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Ahead of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) taking place in Dubai next month, Hotelbeds has revealed that the prestigious city has consistently been within its top three destinations globally by room nights sold throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Hotelbeds, despite the crisis, has largely recovered to 2019 volumes across the wider UAE as a destination in the year to date. Both early bird bookings and last-minute reservations characterise the majority of the room nights sold.

Regional Sourcing Director, Ali Taheri, commented: “While the whole of the travel industry has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, it is fantastic news that we can name Dubai as one of our leading destinations during this time, highlighting its enduring magnetism for travellers.

“As a region, and as a team, we have been able to maintain high levels of resilience during these unprecedented times and this is due to a number of factors. Firstly, having exposure to a diversified domestic and international client base protected us against the risk of lost volumes in closed corridors and secondly, we benefitted from uninterrupted cash flow while many players were facing systemic cash restrictions. And last but not least, the destructive nature of the pandemic brought out the streetfighter spirit in the team!

“We’re now looking forward to a strong recovery, not just in our region but across the sector globally, for our wonderful industry.”

Members of the Hotelbeds team who have been vaccinated are looking forward to attending the ATM show to have the opportunity to reconnect in person with partners and customers.


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Dubai confirmed as one of our top three destinations globally during the pandemic

Global hotel chains IHG Hotels &amp; Resorts and Accor are the latest industry players to join our Green Hotels Programme, set up in October 2020, and designed to identify, highlight and promote sustainable accommodation within our portfolio.

Their properties join thousands of hotels who are now certified in our portfolio as sustainable and promoted as such to our 60,000 travel trade clients via the ‘green filter’ that also includes details of certifications and offer tags.

The Green Hotels Programme is a turn-key solution to bring Hotelbeds and its partners to the green economy and accelerate the transition of the travel industry towards sustainability – a topic whose importance has increased dramatically in light of the COVID pandemic.

This latest announcement comes just a few weeks after we became one of the first travel companies to join Amazon and The Climate Pledge Commitment to become net zero carbon by 2040 as well as actively participating in the World Travel &amp; Trade Council’s Sustainability Workforce.

Gareth Matthews, Marketing, Communications &amp; CSR Director at Hotelbeds commented: “It’s great news that we can officially welcome IHG and Accor&nbsp;to our Green Hotels Programme. They are obviously huge players in the industry and their involvement demonstrates the importance now being placed on sustainable tourism in line with the changing preferences of travellers."

“Giving our travel trade clients the ability to easily filter searches for green hotels is becoming increasingly important both for them, but also for hoteliers and chains such as IHG and Accor. As leaders in our field, we have a responsibility to make sure the services we offer are bang up to date with the booking trends we see.”


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Global giants IHG Hotels & Resorts and Accor join our Green Hotels Programme

Hotelbeds has extended its partnership with Vervotech, the leader in hotel and room mapping globally, in a deal which enables our 60,000 clients globally to receive unified, de-duplicated content through the UNICA Hotel Mapping platform at a discounted rate.

Clients accessing the platform will benefit from a content accuracy rate of 99.99%, greatly enhancing their sales opportunities.

The UNICA Hotel Mapping platform provides unified content that will enhance the user experience for Hotelbeds’ clients by using a standardised approach to the distribution of descriptive and illustrative content such as star ratings, amenities, geocodes, naming/branding, descriptions, images, local attractions, and other static content, improving the accuracy and depth of content, to drive sales and reduce misunderstandings.

Thanks to this agreement, Hotelbeds’ clients will benefit from:


	Real-time content updates and content insights.
	Improved conversion and de-duplication of inventory.
	99.99% mapping accuracy and 98% mapping coverage with reduced processing time.
	Opinionated content that delivers a more streamlined user experience.


León Herce, Global Sales Director at Hotelbeds, commented, “Duplicated inventory is one of the most common issues all travel suppliers face. We are committed to always providing the best services and tools to our customers and this partnership with Vervotech is an example of that, enabling our customers to benefit from the UNICA Hotel Mapping platform and the opportunity to access unified content with a very impressive accuracy rate. This is great news for our customers, in preparation for when booking volumes begin returning post-covid.”

Sanjay Ghare, Co-Founder &amp; CEO at Vervotech, said: “We started our journey with the goal to organize the world’s accommodation data while helping travel businesses succeed and move forward. Working with an industry pioneer like Hotelbeds assists us to deliver that. We are looking forward to working with the Hotelbeds team to together grow incrementally and helping others to do the same”.


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New partnership with Vervotech set to enhance sales opportunities

We recognise that flexibility and peace of mind are a MUST right now for travellers and with that in mind, our latest sales campaign gives you everything you need to inspire your customers and plan the perfect trip – as well as offering 60% discounts on hotel rates!

We’ve got book now pay later options, flexible rates, no deposit required on bookings as well as all the tools you need to provide a stress-free booking experience that will allow your customers to look forward to their return to travel!

How can I spot a Sales Booster deal?


	Use the 'Sales Booster 2021' promo filter on the left-hand side of our booking engine to quickly find the offers.
	Hotel offers are highlighted by a green 'Sales Booster 2021' tag above the price.



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Are you ready to be inspired? We launch new campaign with flexibility in mind!

As Executive Board Members of the World Travel &amp; Tourism Council (WTTC), Hotelbeds are pleased to invite you to virtually attend the highly anticipated WTTC 20th Global Summit taking place in Cancun, Mexico.

The Global Summit, in partnership with the Government of Quintana Roo, will take place from 26-27 April 2021 with the theme ‘Uniting the World for Recovery’.

WTTC is the body that represents the private sector of the travel &amp; tourism sector. Their members include over 200 CEOs, Chairpersons, and Presidents of the world’s leading travel &amp; tourism companies from all geographies and industries, including Hotelbeds’ very own Executive Chairman, Joan Vilà, a member of WTTC’s Executive Committee.

The annual Global Summit is the most influential travel &amp; tourism event in the calendar, where the highest-level industry leaders meet with key government representatives to take action on the biggest and most important issues across the international agenda. This year, the Global Summit will be exploring the challenges ahead and providing a platform for the recovery of the sector.

To register your interest in receiving further information about how to tune in virtually to the Global Summit, please click the following link: https://wttc.org/Global-Summit


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Your chance to join the calendar’s most influential travel & tourism event 

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 12 months since the COVID pandemic began and turned our industry – and our lives – upside down.

I am sure back in early 2020, none of us could have imagined that the crisis would develop as it has and that we’d still be experiencing the consequences, and managing the challenges, it has brought.

Here at Hotelbeds, we pivoted swiftly to make sure we were doing all we could to support you. We switched our call centres to remote working extremely quickly and launched a suite of self-service tools to help manage the significant demand caused by the ever-changing situation.

We also took the time that the cessation in travel brought to look closely at ourselves as a company, to take stock, to reorganise and to focus on the things we know matter the most to you, recognising the need for us to work together.

Undeniably there is a long road ahead until we return to the volumes we have enjoyed in the past, but with vaccine programmes now underway across the globe and governments starting to indicate relaxations in restrictions, we are starting to see some positive signs.

There are improvements in the US, Mexico, Brazil and UAE markets generally, and in respect of domestic travel, room nights in Brazil are up by 43% compared to the same period last year and up by 12% in the US, where there is also strong demand for the Spring break.

The pent-up demand for travel is also increasingly evident and we have a responsibility as leaders in our field to make sure travel is as safe as possible when it resumes as this will be of the utmost importance to people. Initiatives such the Safe2Stay Scheme are important factors in helping to boost traveller confidence in this regard.

These past 12 months have been the most difficult in the history of the travel industry but it is my strong belief that it will bounce back, and bounce back in a way that is perhaps even more sustainable that it was pre-COVID.

Together, I look forward to moving more positively through 2021. Optimism will indeed drive recovery albeit the speed at which this will happen remains uncertain.

Thank you for your on-going collaboration and remember that our teams are here to support you so please do reach out to them.

Carlos Muñoz


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Looking to the future with optimism – a view from Hotelbeds’ Carlos Muñoz 

We’ve just become the latest company, and the first B2B travel business, to join Amazon and The Climate Pledge in urging industries worldwide to become net zero carbon by 2040, a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement.

This news comes within weeks of us publishing our second Corporate Responsibility Report, which you can read elsewhere in this newsletter, and our certification as a Carbon Neutral business for the third year running.

As a signatory to The Climate Pledge, we agree to:


	Measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis;
	Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions, and other carbon emission elimination strategies;
	Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially-beneficial offsets to achieve net-zero annual carbon emissions by 2040 — a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement’s goal of 2050.


Hotelbeds’ Executive Chairman, Joan Vilà, said: “As the leaders in our sector, we have a clear responsibility to demonstrate to you, our stakeholders, that we operate a responsible, transparent business model and that we take very seriously the environmental impact we have.

“We recognise our critical responsibility to protect our planet and the destinations where we operate, and we believe this is a time to double down on our investment to create a more sustainable future. This is why we are thrilled to be part of The Climate Pledge and to give our strong commitment to being net zero carbon by 2040.”


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Hotelbeds joins Amazon and The Climate Pledge in urging industries to become net zero carbon by 2040

We’re delighted to have been named as one of the top distribution channels and revenue generators for hotels in 2020 by SiteMinder, a leading channel management platform globally.

Its report, published earlier this month, confirmed the most important distribution channels that generated the highest revenues for hotels during 2020. Hotelbeds ranked highly in all destinations featured globally, leading SiteMinder to emphasise the continued relevance of wholesalers as a key distribution channel for hoteliers.

With our extensive portfolio of 60,000 travel buyers worldwide, we are in a prime position to drive volumes to hotels as we all prepare for recovery and a resumption of travel post COVID.

Carlos Muñoz, Chief Operating Officer at Hotelbeds, said: “We were delighted to be formally recognised by SiteMinder as one of the top revenue generators for hoteliers, especially in a year so impacted by the pandemic.

“This a great testament to our teams’ performance and commitment over the past twelve months despite the hugely challenging conditions that 2020 brought. We have successfully focused our efforts on being as competitive as possible while maintaining strong service levels, and this recognition gives us a clear indication that we are doing all the right things to support our valuable partners.”

The full SiteMinder report can be downloaded here.


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SiteMinder names Hotelbeds as one of the top revenue generators for hotels worldwide in 2020

Here at Hotelbeds, we are genuinely committed to our corporate social responsibilities and at the end of last month, we were proud to publish our second Corporate Responsibility report, highlighting all the ways we have been adapting our approach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to provide support to the global travel industry, and to the communities most impacted by this unprecedented situation.

Prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, and aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report covers our last financial year, from October 1st 2019 to September 30th 2020 and sets out our most relevant achievements.

Examples include:


	The launch of the Safe2Stay scheme based around a series of health &amp; safety protocols developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to enable hotels across our 180,000 strong portfolio to highlight the measures they are taking to keep guests safe.
	The adaptation of our Corporate Volunteering Programme to be fully on-line as mobility restrictions were introduced globally. More than 500 employees contributed over 1500 hours of their own time to support groups and communities most impacted by COVID-19. Activities included telephone calls and letters of compassion to hospital patients, virtual workshops offering tutoring and basic learning to people with disabilities, story-telling to support children living in poverty and the provision of web design and social media training to help non-profit organisations to improve their marketing.
	The creation and launch of the Green Hotels Programme to identify, highlight and promote sustainable properties from across our portfolio, with over 15,000 properties certified within the period of the report.
	And for the third year running, we were proud to be certified as a Carbon Neutral organisation, having demonstrated a significant reduction in our carbon emissions, including energy and paper consumptions, waste management, business travel and water supply.


In announcing the publication of this second report, Executive Chairman at Hotelbeds, Joan Vilà, said: “The extreme disruption and damage caused to the travel industry and the world by just one virus clearly demonstrates the very urgent and important need for our sector to commit to a sustainable future and increase our positive impact now more than ever.”

He added: “This report demonstrates our continued commitment to become a responsible and transparent business. We recognise that as a leader in our sector, the eyes of all our stakeholders and future generations are fixed firmly on us and they expect us to drive resilience, adapt with the times and build long-term sustainability not just at an environmental level but also socially and economically.

“We are firmly committed to this and are setting long-term goals to benefit the travellers of today and tomorrow, as well as to prioritise their health, safety and well-being along with those of our employees, partners and local communities.

“I am extremely proud to publish this report as it is a strong indication of the dedication of our company to this agenda. In a year like no other, we have not only maintained our levels of commitment but have significantly improved them which will stand us in good stead as we start to see the first signs of industry recovery during 2021.”

Download the full report here


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Reaffirming our commitment to overcoming environmental and social challenges with the launch of our 2020 CSR report

We’re already the largest bedbank in the world, giving you access to 180,000 hotel properties across the globe but guess what, we’ve just super-sized our portfolio giving you even more possibilities to choose from!

As we prepare for travel to resume safely, we’ve just added more than 156,000 more hotels across 4,850 destinations giving you greater choice of properties – and don’t forget, that’s alongside a huge range of activities and transfers you can add too!


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Our portfolio just got super-sized!

We’re delighted to announce a brand new, year long partnership with PROMTUR Panama aimed at raising awareness of the beauty and diversity of the destination to travellers from the US, Canada, Europe, China and LATAM.

The exciting co-op campaign is designed to put Panama high on people’s wish lists for when safe travel resumes and will target Hotelbeds’ high value, hard to access portfolio of 60,000 travel trade buyers – including retail travel agencies, tour operators, airlines and points redemption programmes.

Hotelbeds already has a strong presence in Panama, producing over 100,000 incoming pax into the destination from 80 different source markets, and partnering with more than 130 hotels and activities. We strongly believes that Panama has enormous potential to grow and become one of the top producing destinations within our LATAM portfolio.

The promotion will be focused through Hotelbeds main distribution channels of Bedsonline (our brand targeting retail travel agencies) and Hotelbeds, for wholesale distribution. The campaign will aim to place Panama on the radar of more than 60,000 travel trade buyers.

To take a closer look at the campaign, please click on the links below:


	For the USA campaign, click here
	For the LATAM campaign, click here
	For the global campaign, click here


Gareth Matthews, Global Marketing &amp; Communications Director at Hotelbeds, commented: “We are really pleased to enter into this partnership with PROMTUR Panama. With the demand we continue to see for Latin American destinations, we believe Panama delivers all the qualities that international leisure travellers are looking for – a modern international city, amazing beaches, unique cuisine and culture and of course eco-tourism offerings that are truly breath-taking! We are excited to grow our partnership with Panama for many years to come.”

Woodrow Oldford, Chief Marketing Officer of PROMTUR Panama (Panama's Destination Marketing Organization) said; “Panama is pleased to begin a long-term partnership with Hotelbeds. The launch of our alliance with Hotelbeds is a strategic move for us in kick-starting tourism in Panama. We see the value of partnering with industry leaders to reach and educate others in the travel industry. There is a pent-up demand for travel, and we believe Hotelbeds will be a key part of tapping into the demand and ensuring our future success.”


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Hotelbeds enters exciting new partnership with PROMTUR Panama!

We’ve just entered into a new partnership with tech giant, Google Cloud, that’s already resulting in a reduction in response times by up to 7% and an increase in conversion rates for our API clients.

What’s more, these clients – our tour operators, retail travel agent chains, airlines and point redemption schemes - are also benefiting from increased flexibility, uptime and reliability due to the platform’s auto-scaling architecture.

In addition, there’s also benefits for the 180,000 hotel properties that make up our portfolio as their product will now be made available to travel trade buyers more quickly and reliably than ever before, thus increasing incremental bookings from non-domestic and high-value guests -the typical guest profile our distribution channels attract.

Simon Matthews, CTO at Hotelbeds, said: “An ever faster response time is one of the most important metrics for our API partners – and indirectly for our hotel and ancillary supplier partners who benefit too – and we achieve this with reliable partners like Google Cloud, who offer us security, scalability and reliability on a global scale.

“Like many other travel tech companies our conversion to the cloud started with an initial technical push with a single cloud provider tightly coupled – and deliberately so – with our legacy on-premise infrastructure. We are now able to deploy our workloads at an incredibly efficient speed on Google Cloud, deploying infrastructure as code and platform as a service – and thereby helping fuel the recovery of our partners everywhere.”

Isaac Hernández, Country Manager at Google Cloud Spain and Portugal, added: "We are very excited to announce our partnership with one of the leading travel technology companies at this key moment when it’s imperative to help the industry recover from the impact of COVID-19. Just as managing bookings has become more operationally complex given the current situation, we are able to offer Hotelbeds and its partners a rapidly scalable solution that reduces costs and helps increase revenues by reducing that all important response time.”


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Google Cloud partnership helps fuel recovery by reducing response times and increasing sales conversions for API clients

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