Hotelbeds outlines strategy following latest acquisitions
Hotelbeds is ‘taking its time’ with the integration of Tourico and GTA, the two companies it bought earlier this year.
Speaking to TravelMole this week, director of global sales Sam Turner said it wanted to make sure it didn’t ‘rush decisions to make bad decisions’.
"We’re consciously not making decisions too quickly," he said.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to look across all the businesses at the sales functions, IT, marketing, and to preserve the best bits of each company. It will take some months still to unveil what the future will look like."
He said while Tourico was now officially part of Hotelbeds, the completion of the GTA deal was still subject to regulatory approval, which makes the overall integration more complicated.
"We can’t make decisions about Tourico without thinking about GTA as well, but the timeline is not in our hands, it’s in hands of the regulator," he said.
"We expect completion to be possibly in the final quarter of this calendar year, but it might be in the first quarter of next year."
The two acquisitions were part of a strategy of ‘organic and non-organic growth’ by Hotelbeds’ new owners who were looking to gain scale quickly.
The Palma-based company was previously part of TUI, but in September 2016 Hotelbeds became independent under the ownership of Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
In February it announced the purchase of US-based Tourico and in April it acquired B2B travel supplier GTA from Swiss travel group Kuoni.
Hotelbeds said the GTA deal would boost its presence in the fast growing Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets.
"All three companies are definitely global but they each have their own geographical strength," said Turner.
"We now tick the boxes in terms of having a proper global hotels coverage and we see ourselves in a very strong position in all of the major locations. We don’t see that we have a massive material gap."
But he said future acquisitions could not be ruled out.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025