Business Travel
globenewswire | August 17, 2023
Mondee Holdings, Inc. the high-growth, travel technology company and marketplace, with a portfolio of globally recognized platforms in the leisure and corporate travel sectors, today announced the acquisition of Skypass Travel, Inc. (“Skypass”), a global full-service retail and wholesale provider of corporate, leisure, and humanitarian travel, based in the Dallas, Texas area.
The acquisition of Skypass supports Mondee's ongoing expansion and diversification endeavors, encompassing markets that serve both personnel and affiliates from international corporations, small and midsize businesses (SMBs), as well as humanitarian organizations. Skypass maintains domestic offices in the Dallas, Texas area and Austin, Texas. Furthermore, it boasts a global footprint through its international offices located in Latin America (LATAM), Mexico, Canada, and India.
Skypass achieved a gross revenue of $45 million and adjusted EBITDA of $4 million, representing a margin on net revenue of approximately 60%, in 2022. At closing, Mondee paid a consideration of approximately $15 million, comprised of cash and Mondee common stock priced at $10 per share. Additionally, the agreement allows for a potential future earn-out opportunity of shares of Mondee common stock, contingent upon the achievement of specified annual adjusted EBITDA growth targets.
With a 35-year operating history, Skypass enjoys a leading position in the international corporate travel sector. Its focus is directed toward providing travel services to sizable international consulting firms and SMBs. In addition to air travel and lodging, Skypass extends its services to encompass cruises, vacation packages, and humanitarian travel, catering to the personnel, associates, and the wider retail travel demographic.
Following the successful acquisitions of Consolid, Orinter and Interep, Mondee is poised to strategically advance the distribution of Skypass's travel-related offerings. Skypass’s expansion may be facilitated through Mondee’s extensive network, which comprises over 65,000 travel experts and a membership of 125 million individuals within closed groups. Furthermore, the acquisition increases Mondee’s reach of local, regional and global content.
Mondee's strategic approach involves harnessing its exclusive AI-Powered Travel Marketplace and cutting-edge technology. Simultaneously, the Company intends to introduce enhancements in services that may target Skypass’s clientele and generate additional revenue, including FinTech solutions and supplementary services. Moreover, Mondee is committed to streamlining expenditures across its global operational framework, with the aim of realizing substantial synergies in both top-line and bottom-line performance.
Mondee’s Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Prasad Gundumogula, stated, “We are thrilled to extend a warm welcome to Victor Abraham, CEO of Skypass, and his experienced management team as valued members of the Mondee family and look forward to helping provide their customers with access to our AI-Powered Travel Marketplace, as well as additional products and services. We have every confidence they will continue to grow the business actively within their served markets. This acquisition underscores our commitment to diversifying our distribution to SMBs and international corporate accounts along with geographical expansion into India, Mexico, and LATAM.”
Skypass’s CEO Victor Abraham, shared, “The entire Skypass team is excited to join the Mondee family and work towards unlocking the global growth potential of our combined offerings and capabilities. We look forward to leveraging Mondee's cutting-edge AI-Powered Marketplace 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.”
About Mondee
Founded in 2011,Mondeeis a travel technology company and a modern travel marketplace based in Austin, Texas. The Company operates 17 offices across the United States and Canada and has core operations in India, Thailand, and Greece. Mondee is driving change in the leisure and corporate travel sectors through its broad array of innovative solutions. Available both as an app and through the web, the Company’s platform processes over 50 million daily searches and generates a substantial transactional volume annually. The Mondee Marketplace includes access to Abhi, the most powerful and only fully-integrated AI travel planning assistant in the market. Mondee’s network includes approximately 65,000 leisure travel advisors, freelancers and influencers, 500+ airlines, and over one million hotels and vacation rentals, 30K rental car pickup locations, 50+ cruise lines. The Company also offers packaged solutions and ancillary offerings that serve a global customer base.
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Travel Technology
Hyatt Hotels | September 22, 2023
Hyatt Hotels Corporation embarks on a strategic expansion journey with over 30 luxury and lifestyle hotels planned for the Americas by 2025.
The brand's rapid growth includes doubling luxury room inventory and increasing lifestyle rooms, making it a premier choice for high-end travelers.
The strategic acquisitions of Mr & Mrs Smith and Dream Hotel Group enhance Hyatt's offerings for members of the World of Hyatt.
The Hyatt Hotels Corporation has strengthened the brand with ambitious plans to expand its luxury and lifestyle presence throughout the Americas. With a robust development pipeline encompassing more than 30 planned hotels and resorts slated for completion by 2025, Hyatt is poised to make a significant impact. This strategic initiative includes venturing into new markets, reflecting the company's unwavering commitment to enhancing its brand offerings. Over the past half-decade, Hyatt has achieved remarkable milestones on a global scale, including doubling luxury room inventory, tripling the number of resort rooms, and quadrupling the availability of lifestyle rooms. The momentum behind this growth shows no signs of abating. Hyatt now proudly stands as the fastest-growing luxury portfolio, with luxury, lifestyle, and resort properties constituting over 40% of its extensive portfolio. This success solidifies Hyatt's position as the ultimate choice for discerning high-end travelers seeking unparalleled experiences.
This brand expansion has new properties in sought-after destinations, including the Hyatt Centric Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Cas en Bas Beach Resort in Saint Lucia, and Hyatt Centric Querétaro in Mexico. Additionally, Hyatt is introducing Boundless Collection hotels, featuring Thompson Hotels in various U.S. and Mexican locations. Timeless Collection hotels will offer a home away from home experience, with Park Hyatt Los Cabos in Mexico and Grand Hyatt Scottsdale in Arizona among the highlights. The Inclusive Collection will welcome new resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico, including Secrets St. Lucia Resort & Spa and more. Several luxury and lifestyle Hyatt hotels have recently opened in the Americas, with exciting additions like Andaz Mexico City Condesa and Dreams Flora Resort & Spa in Punta Cana. The Fordson Hotel in Oklahoma City will soon join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt.
Hyatt's transformative growth journey extends further through strategic acquisitions that enhance the offerings for its valued guests and members. The recent acquisition of Mr & Mrs Smith, a global travel platform renowned for its curated collection of boutique and luxury properties, is a testament to Hyatt's commitment to delivering exceptional experiences. This move significantly enriches the choices available to World of Hyatt members, providing them with an even more comprehensive array of rewarding stays and memorable experiences. In addition to this, Hyatt's earlier acquisition of Dream Hotel Group in early 2023 has opened up new horizons for World of Hyatt members, enabling them to access an expanded portfolio of stay options and lifestyle experiences in vibrant destinations like Nashville, Hollywood, South Beach, and New York City.
Additionally, this acquisition catalyzes Hyatt's brand expansion into an emerging leisure market in Mexico, with the upcoming Dream Valle de Guadalupe (slated for 2024). Nestled across 35 sprawling acres in the picturesque Baja California region, this property will feature a sprawling vineyard, 61 well-appointed guestrooms and villas, a luxurious spa and wellness facility, and a trio of vibrant dining and nightlife venues, including an exclusive tasting room and pool bar.
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Hospitality Trends
businesswire | August 16, 2023
Bleisure travel has been deemed a pandemic silver lining, according to The Year of “New” Traveler report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), published in 2022. Although combining leisure and business travel wasn’t a new concept before 2020, such arrangements have become more commonplace as multi-day bleisure trips are a new travel norm.
Further, today’s traveler wants it all from their lodging and travel provider. While cleanliness and safety are table stakes, they also crave multiple amenity options like dining at different price points, gaming, retail shopping, theater-style shows and spa treatments. Bleisure travelers not only want the additional amenities, but they also desire access to self-booking and self-service technology, to make the most of their time between business and leisure.
Potawatomi Casino Hotel, located in downtown Milwaukee, is one such property that not only provides several on-site amenities but has implemented hospitality technology to create guest and employee champions at every touchpoint. Potawatomi Casino Hotel, one of Wisconsin’s most popular entertainment destinations featuring more than 1.1 million square feet, chose to replace systems previously in use with two award-winning point-of-sale (POS) systems from Agilysys to optimize food and beverage interactions and enhance guest and staff experiences.
Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGYS) is a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions that delivers High Return Hospitality. Its latest point-of-sale (POS) systems combine highly interactive terminal and tablet touchscreen applications supporting Windows, Android and iOS devices and includes strong information security for data protection. The robust reporting and analysis features, extensive enterprise-grade menu and item configuration capabilities and multi-language support help drive service flexibility and increased operational efficiency.
Since installing the POS platforms from the Agilysys Hospitality Core Collection™, Potawatomi Casino Hotel staff have been able to provide enhanced experiences throughout the property that serves 6 million-plus guest visits annually. The property, owned and operated by the Forest County Potawatomi Community, features:
Gaming, which includes state-of-the art slot machines, bingo, table games and a temporary sportsbook.
Restaurants and bars, including the four-star Dream Dance Steakhouse Canal Street Café, authentic Asian noodle and sushi bar RuYi and The Potawatomi Marketplace.
Entertainment at several on-site venues, such as the 1,500-seat Potawatomi Event Center and nightlife hot spot Bar 360.
Deluxe amenities at its 500-room, 19-story hotel, including 75 suites, some of which offer stunning views if the Milwaukee skyline and Lake Michigan.
Full-service catering for corporate and social events.
With such a large, comprehensive enterprise, the 3,000-employee Potawatomi Casino Hotel has improved guest and staff experience by investing in Agilysys’ mobile food & beverage ordering and kiosk systems, resulting in better reviews, increased satisfaction and greater on-property spend.
“Coming off the pandemic, guests want it all, and technology helps us deliver,” said Garret Finocchiaro, CIO at Potawatomi Casino Hotel. “We are in a much better position to create the High Return Hospitality experiences they expect with Agilysys’ POS solutions at staff members’ fingertips. Additionally, such technology helps us attract and retain top talent in a tight labor market in a growing sector.”
The U.S. Bureau Labor Statistics reports overall employment in the gaming industry is expected to increase 17% from 2021 to 2022 — quicker than the average for all occupations. As such, Potawatomi Casino Hotel management understands the need for hospitality-specific solutions to up the proverbial ante to keep staff — and guest — satisfied in this growing industry.
“Potawatomi Casino Hotel understands the need to deliver Return on Experience so the millions of visitors and guests that come through its doors receive such amazing interactions and memories that they post on social, tell their friends about it and come back for more,” Darren Student, Vice President Sales, Agilysys. “We can’t wait to see how this amazing property continues to grow as we move into a long-term partnership and the company invests in a comprehensive suite of Agilysys hospitality solutions that deliver greater guest and staff loyalty.”
About Potawatomi Hotel & Casino
Set in the heart of Milwaukee, Potawatomi Casino Hotel is Wisconsin’s premier entertainment destination, offering guests the best in gaming, dining and entertainment. The property features a 500-room, 19-story hotel, the second largest hotel in Milwaukee; a new sports betting operation; and more than 60,000 sq. feet of event space. In 2022 Potawatomi announced a $100 million renovation project of the casino’s third floor, which is scheduled to be complete in 2023. To discover more visit www.paysbig.com.
About Return on Experience (ROE)
When it comes to software, most resorts talk about return on investment (ROI). In hospitality, short-term ROI is table stakes. Return on Experience (ROE), provided through Agilysys software, ensures every experience at every touchpoint creates a champion – not a critic – for both guests and staff members alike. This way, guests do more, spend more and have a higher intent to return and recommend on Yelp, Trip Advisor and other popular platforms. Check out our 30-deep Experiencer Enhancers™ Collection, along with our venue-specific Hospitality Solutions™ designed to maximize your specific need.
About Agilysys
Agilysys is well known for its long heritage of hospitality-focused technology innovation. The Company delivers modular and integrated software solutions and expertise to businesses seeking to maximize Return on Experience (ROE) through hospitality encounters that are both personal and profitable. Over time, customers achieve High Return Hospitality by consistently delighting guests, retaining staff and growing margins. Customers around the world include: branded and independent hotels; multi-amenity resort properties; casinos; property, hotel and resort management companies; cruise lines; corporate dining providers; higher education campus dining providers; food service management companies; hospitals; lifestyle communities; senior living facilities; stadiums; and theme parks. The Agilysys Hospitality Cloud™ combines core operational systems for property management (PMS), point-of-sale (POS) and Inventory and Procurement (I&P) with Experience Enhancers™ that meaningfully improve interactions for guests and employees across dimensions such as digital access, mobile convenience, self-service control, personal choice, payment options, service coverage and real-time insights to improve decisions. Core solutions and Experience Enhancers are selectively combined in Hospitality Solution Studios™ tailored to specific hospitality settings and business needs.
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