Hotelbeds Group grows car rental sales 200% over three years
- B2B rental distribution company CARNECT part of Hotelbeds Group since 2007
- Expansion into APAC, US, and Middle East & North Africa since 2016
- Over 500 car rental companies and over 200 large online travel agencies (OTAs) and travel agencies now connected to platform
Palma de Mallorca, October 30, 2017 – Hotelbeds Group, the business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry globally, has announced that CARNECT – the business-to-business car rental distribution specialist platform – has achieved 200% growth in the Total Transaction Value (TTV) of sales through its platform over the last three years.
Additionally, CARNECT is able to confirm that it has now reached agreements with over 70 additional online travel agencies (OTAS), tour operators and ancillary revenue management platforms over the last 12 months only. This takes the total number to over 200 partners connected to CARNECT´s 500-plus car rental partners, including market leaders such as Avis, Europcar, Hertz, Alamo, and Enterprise that offer geographical coverage in over 170 countries.
Chris Leonard, Managing Director of CARNECT: “Our growth continues to accelerate through both commissionable and wholesaler models that we offer to our partners, a direct result of developing innovative and tailored solutions that not only focus on car rental ancillary revenues for our partners but also increase customer satisfaction.
“This focus on customer satisfaction has been supported by initiatives around increased product display transparency, supplier sourced inclusive product and excellent account management and customer service. We believe this commitment to customer satisfaction is often overlooked in the car rental industry, but that it is critical for both our online and travel agency partners to maximize customer retention and lifetime value.”
Cina Bahri, Global Business Development Director of CARNECT continues: “It gives me great pleasure to confirm that over the last 12 months we have strongly increased our business development by signing over 70 new agreements with major players within the industry across the globe – and that our sales have trebled over the last three years.
“This has been achieved through focusing solely on the B2B sector and via our commitment to providing our clients with the best possible tailor-made product and technology solutions to help them grow their car rental businesses. Our recognition as a highly reliable car rental distribution partner shows the strong mutual trust and reliability we have established with our existing and new clients. This has driven our successful entry into further markets, including the US, Asia-Pacific, and this year the Middle East & North Africa.
“In recent years having the right technology has become one of the biggest challenges for our car rental and travel seller partners. With our own in-house technology, which is highly recognized within the industry for its impressive credentials and ceaseless commitment to innovation, we have been able to further differentiate our offering through API, widget and mobile solutions that our partners need to drive both revenue and margins.
“Currently we have many exciting partnerships in the pipeline and ambitious plans for growth that I look forward to announcing soon.”
About CARNECT
Founded as an IT company in Hamburg in 1999, the company entered the car rental booking engine market in 2006 before growing across Europe. It became part of Hotelbeds Group in 2007 and rebranded as CARNECT in 2014 to focus solely on the business-to-business sector before beginning its global roll out.
The company offers car rental and travel seller clients best-in-class technology solutions, with tailored integration options ranging from CARNECT´s fully Open Travel Alliance compliant API, to white label, mobile apps (full native or HTML5 integration options), and widgets and focuses on maximizing car rental revenue through its unique system enabling multi-suppliers model and yielding strategies.
About Hotelbeds Group
Hotelbeds Group is a business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry globally.
The Group’s proprietary technology helps providers of travel services distribute their offering to travel sellers globally via an easy-to-use, advanced technology platform that increases reach, revenue and yield for both the provider and the seller.
Operating mainly under the Hotelbeds and Bedsonline brands, the company connects 35,000 travel intermediaries across more than 120 source markets globally with travel providers in over 180 countries representing more than 130,000 hotels, 21,000 transfer routes and 12,000 activities.
Additionally the Group also operates a Destination Services division offering in-bound destination services, such as tours or transfers, in around 40 countries. The Group also owns several other B2B travel brands such as Pacific World (focusing on the MICE area), Intercruises (shore side cruise solutions) and more.
In September 2016 the company became independent under the ownership of Cinven and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). In June 2017 Tourico Holidays became part of Hotelbeds Group, followed by GTA also joining the Group in October; both companies remain independent brands whilst they are being integrated into the Group.
The Group is headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and has 8,300 employees globally (including Tourico Holidays and GTA).
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Hotelbeds Group Media contacts
Arenalia Comunicación
Laia Jardí / Irene Garcia-Arnau / Eguz Anon
ljardi@arenalia.com / igarciaarnau@arenalia.com / anon@arenalia.com
Tel. +34 660 201 020
Departamento de Comunicación de Hotelbeds Group
Anna Monreal
amonreal@hotelbeds.com
Tel. +34 971 624 687
