Hotelbeds has launched a new group brand, HBX Group, to take B2B travel technology company into the “next phase of its evolution”.
As part of this evolution, the company will introduce fintech products in 2024, including travel insurance, payment solutions and multi-currency solutions.
“As travellers increasingly seek the connected trip experience with all aspects of their travel included in the same ticket, we must ensure we’re meeting this need through travel insurance and associated financial products,” said CEO Nicolas Huss.
“We have offered hotels since our inception in 2001, later adding car hire, transfers and attractions. Financial services are the natural next step in our business development and one our clients have asked us to provide.”
Under the new umbrella brand, there will be four specialist brands:
- Hotelbeds, catering for the specific needs of hoteliers, tour operators, airlines and online travel agents
- Bedsonline, exclusively serving the retail travel segment bringing together all the travel products they need to complete and serve their travellers’ needs
- Roiback, the HotelTech partner for independent hotels and chains seeking growth through direct channel solutions
- TravelStack, providing all products, services and solutions to businesses looking to enter into the lucrative travel arena.
“We have completely rebuilt our tech stack over the past year to support this shift and better serve our clients and partners by improving our reliability and number of self-service tools to maintain our market position,” explained Huss.
Hotelbeds’ accommodation, mobility and attractions sales teams have been integrated as part of a new group structure. They will cross-sell all product lines and streamline client relationships.
Existing product brands, including last minute travel and Carnect, will continue to operate but will eventually be fully integrated into the HBX Group ecosystem.
“Being an ecosystem player enables us to provide our customers with interconnected products and services, which complement each other and which, when combined and sold seamlessly together, gives our clients what they want, when they want it.” Added Huss.
“It also streamlines the buying process while enabling clients to upsell ancillary products, enhancing their business and providing frictionless travel to the end consumer.”
