Hotelbeds Group has announced the sale of its Destination Management division back to TUI, Europe’s largest tour operator, for €110 million (US$136 million), allowing it to focus fully on its bedbank business.
TUI, which sold Hotelbeds for €1.2 billion to UK investor Cinven Capital Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in April 2016, will acquire all the assets of the division that comprises three global brands – Destination Services, Intercruises and Pacific World – representing Hotelbeds Group’s incoming services.
Joan-Vilà: Sale represents another important milestone for the Group.
“Today’s sale represents yet another important milestone for our Group since becoming an independent business in September 2016. This simplified structure will enable us to focus fully on our bedbank core, where following our recent acquisitions of Tourico Holidays and GTA we are already a market-leading business innovating the hotel and ancillaries distribution chain via our best-in-class B2B technology platform,” said Joan Vilà, executive chairman of Hotelbeds Group.
He added the division had been highly successful over the last 18 months, growing revenues significantly and enhancing its range of services.
“However, TUI recently approached us and after careful consideration we believe that this is in the best interests of all stakeholders, not least our employees and business partners. TUI is well placed to continue the division´s growth trajectory, given its own core tour operator strategy as well as the longstanding and significant relationship between our two groups, with TUI being an important customer and partner.
“We also look forward to a continued strong relationship with TUI, a strategic customer for our bedbank business.”
Destination Management, with 150 offices around the world, is currently led by managing director Jordi Cerdó.
Destination Services offers tours, transfers and other in-destination services to its tour operator partners in over 70 countries worldwide and handles around 2.2 million passengers per year. Intercruises offers the handling for cruise companies in over 400 ports in 60 countries. Pacific World is a meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) company operating in over 30 countries globally.
Destination Services offers tours, transfers and other in-destination services.
Following the acquisition, Hotelbeds Destination Management will become part of TUI’s Spanish subsidiary, TUI Destination Services. It will gain 2,600 employees in 25 countries, bringing its total staff strength to 9,000 employees across 48 countries.
The global market for services at holiday destinations offered by TUI Destination Services is estimated at around €140 billion, and is currently growing at around 7% a year.
TUI CEO Fritz Joussen said: “The global market for these services is growing. Four factors put TUI in an extremely good starting position: our strong international brand, the trust of 20 million customers, the trust of the destination countries through decades of presence and, most importantly, our world-class IT and CRM systems, in which we have invested in recent years”.
He added that TUI “wants to make better use of the average of four months between travel booking and travel start, in order to offer customers individually relevant offers for their stay at the holiday destination.”
The deal is subject to customary regulatory and anti-trust approvals.
• All images credit: Hotelbeds Group
