PALMA, SPAIN—Hotelbeds has signed a new strategic agreement with Choice Hotels International. As a result, Hotelbeds will now be recognized as a Preferred Wholesaler by Choice. The agreement provides Choice with access to Hotelbeds’ distribution network of more than 60,000 travel distribution clients such as tour operators, retail travel agents, airlines and loyalty programs across more than 140 source markets worldwide.
According to Hotelbeds, its portfolio of travel buyers will offer Choice incremental, high-value bookings from non-domestic markets that typically book further in advance, pay more per room, cancel less and spend more at the property. At the same time, Hotelbeds’ customers will have access to participating Choice locations worldwide.
As part of this agreement, Choice will distribute its hotel rooms through Hotelbeds’ two main channels: its wholesale distribution channel that operates under the Hotelbeds brand and its retail channel, Bedsonline, that exclusively caters to retail travel agents.
“This will be a strong relationship delivering special rates and availability across the Choice Hotel portfolio to our 60,000-plus travel distribution clients, while giving Choice Hotels access to a higher-margin, non-domestic niche segment of the travel market,” said Mark Redmond, head of global chains at Hotelbeds.
“[The strategic agreement] not only provides incremental revenue stream opportunities and international exposure for our U.S. franchisees, but also strengthens confidence in Hotelbeds’ valuable wholesale distribution model,” said Robert McDowell, chief commercial officer at Choice. “Choice Hotels is committed to maintaining rate integrity across all channels, while working to reduce the cost of distribution for franchisees. We believe this agreement improves our ability to achieve this long term, especially in key international source markets.”
To reinforce the message of health and safety, Hotelbeds recently launched Safe2Stay, a filter category that consolidates and displays in the booking process the hotel properties that are following the different COVID-19 health and safety protocols and certifications that travel industry companies, tourism boards and lobby groups have recently created. This filter category includes Choice Hotels’ Commitment to Clean.