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In support of the travel recovery we are seeing in US and Mexico and in preparation for recovery in Brazil, we have expanded our customer service team by 50%. These new hires are based in our offices in Brazil and Mexico and ‘off shore’ in Colombia ensuring you are fully supported for this long-awaiting return to travel! We’re also making a series of other service improvements to make it easier to work with us!

Lauren Volcheff Atlass, Americas Sales Director at Hotelbeds, said: “More than ever, we know you want fast, easy and flexible service and this is why we are happy to answer that ask with an expansion of the services we offer via our new SelfSet digital tools. In the face of this crisis, there is tremendous opportunity in Brazil and Latin America, and that fact is well recognized by Hotelbeds, hence the investments we are making to improve the customer experience across the region.

“In addition, our customer service team is growing! We are delighted that the market is slowly showing signs of recovery and that we are able to expand our team to handle a greater workload. It's a great sign of things to come as travel demand returns.”


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Improving and expanding our service centres to support you!

Are you ready to save time and effort? Want to manage your bookings 100% online? Well now you can with SelfSeT - our new range of self-service tools, all designed to give you more efficient ways of managing your bookings, and all without having to call us or send emails.


We have been listening to you and looking at how we can make improvements and changes to how you work with us so that you can:


	Solve issues fast online;
	Avoid having to pick up the phone;
	Manage your bookings directly on our website;
	Raise and track tickets relating to booking queries;
	Stop having to send emails.


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Our SelfSeT tools help you to resolve your most common booking queries 100% online, and they include:


	An enhanced booking management panel that allows you to modify your bookings in just 3 steps, including special requests.
	Flexible cancellation tools which mean you can perform all your cancellations within just a few clicks. And coming very soon, you&rsquo;ll have the power to cancel a booking even on the same day as check-in!
	Supplier reconfirmation number access*, making it easier for you to find this number, and you can also request it via our new Help Desk.
	Reservations Help Desk, this new tool will allow you to create tickets for other booking queries or post-travel requests.


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*When the number has been provided by the hotel or other supplier

All of this means that www.hotelbeds.com&nbsp;is now your one stop shop for making AND managing bookings, which means that you can spend your time growing your business and helping your customers to book their next dream vacation!

It&rsquo;s never been easier to work with us! To find out more, visit the new support page&nbsp;here and check out our SelfSeT promotional video!


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Save time and effort managing your bookings with SelfSeT 

We’ve just entered a new collaboration with Aruba Tourism Authority to promote this exotic Caribbean destination, also known as ‘One Happy Island,’ to our extensive network of travel advisors!

Hotelbeds will work closely with the Aruba Tourism Authority to educate travel advisors on the island's new protocols and security measures to provide a safe and welcoming environment for both visitors and locals, with the goal of attracting&nbsp;travellers to visit the island when the time is right.

We will also take the opportunity to expand our portfolio by contracting more hotels in the area and have access to exclusive rates that will be offered to our extensive network of travel trade buyers around the world.

The marketing campaign will run until mid-September and will be available through both Hotelbeds’ main distribution channels, Bedsonline – aimed at retail travel agencies – and Hotelbeds – focused on wholesale distribution.

Gareth Matthews, Marketing, Communications &amp; CSR Director at Hotelbeds, said: “We are delighted to extend our relationship with the Aruba Tourism Authority to promote a safe return to travel in the region. In our initial campaign last year, we demonstrated to North American travel agents that Aruba was a safe destination, and we will reinforce this message through this latest campaign. It’s also a great opportunity for us to demonstrate to the ATA that there is no more efficient way to reach the travel trade in key source markets then via Hotelbeds’ Destination Marketing efforts.”

Ayerim Maduro, Aruba Tourism Authority Marketing Manager North America, added: “The Aruba Tourism Authority is honored to be partnering with Hotelbeds on what is sure to be another successful program to bring the travel trade deeper awareness and knowledge on all ‘One Happy Island’ has to offer. The new campaign will focus on educating the trade on Aruba’s new protocols and hygiene measures that have been put in place for the safety and wellbeing of visitors and locals, including the Aruba Health and Happiness Code. Travel partners will also be appraised of the latest airline’s schedules, so clients can journey to Aruba with ease and confidence. We look forward to welcoming visitors with sunshine, smiles and safety.”

You can see the full campaign here!


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Hotelbeds partners with Aruba Tourism Authority!

Throughout the pandemic, we&rsquo;ve been collaborating with global travel industry experts Skift every month to help inform their Skift Recovery Index (SRI) which is a real time measure of where the travel industry &ndash; and the core verticals within it &ndash; stand in terms of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It provides all of us in the travel industry with a powerful tool for strategic planning and we&rsquo;re pleased to be able to share the latest update with you here!

This latest report highlights a movement towards stronger recovery in Europe as case numbers decline and borders re-open, but again shows that the US and Mexico are continuing to lead the way, with Mexico in particular close to 95% pre-pandemic levels.

Volatility remains, however, in India, Thailand and South Africa where performance has declined in the past month.

Download the full report here.

Skift works with Amadeus, Aviasales, Cendyn, Collinson, Criteo, Duetto, ForwardKeys,&nbsp;Hotelbeds, Key Data Dashboard, OAG, Onyx CenterSource, RateGain, Shiji Group,&nbsp;SimilarWeb, Skyscanner, Sojern, Transparent, and TrustYou as data partners to provide the monthly update of travel performance in 22 countries around the world.


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Latest Skift report shows continued recovery, with Europe now making headway

2020 was certainly a challenging year for all of us, but here at Hotelbeds, we used it to develop a range of new self-service tools, all designed to make your life easier. This month, we’re proud to begin the roll-out of our new Reservations Help Desk!

This new tool in the Self-Set suite has been developed to give you a simple way of sending us requests for some of the most common booking enquiries such as:


	Post travel complaints
	Requesting charges waiver
	Following up on any open tickets
	Any other query that is not already available via our website


The Reservations Help Desk now available for you at hotelbeds.com/bookings but to find out more, and how to use it right away, check out the video below:


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And don’t forget about all the other tools in the Self-Set toolkit as they’re all designed to save you time, money and effort when you need to contact us.

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*Please remember that you still need to call the Contact Centre for all in-destination emergencies.


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New Reservations Help Desk designed to make your life easier!

Hotelbeds’ TravelStack technology is now powering the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) ‘AgentExperience’ platform designed exclusively for IATA/IATAN ID Card holders, significantly improving booking options for travel trade professionals worldwide and raising the visibility of our global product portfolio!

IATA’s membership represent 290 airlines or 82% of total air traffic and use the platform for accessing FAM trips, training and personal discounts on flights, hotels, car hire, and attractions worldwide.

Hotelbeds’ TravelStack technology provides industry partners with a powerful, full service white label booking platform integrated with Hotelbeds’ complete global product portfolio and we’re really excited about the potential of this new partnership for our hotel partners.

León Herce, Global Sales Director at Hotelbeds, said: “We are very pleased to announce this partnership with IATA, the trade association for the world's airlines. We are delighted that IATA has chosen TravelStack to provide them with a booking solution and we are confident this is just the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.”

Harsha Krishnan, Head of Travel &amp; Tourism from IATA commented: “Offering our IATA/IATAN ID Card Holders a wide range of travel experiences in order to expand and enhance their product knowledge has been a hallmark of our AgentExperience platform. Partnering with Hotelbeds will significantly improve the booking options for travel professionals across the globe.”


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IATA chooses Hotelbeds’ TravelStack technology to power booking platform

We’ve just penned a new agreement with the Korea Tourism Organization which is great news not just for hotel partners in Korea, but also for our extensive network of US travel advisors who can now build on the US’ position of one of the top 5 leading source markets into the country.

Hotelbeds will work with the Korea Tourism Organization on a tailored campaign until the end of September to promote the destination across its USA travel industry partners in an effort to encourage more tourists to visit the country when the time is right.

We firmly believe that Korea has enormous potential to grow as a top Asian destination once mass international tourism resumes and our focus for this partnership is to market and improve the level of inbound US tourism into Korea, building on the already strong position the US holds there.

This marketing campaign aims to bring the Asian country to the attention of Hotelbeds’ travel trade buyers through its two main distribution channels: Bedsonline – targeting retail travel agencies – and Hotelbeds – focused on wholesale distribution.

Gareth Matthews, Marketing &amp; Communications Director at Hotelbeds, said: “It is a pleasure to partner with the Korea Tourism Organization once again. Over the years we have consistently strengthened our production in Korea, and we are excited that they are leveraging Hotelbeds' unique B2B marketing distribution to assist in their recovery efforts.

“This strategic marketing campaign targets one of our leading source markets, the USA. As the vaccination process continues to rolls out, we are seeing significant increase in searches for international destinations - a clear sign that there is significant pent-up US demand for international travel. We will promote Korea as a key destination in Asia and inspire the travel industry to drive significant incremental bookings once travel restrictions are lifted.”

Mr. Hocheol Ban, Executive Director at Korea Tourism Organization NY Office, added: “We are pleased to announce our partnership with Hotelbeds, a leader in the travel industry. As Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, we look forward to a strong recovery with support from Hotelbeds’ data driven campaigns and invaluable market trends intel. This is important to accelerate growth, increase customer engagement and to ensure success.”


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Hotelbeds partners with the Korea Tourism Organization to drive inbound US tourism

As Hotelbeds’ Executive Chairman, Joan Vilà, transitions into a non-executive role on the Hotelbeds’ Board, he shares some reflections on his 32 year career, explains why he is confident about the future of the industry and pays tribute to the strong partnerships that have been part of the company’s success story.

Let’s hear from Joan...

“As you may know, I recently announced my decision to step back from the day to day running of Hotelbeds after 32 years and move to a non-executive role on Hotelbeds’ board, a move I had originally planned to make in 2020 but which I delayed when the pandemic hit in order to focus on navigating the company through the global crisis.

“Now though, as we start to see the early signs of recovery, I feel the time is right for me to step back and today, I wanted to reach out to you as one of our valued hotel partners in the industry, to thank you for all your support over the years.

“I am, of course, very proud of everything the Hotelbeds' family has achieved, together with our partners, over the years. From our early days as an incoming DMC in Spain, to our transformation to become a world leading travel-tech player, active in all major source markets and destinations worldwide - it’s been a real rollercoaster! In no small part, that success has been down to the strong partnerships we have across the industry.

“The pandemic has caused a seismic shift in the travel industry and has probably changed it forever in many ways. But as hard as it has been, and as challenging as it remains, there are huge opportunities ahead as we all look to capitalise on the enormous level of pent-up demand for travel.

“Even though there is general consensus in the industry that 2019 volumes are unlikely to return until 2023, as a company, we have made very good use of the global lock-down period - adapting with agility and accelerating our plans to increase efficiency and competitiveness through digitalisation and automation and this, together with a strengthened balance sheet means that in line with the gradual return of market demand, we are now in a good position to help our partners recover from the pandemic step by step.

“And for these reasons, I feel confident and optimistic about the future not just for Hotelbeds, but for our partners and the industry as a whole.

“I will continue to be very much be involved in the business going forward, as both a non-executive director on Hotelbeds’ board and as a committed shareholder, but I am handing over the reins for the day to day running of the business, to our newly appointed CEO, Nicolas Huss, who I will support over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.

“Nicolas is the former CEO of both Ingenico and Visa Europe and is a highly experienced board-level executive with a very strong reputation in the payments and financial services industries where he worked with some of the biggest brands in travel, as well as serving as a non-executive Director at Amadeus for 4 years.

“He brings to Hotelbeds extensive experience in leading technology and digital companies as well as a proven track record for driving organic growth making him a perfect fit for the company.

“I also think it’s fair to say that he will inherit a fantastic company, very well positioned to lead the recovery together with one of the strongest executive teams in the industry, including COO, Carlos Muñoz and Andres Garcia. “I am sure Nicolas will be in contact with you in due course and that we will also have many opportunities to meet in the future but in the meantime I wish you great success as we look forward to the continued recovery of our the industry.”

Joan Vilà


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Executive Chairman, Joan Vilà, moves to non-executive role

There’s good news this month for our clients with customers interested in travelling to France, as we’ve just signed a deal with the Réside Études Group, expanding our French portfolio.

As part of this deal, Réside Études, one of the French leaders in investment property, will gain access to Hotelbeds’ 60,000 travel trade buyers, including travel agents, airlines, points redemption programs and tour operators while giving you access to great rates and offers from Réside Études’ properties across France.

Through this deal, Hotelbeds will further expand its hotel offering in France by adding three of the group's five brands to its portfolio - Séjours &amp; Affaires Apparthotel, their tourist and business residences, Residhome Apparthotel, their tourist and business residences within business areas and Relais Spa, their tourist residences with business, well-being and relaxation areas.

Jorge Cortés, Global Sourcing Director at Hotelbeds said: “The Réside Études Group has become one of the leaders in real estate investment thanks to their growing presence in the French hospitality industry. We are therefore delighted that this new strategic partnership will give our 60,000 travel clients in 140 source markets around the world access to great rates across the Réside Études portfolio.”


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Strategic partnership with Réside Études Group expands our French portfolio

As part of the recent news that our Executive Chairman, Joan Vilà, was stepping back from the day to day running of the company to take a non-executive role on Hotelbeds’ Board, we also announced the appointment of Nicolas Huss as CEO.

Nicolas is the former CEO of Ingenico and Visa Europe and is an experienced board-level executive and CEO with a very strong reputation in the payments, financial services and travel industries, where he has led significant growth, transformation and innovation.

He brings to Hotelbeds extensive experience in leading technology and digital companies as well as a proven track record for driving organic growth.

A French national, Nicolas has a truly international background and has lived and worked in many countries, including Spain where he was previously based for seven years.

Nicolas Huss said: “I’m really looking forward to taking the reins at Hotelbeds, the market leader in its segment. Joan Vilà’s strategic vision and relentless drive to innovate and internationalise has created a wonderful company and a fantastic company with a truly dynamic culture.

“Together with Carlos Muñoz and Andrés García-Tenorio, and the rest of the highly experienced Executive Leadership Team, we are well positioned to continue delivering mutual growth together with our valued supplier partners and clients.

“As both a non-executive director at Amadeus for 4 years, and CEO of Visa Europe and Ingenico group, I have worked closely with some of the biggest names in travel, so I understand the challenges and opportunities the industry faces.

“In my role as CEO I intend to further build on the great foundations at Hotelbeds, to use data driven digital automation to support our partners to better respond to the seismic shift the pandemic has brought and that has probably changed the travel industry forever, in many ways.

“As I start on my journey with Hotelbeds its great to know that Joan will be supporting me over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition. I am looking forward to speaking to you all at some point in the near future!”


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Hotelbeds welcomes newly appointed CEO, Nicolas Huss

We’ve just penned a new strategic agreement with Banyan Tree Group, one of the world’s leading independent, multi-branded hospitality groups which secures exclusive offers and privileges at Banyan Tree Group’s 48 hotels across 22 countries.

Banyan Tree Group operates five award-winning brands: Banyan Tree – an all-villa concept with understated luxury; Angsana – amazing destination playgrounds for families and meeting groups; Cassia – designed with the independent travellers in mind, a niche between hotel and apartments; Dhawa – contemporary casual and design-savvy hotels; and Laguna – featuring the Group’s three integrated destination resorts for dream holiday getaways in Thailand (Phuket), Indonesia (Bintan) and Vietnam (Lang Co).

With the strategic partnership, and in anticipation of the resumption of safe travel, Banyan Tree Group will benefit from expanding its customer reach, while giving Hotelbeds’ customers access to exclusive rates designed to inspire travel and help fuel the tourism industry's recovery.

Jorge Cortés, Global Sourcing Director at Hotelbeds said: “Banyan Tree Group is one of our key partners with amazing properties in top destinations worldwide. Thanks to an exceptional business relationship, we are looking to increase our business with them and in turn, provide our global travel trade buyers the opportunity to book and experience its amazing hotels once safe travel resumes.”

Bobby Ong, Vice President, Head of Growth from Banyan Tree Group said: “Hotelbeds is well-established in the hospitality industry for its extensive network. This strategic partnership highlights the collaboration of two forward-looking industry brands. With wellbeing and sustainability at our core, our Group’s multi-brand portfolio will cater to discerning customers with different need-states for travel post-Covid. With this partnership, we are pleased to strengthen our global reach to travel trade buyers and welcome more international travellers to our awe-inspiring destinations around the world.”


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Hotelbeds signs strategic agreement with Banyan Tree Group

Did you know that Hotelbeds offers a great car rental portfolio through its Beyond The Bed product line, with over 40,000 locations, in 180+ countries from local and international car hire providers?

Although Hotelbeds is the largest bedbank in the world, we also do much more than sell accommodation. We provide high-quality ancillary products like transfers, activities, tickets, theme parks, multi-day tours, and car rental. We want to ensure that our portfolio provides you and your clients with the right car, in the right place, at the right price.

Improved customer experience
As you know we are always finding new ways to make the customer experience even easier and to ensure that our technology is state of the art. In most products, additional services such as infant seat, child seat, GPS, or booster seat, can now be selected during the reservation placement for all locations. This ensures a faster pick-up time as additional services can be booked and the supplier can prepare accordingly. Please note that additional services are not commissionable and payable at pick-up.

New cancellation policy
To give our offer an even stronger competitive edge, we have a new cancellation policy, that allows spontaneous decisions to be made to assure best service and satisfaction of customers. Instead of 48 hours before pick-up, customers can now cancel a booking up to 24 hours before pick-up completely free of charge. After that, a fee of only EUR 50 per booking applies, no matter how high the reservation cost added up to. Only if it is a No Show, without a cancellation before pick-up, will a 100% fee apply.

Rental tip
To assure a smooth rental experience and high customer satisfaction we highly recommend sending the flight number at the moment of placing the reservation, whenever applicable. This information enables the suppliers to check the flight status and find out if there is any delay or cancellation due to new restrictions. What are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for? Click here to check out our car rental options now!


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