Hotelbeds: technology and innovation as fundamental concepts for a leading company

How do you manage the daily work to offer a superior proposal in such a competitive market? What are the three reasons that you could highlight that position Hotelbeds as a leader?

In the last two years, we have transformed the company. We have refocused it from a bank of beds to a leading TravelTech business. Putting technology and innovation at the forefront of our business has been essential in this change. Hotelbeds is a B2B company, we do not compete for the final consumer. We are here to support our clients and partners, whether they are hotels, travel agencies, tour operators or theme parks.

We are a company with a global reach, we have a network of hotel chains and independent properties that we connect with clients all over the world and, due to our size, we have a wide access network that some OTAs or travel agencies could not connect on their own. alone.

We are a company that is always connected, we provide fast and efficient attention with a wide range of tools to solve problems immediately for our business partners. Give our clients the tools to grow their business.

Arriving in the middle of the year, how do you notice the demand and what is your forecast for the remainder of the
season?

2023 started out strong for us. At the beginning of the year we registered the best fortnight of reservations in our history, with more reservations than ever. At peak times, we were booking as much as one booking per second, which underscores the demand for travel this year and helps us anticipate this trend to continue for the rest of the year. We can anticipate that we are on the right track and that it will be a year of higher growth compared to 2022, which was a great year for us.

We are seeing increased demand as new trends emerge, such as business + leisure, giving travelers the freedom to take longer journeys. We are also significantly increasing our luxury portfolio this year, supported by new partnerships including Leading Hotels of the World.

For the remainder of the season, we will continue to focus on innovation. As a leading TravelTech company, we are constantly looking for new ways to make travel easier. The TravelTech Lab by Hotelbeds (helps us achieve this by working with startups around the world who have ideas to reduce friction in travel. We want to create frictionless travel for everyone, which we achieve not only through connected travel, but also through the joint work of the sector to offer it to all trips.

In which markets have you achieved the greatest progress in recent years and why?

During the last few years we have had a notable increase globally, each of the markets is important to our success.

In addition to Spain, which continues to be one of our main markets, Brazil is one of the countries with the highest growth with +54% compared to 2022. It was also the market that improved the most for Hotelbeds after the crisis in percentage terms in the Americas region, with an improvement of 100%. Mexico was second, with +66%. Both improvements are driven by domestic business
and guests from the US primarily.

If we look at industry segments, we have seen a substantial increase in both sustainable and luxury travel. For Hotelbeds, the United States, Mexico and Europe are among the top source markets for luxury travel. In this category, Australia stands out with 216%, followed by India 109%, China with 78%. Spain, on the other hand, at 66%, has been increasingly looking for a premium experience over the last year compared to the previous 12 months.

When it comes to sustainable travel, our data shows that over the last 12 months, 30% more people have actively chosen to book properties that are part of our Green Hotels program, compared to the previous year. In addition to what I just mentioned, the reopening of countries in Asia provides an additional boost, not only for our business, but for the entire travel industry, as the entire world is now open.

What is your opinion about the evolution of OTA's and how do you think they can continue looking for new sources of growth in the coming months?

As a company with an extensive global network, our mission is to reimagine the world of travel and make it easier and more frictionless for everyone. We have the tools and technology to connect OTA with services and products around the world, to support them in opening new markets and offer them a complete experience without friction, which we achieve not only through the connected trip, but also through the work set of the sector to offer it in all the trips. The future of agencies lies in selling experiences and offering an advisory service that an OTA cannot offer to an end customer.

What is your vision of the consumer profile for 2024? 

The future is based on sustainability, travelers are increasingly aware of the protection and preservation of the planet. They are much more aware than ever of their carbon footprint and their impact on the environment: they don't want to choose between seeing the world or saving it.
They seek to create memorable memories and experiences; wellness getaways, trips inspired by the desire to follow in the footsteps of your favorite movie or TV series. We see a combination between business and leisure trips, the importance of reconnecting is very present. Through our data we have observed a series of emerging trends that predict the traveler of tomorrow, a more technologically connected, sophisticated traveler; look for value for what you pay for.

They also want frictionless travel through connected travel. The fundamental change that we are observing is that the traveler does not have the time or desire to book everything separately. They want a single reservation with all the elements of their trip.

Technology will also play an increasingly important role. We are already seeing biometric systems in airports that allow you to pass without having to show your passport. This will soon carry over to more aspects of the travel ecosystem, such as hotel check-in and room keys.

And let's not forget about AI, which is also gaining ground, but is beginning to be used by some consumers to search for and book travel.

I can say that he is a consumer with a lot of information at hand, who knows what he wants and is highly technological. At the same time, he is a client who is aware of preserving the planet and also living the experience of each trip to the fullest.