BUSINESS TRAVEL
globenewswire | May 18, 2023
Mondee Holdings Inc. a technology-driven, next-generation marketplace in a $1 trillion segment of the travel market, today announced the acquisition of Consolid Mexico Holding, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (“Consolid”), a high-growth, leading travel provider based in Mexico with a global presence and an emphasis in Latin America (“LATAM”).
Mondee is already a market leader in North America and is quickly growing its leadership in LATAM. Headquartered in Mexico City, Consolid enjoys a global presence and clientele, with a focus on Mexico, the second largest market in Central and South America, as well as other countries in the region. Mondee’s acquisition of Consolid supports continued expansion in LATAM as it comes on the heels of the acquisitions of Brazil-based Orinter in January 2023 and Interep in May 2023.
Consolid’s 2022 net revenue, which has a large air component, was approximately $8 million, with a 6.8% take rate, and its 2022 adjusted EBITDA was over $1 million. The acquisition was concluded with approximately $4 million in cash, plus an additional future earn-out of cash and shares in Mondee stock with a combined value of up to $5 million to increases in adjusted EBITDA.
With an 18-year operating history, Consolid enjoys a leading business to business to consumer (“B2B2C”) position within the air and ground-arrangement travel markets in Mexico. Consolid serves an estimated 1,000 customers globally, with concentrations in Mexico and LATAM, through its “Consolid” and “Travel Fan” brands.
Following the successful acquisitions of Orinter and Interep, the present acquisition serves to expand the distribution of Consolid's travel content by means of Mondee's vast network of over 55,000 travel affiliates and 125 million closed group members. Furthermore, the acquisition provides Mondee with access to additional regional and local content. The Company intends to leverage its proprietary technology platform and introduce revenue enhancements such as FinTech and ancillary solutions for Consolid customers while optimizing expenses to realize substantial top-line and bottom-line synergies.
Mondee's Chairman, CEO, and Founder, Prasad Gundumogula, stated, "We are thrilled to welcome Consolid's CEO Judith Guerra Aguijosa and experienced management team into the Mondee family and look forward to helping provide their customers with additional products and services. We have every confidence they will continue to grow the business actively within their markets. The recent acquisitions of Orinter, Interep and now Consolid, further reinforce Mondee’s growing market presence in Brazil, Mexico, and throughout the Americas. Our strategy is to continue expanding our footprint in LATAM and other attractive global regions through the acquisition of businesses that complement and synergize with our existing solutions, thereby enhancing our expert-backed experiential content."
Consolid's CEO, Judith Guerra Aguijosa, said, "The entire Consolid team is excited to join the Mondee family and work towards unlocking the global growth potential of our combined offerings and capabilities, with early emphasis in Mexico and more broadly across LATAM. We look forward to leveraging Mondee's cutting-edge technology and industry-leading expertise to enhance our customers' travel experiences. With our shared commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, we are confident that together we can redefine the travel industry in LATAM and beyond."
About Mondee Holdings, Inc.
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Austin (Texas), Mondee Holdings, Inc. is a group of notable travel service, technology, and content companies bringing disruptive innovation to the leisure, corporate, and retail travel markets. It provides a groundbreaking technology platform of mobile, SaaS, and cloud products and services to a global customer base, handling over 50 million daily searches and billions of dollars in transactional volume each year. Its network includes more than 50,000 gig economy workers and leisure travel advisors, 500+ airlines, and over one million vacation rentals and hotels.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
businesswire | April 10, 2023
Officials of HEI Hotels & Resorts, a leading hospitality investment and management company, today announced the company was awarded a Vibe Vista award for “Best Beverage Menu” at this year’s Questex Vibe Conference, the premiere on-premises beverage conference for executives. This marks the second consecutive year in which HEI was recognized, winning for Best Overall Beverage Program in 2022.
“Vibe Vista Awards recognize the top performers in the beverage industry through the creation, training, execution, management and on-going positive results of beverage programs, and we are humbled to be recognized from among this year’s outstanding participants,” said David Miller, corporate director of beverage operations, HEI. “It is important to our entire F&B team to work with hotels individually to create beverage menus that add to the experiential nature of our properties. While our mixologists are experts in what they do, it takes that extra property-level knowledge to create something unique that stands out from the crowd. This award is a testament to the hard work done by our executive team comprised of Rachel Moniz, Aliya Kritzler and me, as well as the individual hotel teams and beverage partners who helped us achieve this amazing goal.”
Vibe Vista Awards entries were reviewed by a panel of Johnson & Wales University beverage faculty, staff and alumni and were judged on positive beverage sales initiatives, efficient operational innovations and training and service programs producing high quality standards.
As an example of its beverage program, HEI worked with the F&B associates at the Westin San Antonio’s recently remodeled Zocca Bar to create “The Paloma Rossa,” a cocktail derived using Blanco tequila, grapefruit, Big Red syrup, torched rosemary and lime to create a similar taste to a popular local soda. “San Antonians are in love with Big Red Soda, but people from outside the 210 and 726 area codes likely aren’t that familiar with the drink,” Miller noted. “By working with our on-property bar teams, however, we were able to create a truly unique cocktail for our guests that takes a casual drink to a truly localized experience we find visitors prefer.”
ABOUT HEI HOTELS & RESORTS
HEI Hotels & Resorts, headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., is a leading hospitality investment and management company that owns or operates 100+ luxury, upper-upscale and upscale independent and branded hotels and resorts throughout the United States. HEI’s branding partners include Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Choice and Wyndham. The company is renowned for its commitment to its associates under the culture of HEI Loves, its revenue management, profit contribution and empirically based real estate value creation, driven by a full complement of proprietary software tools to set and exceed targets on a fully integrated basis. HEI works hand-in-hand with institutional capital partners on existing assets under management as well as sponsored acquisition opportunities. The company has ample equity capital and strategically co-invests with its partners on many transactions.
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HOSPITALITY TRENDS
businesswire | May 19, 2023
Global payments provider Elavon has partnered with The Digital Line (TDL) on a voice-activated solution for the hospitality industry.
The solution – Audico – utilises the Amazon Alexa device to deliver a variety of voice-driven services. Elavon is the exclusive payments provider for the Audico solution in hospitality, globally.
Hemlata Narasimhan, Elavon Merchant Services President in Europe, says, “Virtual assistant technology is the future of hospitality, and we’re thrilled to be powering the payments behind Audico. This is all about improving the customer experience, and a large part of this is seamless payments. We’re pleased to be partnering with Amazon’s approved partner The Digital Line to make this happen.”
Audico is unique in the UK market, and has already been implemented at the world-famous Ascot Racecourse in Southeast England, where premium customers can call for betting services, order food and drinks, and purchase merchandise from their private boxes all with a few simple words to Alexa. The audible command is then relayed to staff as a Card Not Present transaction, and payment is made using a pre-determined account preference such as a credit card.
Audico is also being explored as a room service solution in hotels, and in premium hospitality areas at other venues and stadiums, as well as providing a landmark series of services in the health care industry.
George Vaughan, The Digital Line’s CEO, says, “This partnership represents a unique opportunity for two recognised brands to collaborate on initiatives that will revolutionise multiple business verticals, including hospitality, venues and health care, delivering a level of digital transformation not seen before.”
About The Digital Line
A commercial research, information, and technical innovation consulting firm, The Digital Line (TDL) has a specific interest in venues, hospitality, retail, education, and healthcare. TDL offers a full range of professional services to help companies in various industries create their plans for upcoming technological endeavours and support the deployment of critical projects in a more creative and cost-effective manner.
TDL also collaborates with cutting-edge businesses, products, and institutions, placing it at the forefront of the latest wave of technical advancements and because of its intelligent integration of private, public, and academic entities, is able to push the limits of disruptive digital technologies.
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