reduction of costs, more scalability and flexibility. All good solutions for efficient company growth.

Robotics Process Automation (RPA): the digital age introduces a future in which people will interact continuously with robots (both knowingly, and unknowingly).&nbsp; RPA solutions learn from business users and assist with simple and repetitive tasks such as transactional activities – these will make workers much more efficient.

In the same Vodafone advert Steve Wozniak also recognizes that “we´re all just beginners in the digital world” and refers to himself as an “intern”. By pushing the boundaries of these five technologies during 2018 could the travel industry perhaps hope to keep one step ahead? The journey starts here.

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The travel technology journey: five areas to watch in 2018 


	New structure for Bedbank following integrations of Tourico Holidays and GTA
	Roles taken by existing senior management from all three companies plus external hire
	Department leaders will be members of Executive Committee


Palma, 16 January 2018. Hotelbeds Group, the leading bedbank worldwide and provider of business-to-business services to the global travel industry, has today confirmed the new departmental structure of its Bedbank business as part of the integration of Tourico Holidays and GTA into the Group.

Following a strategic review a new departmental structure has been created with the following functions: Commercial Strategy, Strategic Partnerships, Global Business Services, Product management, Retail Travel Agencies, Wholesale&nbsp;and Sourcing and&nbsp;Marketing &amp; Communications.&nbsp;

Leading these areas as of the beginning of this year are the following executives:


	Asi Ginio, Director of Commercial Strategy &amp; Strategic Partnerships. Asi joins from Tourico Holidays where he was most recently CEO.
	Alex Brändle, Director Global Business Services. Alex joins from GTA where he was the SVP of Business Transformation.
	Peter Mansour, Director of Product management. Peter joins from outside of the Group and has worked in senior roles at companies such as Microsoft and eBay.
	Alistair Rodger, Director Retail Travel Agents.&nbsp;Alistair very recently joined GTA from The LaterRooms Group, where he was Chief Commercial &amp; Operating Officer.
	Sam Turner, Director Wholesale Sales &amp; Sourcing. Sam has been with Hotelbeds for many years and was previously the Director of Sales.
	Gareth Matthews will continue as the Director Marketing &amp; Communications for the Group, with his scope now increased to include the Tourico Holidays and GTA brands. Additionally he will take on responsibility for sponsorship partnerships.


Each of the above mentioned function leaders will report directly to Carlos Muñoz in his role as Managing Director of Hotelbeds Group´s Bedbank. Additionally each function leader will also be a member of the Executive Committee. A complete list of Executive Committee members can be found here: http://hotelbedsgroup.com/content/leadership-team

Carlos Muñoz, Managing Director Bedbank, Hotelbeds Group commented: “In just over three months the integration has progressed significantly. Cross-selling is already underway across the various businesses and already we´re recruiting an additional 200 roles in the Contracting and Yield teams – who will fulfill our objective of directly contracting 10,000 new hotels over the coming three years. And I´m very proud to be able to confirm that together we are the global B2B bedbank leader with over 170,000 hotels and over 60,000 travel intermediary clients.

“To reflect this strong leadership position after careful consideration we have adapted the departmental structure of our Bedbank business. We have created these new areas and appointed senior management from across our three brands to lead them, even bringing in new talent from outside of the business.

“With this new enhanced structure and strengthened team we feel best placed to ensure our partners will continue receiving the best possible service and products, under the best terms and conditions.

“I look forward to providing further updates on our ambitious plans for our Bedbank in due course.”

&nbsp;

About Hotelbeds Group

Hotelbeds Group is a business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry globally and 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 135 source markets globally with travel providers in over 200 countries representing more than 170,000 hotels, 22,000 transfer routes and 16,000 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) and more.

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 has 8,300 employees globally (including Tourico Holidays and GTA).

&nbsp;

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hotelbeds-group

And twitter: @HotelbedsGroup

Follow APItude on twitter: @Hotelbeds_API

&nbsp;

Hotelbeds Group Media contact&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Roman Townsend &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Head of&nbsp;Media Relations and Corporate Affairs

rtownsend@hotelbeds.com&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;


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Hotelbeds Group confirms new Bedbank structure

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	Integration adds 78 more attractions to TAB across 12 North American markets including New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and more.
	Barcoded vouchers provide protection against fraud to increase profits.


Palma, December 22, 2017. Hotelbeds Group, a leading bedbank worldwide and a business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry, has announced the integration of CityPASS, the provider of multi-attraction ticket products, into its Transfer &amp; Activity Bank (TAB).

The partnership will add to TAB´s platform 78 new attractions such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Space Needle, World of Coca-Cola and Blue &amp; Gold Bay Fleet Cruise Adventure, including a real-time booking confirmation and cancellation service, in 12 North American markets such as New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Dallas. The CityPASS products have been activated for all distribution channels of Hotelbeds Group.

Javier Arevalo, Transfer &amp; Activity Bank’s Managing Director, explains that “I am proud to announce yet another great partnership with a market leader for our fast-growing Transfer &amp; Activity Bank (TAB) business. This integration is exciting news for the over 60,000 travel intermediaries that use our platform globally, giving their travelers full access to all the barcode protected CityPASS products across the United States”.

This news follows Hotelbed’s Group announcement last year of an ambitious plan to triple sales in its TAB business along with a commitment to expand its product portfolio and deliver best-in-class technology.

Hotelbeds Group’s Transfer &amp; Activity Bank (TAB) is the world’s leading online distributor of transfers, tours and activities. It provides both the industry and the end consumer with a consolidated range of in-destination products worldwide. The company currently offers over 22,000 transfer routes in more than 1.100 destinations and – with the announcement of this partnership – over 16,000 activity options in more than 700 destinations. These activities include theatre, sport and theme park tickets, excursions and car rental products. TAB’s products are distributed to more than 60,000 travel intermediaries globally in 135 source markets via the Hotelbeds Group distribution platform.

About CityPASS

Since 1997, CityPASS ticket booklets and admission cards have been premier products for travelers who want to visit a destination’s top attractions while enjoying significant savings. The CityPASS program, which has a 98 percent customer recommendation rating, covers prepaid admission to top attractions in 12 North American destinations: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Southern California, Tampa Bay and Toronto. Still a family-owned business, CityPASS is headquartered in the small mountain town of Victor, Idaho, on the west slope of the Teton Mountains. For more information, visit CityPASS.com.

About Hotelbeds Group

Hotelbeds Group is a business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry globally and 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 135 source markets globally with travel providers in over 200 countries representing more than 170,000 hotels, 22,000 transfer routes and 16,000 activities.

Additionally, the Group also operates a Destination Services division offering in-bound destination services, such as tours or transfers, in around 20 countries and more than 170 destinations. The Group also owns several other B2B travel brands such as Pacific World (focusing on the MICE area), Intercruises (shore side cruise solutions) and more.

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 has 8,300 employees globally (including Tourico Holidays and GTA).

&nbsp;

Follow us on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hotelbeds-group

And Twitter: @HotelbedsGroup

Follow APItude on Twitter: @Hotelbeds_API

&nbsp;

Hotelbeds Group Media contacts

Media Relations and Corporate Affairs

Cristina Roman

croman@hotelbeds.com

Tel.&nbsp; +34 971 624 687

&nbsp;

Arenalia Comunicación&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

Irene Garcia&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

igarciaarnau@arenalia.com 

Tel. +34 660 201 020&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

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 Hotelbeds Group integrates CityPASS into its Transfer & Activity Bank (TAB)

We all know that the direct Vs indirect debate will never have a fairy tale ending for either the hotels or the intermediaries. But nonetheless this plotline is continually evolving and always introducing new characters, both heroes and villains.&nbsp; Maybe this time we are about to witness a different ending?

One thing hasn´t changed though: watching the various interested parties debate this live makes for great entertainment.&nbsp; Delegates at last month´s Phocuswright got a taste of this when our own Joan Vilà took to the stage for the ´Accomodation Upended´ debate – hosted by Phocuswright´s Lorraine Sileo and accompanied by Patrick Bosworth from Duetto, Sam Shank from HotelTonight, and Tammy Peter from Wyndham. To watch the full video click here.

It seems certain that we are about to see the entrance of two new characters onto the stage. When the panelists were asked who poses more of a threat as a potential distribution channel in the future, Facebook or Amazon, the result was three to one in Amazon´s favour (or against, depending upon how you interpret that!).

Whichever poses the greater threat, the reality it would seem is that both have enormous potential to transform travel. Facebook is omnipresent and has huge ability to influence us all; and Amazon´s big data analytics enables them to understand and predict all our needs. What hotel chain doesn´t need both of these qualities as part of their storyline?

Remarkably one of the biggest new controversial stars of the travel industry, Airbnb, doesn´t seem to be eclipsing what many consider the biggest threat: Expedia.&nbsp; All four panelists felt that Expedia still poses a greater threat to hotels than Airbnb, despite all of the concerns (and endless column inches) about the revolutionary impact of the Airbnb threat to hotels.

Despite the push that hotels have made in the last few years to gain more sales in the direct channel, with campaigns such as Hilton´s ´Stop clicking around´, the average proportion of direct sales has remained for decades roughly stable at around 50%. Hotels have been unsuccessful in persuading travelers to download their apps compared to the online travel agencies (OTAs) – according to Joan with the latter outstripping the former by a rate of five to one.

This might be because perhaps the biggest actor to enter the direct Vs indirect plotline has gone unnoticed by many: the traveler. Modern audiences are used to multi-channel access for everything and want the same for their hotel content. If this were a fairy tale, convenience and the consumer would arguably be the King &amp; Queen and it is just possible that they might live happily ever after.&nbsp;


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It might not be a fairy tale, but are we about to see a new plotline in the Direct Vs indirect story?

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If you believed the rumours that Santa would deliver Christmas presents via blockchain this year, you´ll be disappointed. He doesn´t even have email yet. In fact, writing to Santa is more tricky than it looks. You´ve listed your good deeds done and described your ideal presents, but where do you post the letter to?


Finns believe he lives in Lapland, Americans in Alaska, and Russians (who believe in ´Ded Maroz´, a kind of communist Santa) in Vologoda. Besides, in our Group headquarters in Spain no one even writes to Santa, instead they write to the Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos) via a post box in our local department store.


Needless to say, in non-Christian countries Christmas is not celebrated: it´s just another working day in India, Indonesia and Israel. As a company with over 200 offices and 8,500 employees around the globe offering a 24-hour a day service, we embrace such cultural differences on a daily basis. So if you´re a customer of ours, rest assured that our call centre in destination support line will be open on Christmas Day.


But is there anything that we do all have in common at this time of year? As we count down to 31st December, even if we don´t jot them down in a letter to Santa, one way or another we´re all mentally reviewing the year´s highlights.


For us at Hotelbeds Group this year has brought some rather memorable moments: Tourico Holidays and GTA have joined our Group; our platform now has over 170,000 hotels and handles peaks of up to 1.5 billion searches a day; China became our fifth biggest source market globally; airline ancillary sales continued to grow strongly, as did car rentals; and we hosted not one by two MarketHubs, Cancun and Bangkok, for our top clients.

There´s something else too that many of us have in common at this time of year: it´s a time to think about giving something back. This holiday season for every corporate Christmas gift we´d have given away, instead we´ll make a donation to Le Passage Travel Foundation – Shaping Lives. Its ‘No Child in Trash’ program supports the children of waste pickers living in New Delhi. Each donation enables a child to receive one month’s informal learning and food.

There´s also something else we have in common: thinking about what the year ahead has in store for us, our families and our work. Whilst we are very proud of our achievements, the truth is we are even more excited about the many challenges that lay ahead: our campaign to contract directly 10,000 more hotels; figuring out how to make artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and blockchain work for our partners; widening our cross-selling initiatives as part of the Tourico Holidays and GTA integration into our Group; and keeping up with the pace of Asia Pacific´s phenomenal growth.

Once again we´d like to thank all our commercial partners across the globe for the faith they place in our business. Wherever you are, whether you celebrate the holidays or not, we hope that Santa, the Three Kings, Ded Maroz or whomever you cherish brings you everything you truly deserve in 2018.&nbsp;



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Newsflash: Santa will not use blockchain to deliver gifts this holiday season  


	The leading bedbank worldwide publishes the trends for the winter holidays
	Four of the top 10 favourite destinations are located in the Asia Pacific continent
	Orlando is ranked as first preferred location to visit this Christmas


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Palma, 15 December 2017. Hotelbeds, the leading bedbank worldwide, has published today trends for Christmas hotel bookings made via its own proprietary platform with an increased interest for Asia Pacific as a top destination and source market. [1]

The Hotelbeds platform, which focuses on providing wholesale travel content to online travel agencies (OTAs), tour operators and airlines, has announced that for this Christmas period Orlando will be, as per the previous year, the top destination chosen by tourists around the world booking via Hotelbeds´ travel intermediary partners. This American destination is followed by Phuket, Thailand, which scales two positions in comparison with last year, with a noticeable increase in roomnights booked. The third favorite destination will be New York, with an increase in roomnights.

The ranking of most booked destinations continues with Tenerife, Paris, Bangkok, Dubai, Cancun, Singapore and Hong Kong - with four of the top ten destinations being in Asia Pacific, up from only three last year.

Examining Hotelbeds’ source markets for this Christmas holidays, the United Kingdom (UK) is the most important source market for Hotelbeds, followed by Spain, the United States, Mexico and Brazil. Whilst it remains outside of the top ten, the United Arab Emirates has grown significantly as a source market for Hotelbeds since last year, ranking in 13th position while last year it was 22nd.

Focusing on the UK source market, in descending order of bookings, British people choose to travel to Tenerife (Spain), Lanzarote (Spain), Benidorm (Spain), Phuket (Thailand), Orlando (US), New York (US), Algarve (Portugal), Gran Canaria (Spain), Fuerteventura (Spain) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates). Their average stay in these destinations for the Christmas period will be 4.47 nights, with average bookings of up to 8 nights in the Spanish destinations. Whilst the source of bookings for the United Kingdom as a destination, by descending order, are the local market, Spain, the US (with a strong increase in roomnights Vs last year), Germany, Netherlands, Egypt, Italy, France, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

Carlos Muñoz, Managing Director Bedbank, Hotelbeds Group commented: “Whilst the traditional Christmas destinations such as Orlando – well known for Disneyland – remain&nbsp; amongst the most popular with travelers who book via our customers, nonetheless a clear trend is emerging compared to last year: Asia Pacific destinations continue to be a growth market for us. 

“This reflects in part the ever increasing desire of global travelers to visit the region. But the main driver of the increase in bookings for the destination via our platform is our increased presence in the region as a bedbank, working with local travel sellers in the local source market – many of whose customers in turn want to book hotels for holidays in the region. 

“To respond to this increased demand we have been increasing our portfolio of hotels globally, and in particular in Asia-Pacific. Since Tourico Holidays and GTA became part of our Group earlier this year, we now have over 170,000 hotels available on the platform. ”

For the Spanish source market, the most popular destination for Spanish tourists whose booking was made via the Hotelbeds platform this Christmas is Andorra to ski and enjoy winter activities. Despite the Spanish interest in skiing during Christmas time, by descending order they will also go to Tenerife (Spain), Madrid (Spain), New York (US), Paris (France), Gran Canaria (Spain), Benidorm (Spain), Rome (Italy), London (UK) and Barcelona (Spain). There is a big interest for Spanish people to visit Paris (where roomnights have grown strongly), Rome and New York. Spanish tourists will travel to their destinations to spend an average stay of 3.7 nights. During this period Spain as a destination will be visited, in descending order, by tourists from the UK, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the US, France, Sweden, Israel and the Netherlands.

&nbsp;

About Hotelbeds Group

Hotelbeds Group is a business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry globally and 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 135 source markets globally with travel providers in over 200 countries representing more than 170,000 hotels, 21,000 transfer routes and 12,000 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) and more.

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 has 8,300 employees globally (including Tourico Holidays and GTA).

&nbsp;

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hotelbeds-group

And twitter: @HotelbedsGroup

Follow APItude on twitter: @Hotelbeds_API

&nbsp;

Hotelbeds Group Media contacts

Media Relations and Corporate Affairs

Cristina Román

croman@hotelbeds.com

Tel.&nbsp; +34 971 624 687

&nbsp;

Arenalia Comunicación&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

Irene Garcia-Arnau

igarciaarnau@arenalia.com

Tel. +34 660 201 020&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;


[1] This data refers to bookings as of 30th November via the Hotelbeds brand (and not the wider Hotelbeds Group) for the period from 22nd December to 7th January.




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Hotelbeds’ Christmas bookings trends show growth of Asia Pacific as top destination 

What would you give to remove 14 years and four months of hard slog from your current to-do list? That´s how long it would take a hotel sales manager to meet with 60,000 travel seller intermediaries.&nbsp; That is assuming they spent just 30 minutes with each person, worked 8 hours a day five days a week, and had no holidays, sick leave or even comfort breaks. Oh, and instantly transported themselves from meeting to meeting (or relied on Skype, a risky option).

At Hotelbeds Group we have reduced those 14 years and four months of work down to milliseconds by giving hotels access to a giant community of travel sellers globally. And since Tourico Holidays and GTA started their integration into Hotelbeds Group, the number of travel sellers using the platform has increased to over 60,000. Not only is this a big increase from the previous 35,000 customers, but additionally the range of source markets has widened – with greater presence in North America and Asia Pacific.

These 60,000 customers can access hotels via the platform every single second, all day every day. In total these customers make up to 1.5 billion searches a day. Aside from the fact that a hotel sales manager couldn´t really meet 60,000 people and have a 100% success rate, there are other factors that would make it almost impossible: for example they´d need to speak every language and have a super slick (and quick!) contracting process. And that´s assuming their hotel can handle payments in any currency, has a robust inventory platform in place, and so on.

Collectively the total amount of customers connecting to the Group´s bedbank via the wholesale channel – the online travel agencies (OTAs), tour operators, B2B re-sellers (who in turn sell onto other intermediaries), and airlines – now numbers around 7,000. The rest of the over 60,000 customers are made up of travel agents, ranging from one-man-bands right up to some leading chains such as Viajes El Corte Inglés in Spain.

Whilst Tourico Holidays and GTA currently remain independent businesses within Hotelbeds Group, already their integration is well underway. Most relevant from a hotel partner or travel intermediary perspective is that cross selling has already begun. Tourico Holidays and Hotelbeds started in the early autumn; and in December GTA´s hotels also started to become available to the rest of the Group´s brands. With more than 170,000 hotels available on the Group´s bedbank platform, many of them contacted directly, that represents a lot of cross-selling potential.

To read more of the latest news about our integration see yesterdya´s press release (here) about our plans to increase the number of directly contracted hotels by 10,000 over the coming years and how we´ll go about this by recruiting around 200 new professionals in our Yield and Contracting teams globally.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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How to access 14 years and four months of experience in milliseconds 


	Target to directly contract 10,000 additional hotels over coming three years
	Creation of over 200 new jobs for Contracting and Yield teams over coming months
	Plan forms part of the ongoing successful integration of Tourico Holidays and GTA


Palma, 13 December 2017. Hotelbeds Group, the world´s leading bedbank and provider of B2B services to the global travel industry, has announced today an ambitious plan to increase the number of directly contracted hotels available across its bedbank platform.

The objective of the program is to increase by 10,000 the number of hotels directly contracted over the next three years. Such exclusive deals aim to gain the best prices, under the best terms &amp; conditions, for the sole benefit of the Group´s 60,000 plus travel intermediary clients globally.

This initiative follows Tourico Holidays and GTA joining Hotelbeds Group and forms part of the Group´s commitment to provide its online travel agency (OTA), tour operator, wholesaler and airline clients with a continually evolving portfolio of the best possible hotel content.&nbsp;

Already the recruitment process has begun and will last until around April of next year. In total around 200 of the best candidates will be given roles in the respective Contracting and Yield teams, to be based across many of the 200 plus offices that the Group has globally.&nbsp; The new roles are already published on LinkedIn and candidates interested can also apply directly via the Hotelbeds Group recruitment website.

Sam Turner, Director of Sales and Sourcing at Hotelbeds Group commented: “Already we have over 170,000 hotels globally, a great many of which are directly contracted, making us the B2B leader by a considerable margin – but we´re committed to growing that further and today´s news if proof of that commitment. 

“Between our existing Hotelbeds brand and Tourico Holidays together with GTA, both of whom have just joined us, we already have the best sourcing professionals in the industry. So in order to fill these profiles we´re thinking outside of the box, including considering dynamic business people from outside the travel sector who we can quickly convert into talent.”

This news forms part of the announcements earlier in the year of both Tourico Holidays and GTA becoming part of Hotelbeds Group. Whilst they currently remain independent businesses within the Group´s portfolio, already their integration is well underway.&nbsp; Cross selling of hotel content between Tourico Holidays and Hotelbeds to their respective clients began in the autumn; and in December the hotel content of GTA also started to become available to the rest of the Group.

Already teams from the different companies have begun to move into shared office spaces, including following the opening of a new Group office location in Singapore, the regional hub for the Group.&nbsp; At World Travel Market in London recently Hotelbeds, Tourico Holidays and GTA together shared a combined stand during the show and announced that collectively they now have over 170,000 unique hotels globally.

&nbsp;

About Hotelbeds Group

Hotelbeds Group is a business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry globally and 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 135 source markets globally with travel providers in over 200 countries representing more than 170,000 hotels, 21,000 transfer routes and 12,000 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) and more.

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 has 8,300 employees globally (including Tourico Holidays and GTA).

&nbsp;

Follow us on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hotelbeds-group

And Twitter: @HotelbedsGroup

Follow APItude on Twitter: @Hotelbeds_API

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Hotelbeds Group Media contacts

&nbsp;

Media Relations and Corporate Affairs

Cristina Roman

croman@hotelbeds.com

Tel.&nbsp; +34 971 624 687

&nbsp;

Arenalia Comunicación&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

Irene Garcia-Arnau&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

igarciaarnau@arenalia.com 

Tel. +34 660 201 020&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;


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Hotelbeds Group will contract 10,000 additional hotels and create over 200 new jobs

&nbsp;


	BackHotel Lite has been developed for the needs of independent hotels or small chains that require a simple booking engine, but still depend on the innovation and technological experience of Roiback.
	The quick implementation, easy usability and simple configuration are some of the main features of BackHotel Lite from Roiback; a company that currently offers its services to more than 1,500 hotels in 29 countries.



Palma de Mallorca, December 12, 2017 – Roiback, leading specialists in hotel direct channel sales management, has presented BackHotel Lite. The new simplified version of their current booking engine guarantees high conversion thanks to the experience and technology of Roiback.

BackHotel Lite was born with the aim of offering independent hotels and small chains an affordable version of BackHotel, an award-winning engine in hotel direct channel reservation management. BackHotel Lite has been tailored to the needs of these hotels, whilst maintaining the essence and technology of the BackHotel engine, which has been established for high conversion rates and extensive background in the management of large volume bookings.

The pocket edition of the reservation engine stands out for its quick implementation, because it can be fully integrated into a hotel's website in only a few days. The configuration of the booking system (CRS) is simple and powerful and the engine has a high level of personalization, where three clicks are enough to make a booking. In addition, with BackHotel Lite the hotelier has a series of modules or add-ons that complement and customize the booking engine, allowing adjustments for their specific needs.

Rebeca Gonzalez, Managing Director of Roiback, commented: "With the launch of BackHotel Lite we want to cover the needs of independent hotels and small chains with focus on the direct channel; who are seek leading-edge solutions with a guarantee of success, and a booking engine adapted to their financial and time-dedication possibilities." She adds: "there is a clear demand in the market for a product like Backhotel Lite and I am convinced that we will help this hotel segment to be present in the direct channel in the most optimal way, leaning on the experience and technology of Roiback."

&nbsp;

About Roiback

Roiback (www.roiback.com) is an international company that specialise in powering direct sales for hotels. Founded in 2010 in Palma de Mallorca and with a portfolio of over 1,500 hotel chains and independent hotels in 29 countries, they provide hotels with solutions to increase their online direct sales and their profitability.

With offices in Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Milan, Miami, Bali, Bangkok, Cancún, Medellín and Bogotá, Roiback offers the industry’s leading booking engine for hoteliers, as well as sales-focused websites and integrated marketing online management. Roiback has recently been awarded for the second year in a row with the award for 'Best Solution Provider for Hotel Bookings in Europe' at the World Travel Awards 2017, which are considered the most important awards in the international tourism sector.

&nbsp;

For further information, please contact with:

Arenalia Comunicación

Irene Garcia igarciaarnau@arenalia.com

T. +34 660 201 020

&nbsp;

Department of Communications Roiback

Héctor Alemany hector.alemany@roiback.com

T. +34 971 406 149

&nbsp;

&nbsp;


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Roiback launches BackHotel Lite, a pocket edition version of its booking engine


The collective noun for a group of birds is a flock and you call a group of elephants a herd. But what do you call a group of code gurus? Answers on a post card please.&nbsp;


There are a great many false stereotypes about IT programmers and software engineers. But perhaps the two most inaccurate are that they spend their whole lives behind a screen, and that they work alone.

To prove that this is not the case, a delegation of more than 40 people from the Hotelbeds Group IT department recently attended the Codemotion event celebrated this year in Madrid. Their goal? To share knowledge and network with other professionals from the fast-growing travel tech industry.


Codemotion is a multi-language and multiplatform event that brings together developers from the Java, Cloud, Mobile, Rails, Javascript, HTML5, and CSS3 communities. There are annual conferences in Rome, Milan, Madrid, Berlin and Tel Aviv, with Madrid’s event growing since its foundation to become a fixture in the technological events calendar – with leading sponsors such as Microsoft and Google.


Under the theme ´machine learning´, this year more than 250 code gurus gathered in Madrid in a relaxed atmosphere to discuss topics such as ´Continuous Integration &amp; Delivery´ (or how to deliver new software functionality faster and better) and ´Infrastructure as a code´ (or how to automate hardware operation and provisioning).

This is the second time Hotelbeds Group has attended codemotion and based on feedback we´ll be returning again next year. In fact, Roberto Calvo, IT Development Manager at Hotelbeds Group commented that “based on discussions with other professionals it was reassuring to know that we have a great team and we brought back a lot of inspiration and ideas that will add value to our partners over the coming years”.



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