Hotelbeds Integrates TravelBound into Bedsonline

Hotelbeds, which bills itself as “the world’s leading bedbank,” is almost finished integrating TravelBound brand into a single, consolidated B2B system under the Bedsonline brand.

Hotelbeds, based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, acquired GTA (the parent company of TravelBound) and Tourico Holidays in 2017. The company spent 2018 working on combining the brands into a single technology platform, a job that is now almost complete.

In September 2018, Hotelbeds announced that it would combine its B2B businesses under the Bedsonline brand, merging access to 180,000 hotel partners in 185 countries. In October, the company announced that the Tourico, GTA and TravelBound brands would be phased out. The group will go by the name Hotelbeds. The company’s retail product will be showcased online under the Bedsonline brand.

In addition to hotels, Bedsonline’s online booking system provides access to 60,000 “travel-buying intermediaries” across 40,000 source markets, including airlines, loyalty programs, MICE operators, traditional travel agencies and tour operators.

By late January, Hotelbeds announced that it had incorporated 90 percent of its hotel partners into its new, consolidated system. For travel agents who were previously partners of TravelBound, the hotel inventory will rise from 55,000 to 180,000 under the Bedsonline brand, more than tripling the inventory. The consolidated brand also offers 24,000 transfer combinations and 18,000 tours and activities, more than doubling what was previously available under the TravelBound brand.

Coordinated distribution system
The result of the combination means, according to Muñoz, “We now offer – by a significant measure – the simplest and most cost-effective accommodation distribution solution in a market that is very fragmented. We are committed to providing our hotel partners with complementary bookings and increased value by offering access to non-competing sales channels such as airlines, MICE operators, points-redemption schemes, tour operators, and high-street travel agents – channels that provide guests who book further in advance, cancel less, pay more, and spend more in-destination.”

Travel Market Report spoke to James Phillips, former president of TravelBound and now regional sales director for the Americas and the Pacific for Bedsonline, about the ongoing project of consolidating the brands and the operations into a centralized system.

As of last week, the company had completed the switch in Canada and was well on the way to completing it in the U.S. American travel agents were being converted in three segments. By the time of this article posting, the transition should be nearly complete.

“They will now book everything on Bedsonline,” said Phillips, “but they can still go back to TravelBound to manage their existing bookings. We are now Bedsonline across the market, and our focus is in assisting travel agents in adopting the platforms as part of their daily ritual and to embed it as a key tool in their commercial armory.”

Better search function
In addition to tripling hotel inventory and doubling availability of ancillary purchases, Phillips said the new booking system is vastly superior to what was previously offered.

“The website functionality is significantly better,” said Phillips. “TravelBound technology was based on the AS 400 technology, which many travel agents will remember from the 1970s and 1980s. It was a green screen technology, which fundamentally would probably survive a nuclear attack, but you couldn’t do anything with it. At TravelBound, we weren’t able to make basic adjustments to the product.”

Under the new system, changes are made routinely, every two weeks. The new system is also much more powerful in its search functionality.

“At TravelBound, we had two filters on the website,” said Phillips. “At Bedsonline, we have approximately 30 filters. So there is a different quality in the ways travel agents can find the content they are looking for, whether it’s a boutique hotel or a luxury hotel, which part of town it’s in. It’s a different level in terms of getting to the right content.”

The new system offers a powerful map search functionality, as well. “It’s completely different,” said Phillips. “It’s a truly dynamic search function using the map. If you’re looking for that hotel that’s in the Eiffel Tower area, we can pull out a very complete selection of hotels, all very clear distances from any landmark, allowing customers to really plan a guest stay in a city and make sure they’re in the right place. There are inherent advantages in the functionality of the website product, and that’s another significant win.”

More support
The company has also expanded its sales team and incorporated additional levels of support for its most productive accounts.

“We layer in an account manager with infield sales,” said Phillips. “And we’re providing representation at the end of the phone line. We want to make sure we provide rich support for customers. We don’t want to just drop in with donuts and bagels. We want to have a significant conversation about their businesses, and say, ‘Look, this is what the numbers are doing. This is what we are seeing. How can we help to build your business?’ That’s the principle we’re trying to achieve.”

To help agents surmount the learning curve, the company is offering daily webinars. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the 101 basic course is provided. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the 102 course is offered, moving into some of the more advanced possibilities of the system. The webinars are live, so agents can ask questions. They are presented at 12 noon PST or 3 p.m. EST.

According to Phillips, the company recognizes that there is a learning curve to changing over to a new system, and that there will be resistance to change, but believes that travel agents will soon be over the change process and enjoying the increased benefits, not only of the vastly expanded inventory, but also of the much-enhanced functionality of the booking system.

The company is reaching out to provide assistance through every channel available.

“We want to bring expertise,” said Phillips. “Our raison d’etre is travel agents. We don’t sell to consumers. We don’t sell to anyone other than travel agents, and therefore, we have to ensure that our travel agents thrive. It’s the only way our business can grow. Ultimately, there is a defined market we operate in and we have to support that market and help that market grow. That’s our job. If we do that, then we’ll grow and flourish. It’s not only in our interest to do so, it’s essential.”