Hotelbeds Group announces ‘real-time’ booking partnership

Hotelbeds Group has unveiled a strategic partnership with Rezdy, a Sydney-based independent booking software provider specializing in tours & attractions, to increase further the volume of real-time bookings for experiences globally on the Group’s platform and expand the Group’s global portfolio of tours & activities.

The partnership will immediately bring an additional 1,000 plus activities to Hotelbeds Group´s Ancillary Bank business, with that number increasing progressively over a one year period to integrate a percentage of the 65,000 total number of activities available on the Rezdy platform globally.

As a first stage of the integration the Group has already integrated activities from Paris, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and Barcelona. As the integration progresses, the Group will include more destinations in its platform, expanding to include Asia Pacific – where Rezdy has a particularly strong product base, having originally been founded in Australia. The high proportion of Asia Pacific content presents a significant opportunity for Hotelbeds Group given its high-growth potential, where recently year-on-year growth has been strong.

Director of Ancillary Bank at Hotelbeds Group, Javier Arévalo, said “We are very pleased to announce our partnership with a leading company such as Rezdy, whose real-time booking solutions are transforming the industry at a time when offering mobile booking tools is absolutely critical. This has come about as a result of our listening to the needs of the market, where we hear people talking about an ever-increasing demand for better technology to manage efficiently tours & activities bookings – as well as increasing distribution opportunities. This alliance with Rezdy in particular boosts our presence in the Asia Pacific region, one of the most important and fastest growing marketplaces worldwide. ”

Chris Atkin, CEO of Rezdy added: “This partnership with the world’s leading bedbank will grow our distribution network of travel intermediaries, giving our customers access to new distribution channels and a variety of booking segments that might otherwise be difficult to reach. This is great news for the tour, attraction and activity companies we work with, as every business is naturally always looking for ways to increase their bookings and grow their business without greatly increasing their workload.”

The Australia-based company specializes in online booking integration with suppliers, including the ability to handle increasingly important mobile bookings, resource allocation, customer details and payment gateways. Its intuitive software enables improved management of tours, activities, rentals, charters, shuttles, and tickets. Thanks to this integration the Group will be able to offer to their clients a real time availability for products. This alliance will also enhance the overall sales process and will offer a more scalable contracting model, reducing the time to market for all new products available on Hotelbeds Group’s distribution channels – which includes Hotelbeds, Bedsonline, Tourico Holidays and GTA along with local expert channels.  It will also open up more opportunities for last minute, in-destination bookings and will enable a better guest experience for ticket validation.

Hotelbeds Group’s Ancillary Bank is responsible for the distribution of in-destination and in-origin ancillary products (excursions, attraction tickets, theme parks & resorts, cruises, rent-a-car products) for the independent traveller through online platforms to retail travel agents, wholesalers, tour operators, airlines, OTAs and hospitality industry partners such as tourism boards and other in-destination points of sale. Ancillary Bank provides a global portfolio to travel industry players aiming to leverage their customer base to gain additional revenues from cross-selling ancillary products; it also distributes through two sub-brands: Carnect, the car rental distribution specialist that offers 500+ car rental suppliers, and Isango!, a leading B2C tours and activities website.