TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
businesswire | March 23, 2023
Sonder Holdings Inc. a leading next-generation hospitality company that is redefining the guest experience through technology and design, has expanded its business travel segment to include group bookings. Sonder also announced a new partnership with HelmsBriscoe, the global leader in meetings procurement and site selection.
Having formally launched its business travel segment in 2021, Sonder continued to expand this area in 2022, including strengthening its position on GDS platforms, and adding a significant number of corporate travel accounts. This translated into approximately $70 million in booked corporate sales in 2022, roughly 5x growth compared to 2021. The company continues to grow both corporate travel and corporate housing accounts, and is now increasing its share of group bookings within popular verticals such as sports and entertainment, hosting elite athletes and sports teams, as well as film and television production crews. Sonder offers both hotel and apartment accommodations in over 40 markets worldwide, including entertainment hubs and cities that host international sporting events.
“Partnering with an industry leader like HelmsBriscoe unlocks growth in group travel, at a time when corporate travel is still recovering to pre-pandemic levels, and the landscape is evolving with trends such as the blending of business and leisure travel. Sonder accommodations offer short-stay and long-stay groups an elevated experience at a great value. We see exciting opportunities to scale within our existing verticals, including sports and entertainment, and to add others,” said Kristen Richter, Vice President of Global Sales at Sonder.
Sonder’s portfolio now includes properties with on-site amenities and high key counts suited to groups, such as Battery Park in NYC, Business Bay in Dubai, Cielo in Mexico City, Maisonneuve in Montreal, and The Witherspoon in Philadelphia. Sonder spaces provide fast wi-fi, and many offer a comfortable place to spread out and work remotely, with fully-equipped kitchens, living rooms, multiple bedrooms and en-suite laundry.
About Sonder
Sonder is revolutionizing hospitality through innovative, tech-enabled service and inspiring, thoughtfully designed accommodations combined into one seamless experience. Launched in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, Sonder provides a variety of accommodation options from spacious rooms to fully-equipped suites and apartments found in over 40 markets spanning ten countries and three continents. The Sonder app gives guests full control over their stay. Complete with self-service features, simple check-in and 24/7 on-the-ground support, amenities and services at Sonder are just a tap away, making a world of better stays open to all.
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BUSINESS TRAVEL
PCH Hotels & Resorts | March 16, 2023
PCH Hotels & Resorts, a hospitality solutions provider, has recently announced that it has expanded its services to open third-party hotel management services for the additional ownership groups.
PCH Hotels & Resorts has been working for different properties with a combined operational experience of about 200 years. It has achieved many awards and accolades like Marriott’s recognition, IHG and travel-based publications. It offers services for hotel operations, revenue management, food & beverage management, spa, capital budget management, accounting, human resources and IT solutions. Its operational team suggests a strategic and data-driven approach for positive topline development, budgeting, market share growth, community stewardship and guest experiences. It focuses on experiential lifestyle hotels and resorts while operating many F&B outlets and European spas. It outranks both branded and independent boutique hotels in the Southern U.S.
Its additional acquisition and development abilities include due diligence assistance, brand selection and evaluation, capital expenditure assessment and CAPEX plan development, repositioning and rebranding analysis, hotel design and site plan analysis, IT Infrastructure, market and revenue projections, franchise agreement review and assistance, business plan development, and pre-opening services.
Chairman and CEO of PCH Hotels & Resorts, James Buckalew said, “Historically, we have provided third-party hotel operations services for a select group of hoteliers, but as the market continues to rebound post-pandemic, we believe now is the time to begin offering our services to a larger pool.” He added, “Having operated hotels since 1999, PCH understands what it takes to manage a successful hotel that provides outstanding guest services and a profitable bottom line with 2022 a record year.”
(Source – Business Wire)
About PCH Hotels & Resorts
Headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, PCH Hotels & Resorts, a hospitality company, specializes in refined comfort, Southern hospitality, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, and exceptional guest experiences. It is a franchised management company with Marriott. It has acquired different hospitality companies like the Grand Hotel Resort and Spa. It has been among the top hospitality employer in Alabama since 2000. It manages various properties like Renaissance Marriott resort properties, Marriott resort properties, Autograph Collection resort, and the Outlet Shop. Each property is near the extensive Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. The Retirement Systems of Alabama owns its broad portfolio.
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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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