How Hotelbeds Empowered lastminute.com’s Growth into a Leading Dynamic Packages Expert

About lastminute.com

lastminute.com is a powerhouse in the dynamic holiday package sector, having positioned itself as a leading European travel tech player in its market over the last decade. Benefiting from an iconic, household brand and a rich portfolio of vertical brands to supplement it, and the power of being a fully licensed European tour operator, lastminute.com meets the needs of many diverse travellers.

Travellers can search for and book flights, hotels, dynamic holiday packages (DHP) and a wide range of services on lastminute.com’s web-based booking sites and apps. They not only offer highly convenient booking options, but personalised travel experiences, traveller protection and deals.

The Challenge: What did lastminute.com need to increase their holiday offering?

lastminute.com’s key objectives were to improve its positioning within its core markets and to become an expert in dynamic packages, offering comprehensive travel experiences to a broad, international travel market.

We spoke to Martin Kleinman, Supply Director & Chief Commercial Officer for lastminute.com at HBX Group’s MarketHub Europe summit, who suggested that one of the challenges lastminute.com were facing when they began in 2015, was one of scope: ‘When we started, we were really quite basic in our hotel offering, and HBX Group enabled us to start with a very significant offering, particularly in the classic “sun and beach” holiday.’

Martin also confirmed that in 2015, the early focus was on scale: ‘Back then, in 2015, when we began, we were very focused on flight-only and hotel-only. Partnering with HBX Group helped us to expand our dynamic packages holiday offering... it was what we needed to do, and helped us progress this key category.’

The Solution: How was Hotelbeds able to help?

Partnering with Hotelbeds, part of HBX Group, in 2015, lastminute.com recognised the global reach and the established nature of our portfolio in the desired segments.

Martin explained: ‘You [Hotelbeds] were experts already in sun and beach, and you had the kind of hotel content that our customers wanted. So, from the beginning, it was a perfect match.’

Martin also revealed that this solution to expanding lastminute.com’s limited range at its beginning was a key differentiator when it came to partnering with Hotelbeds, given lastminute.com’s ambitions to do more in both hotel-only and dynamic packaging at the time.

As a comprehensive travel distributor in the European segment and then worldwide, lastminute.com’s partnership with Hotelbeds made sense, as we enabled the growth of their offering thanks to our extensive global portfolio of travel products and established positioning within valuable markets.

Through the dedicated work of our destination and sourcing experts and their proactive and personalised account management, we have been able to curate the relationships and partnerships that are needed to grow and maintain a portfolio with the breadth and scope that benefits aspirational players like lastminute.com when they are starting their journey.

Our positioning as a leading ecosystem empowers other key players within their sectors, facilitating the connections required to create a frictionless travel experience for all involved. However, this position for Hotelbeds, and HBX Group as a whole, is only possible due to the legacy we hold and the experience that shapes our decisions, as a key partner to travel businesses across the industry for 40 years.

By connecting their strategic mindset and ambitious business model to the inventory provided by Hotelbeds, lastminute.com were able to grow their visibility and better position themselves in the market as the expert in dynamic packages that they are today.

On the strengths of the partnership, Martin suggested “mutual growth” was perhaps the keyword that captures our work together over the last decade. He said: ‘This is the best thing about the partnership – that we’ve grown together. The fact that lastminute.com is seen as European experts in dynamic packages is partly thanks to you, our suppliers.’

He continued with, ‘We wanted to be confident that we could offer everything in every destination, and partnering with Hotelbeds provided a solution which could be built upon. That’s why Hotelbeds quickly became one of our strategic accounts.’

In short, the value brought by Hotelbeds to the partnership was the sheer scope of the inventory offered, the strategic opportunities this gave lastminute.com – in terms of its expansion into a comprehensive travel distributor – and the overall profitability this afforded their business.

The Outcome: Why Hotelbeds was the right choice

Over the past decade, lastminute.com has secured their position as an immediately recognisable name in the European segment and as a leader in dynamic holiday packages. Combining lastminute.com’s strategic growth and reputational uplift with the global reach afforded to them by having Hotelbeds as a key supplier, has enabled them to stand out as a prime competitor in this ever-evolving industry.

lastminute.com's positioning has gone from strength to strength over the years, empowered by the availability of hotel content in their desired markets, in which Hotelbeds has played a significant role over the course of this partnership. ‘Sometimes,’ Martin mused, ‘when we want to launch a new destination, you’re already there. So, for us, that’s a real advantage starting out.’

Setting their sights on new markets, new corridors of revenue have been made possible in part because of the global standing of Hotelbeds, both as a provider of global inventory but also as a consultant in growth opportunities.

Martin believes that Hotelbeds’ strength as a partner comes from its dedicated expertise, not only of our Strategic Account Managers, but also our proactive approach to new opportunities that arise. Martin added: ‘With any new kind of opportunity that comes, I know that you come to us, and we always discuss it and see what makes sense to both of us. Communication is always key, so I’m grateful for that kind of openness and transparency in a partner.’

As a result, this transparent partnership between lastminute.com and Hotelbeds has led to expanded operations, increased revenue, a broader customer base, and international renown for lastminute.com, enabling and empowering them to develop into and remain a leader in European dynamic holiday packages.

For Hotelbeds, this partnership offered us the opportunity to leverage the experience gained by successfully growing in a consultative manner alongside lastminute.com over the years, and apply this growth experience to our continued improvement as a dedicated travel partner for other travel businesses across the industry.

Why Partner with Hotelbeds?

In addition to offering travel businesses crucial opportunities to expand, as demonstrated in the profitable partnership with lastminute.com, we offer a wide range of tailor-made solutions to travel businesses across the varying sectors.

As part of the wider HBX Group ecosystem – a leading global B2B TravelTech company – Hotelbeds is the leading B2B TravelTech online distributor for wholesalers, suppliers and destinations. Hotelbeds offers a travel ecosystem connecting more than 300,000 products, including accommodation, payment solutions, mobility services and experiences, to local and global brands, empowering their partners to satisfy the growing needs of the end traveller.

It’s our mission to empower choice for our partners and travellers worldwide:

• Presence in 170+ countries worldwide – with 250,000+ hotels and 23,000+ in-destination experiences, global transfer route coverage and car hire.
• Access to dedicated Account Managers, whose goal is your growth.
• 1000 sourcing and destination experts, negotiating vital rates and availabilities.
• Seamless API integrations tailored to your business needs.
• Intelligent campaigns – to assist in the capture of seasonal demand.

Take your business even further with Hotelbeds. Sign up today to see how we can optimise your success in the ever-evolving world of travel.

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