OYO Hotels & Homes, the SoftBank-backed Indian hospitality company, has reportedly partnered with Spanish firm Hotelbeds in a bid to gain access to over 60,000 travel buying intermediaries across the world.
OYO said in a statement that the preferred agreement signifies OYO's first distribution partnership with a bedbank. For the uninitiated, Bedbank is an organization that acts as a wholesaler and negotiates for attractive rates with accommodation providers.
The statement further mentioned that the partnership gives OYO access to over 60,000 travel-buying intermediaries throughout the world which utilize the Hotelbeds platform, comprising tour operators, points redemption programs, loyalty plans, airline websites, and MICE operators from over 140 source markets. On the other hand, Hotelbeds' clients will have access to OYO's portfolio which comprises more than 18,000 leased and franchised hotels and more than 10,000 villas and homes in 10 countries, claimed the statement.
Maninder Gulati, OYO Hotels & Homes’ Chief Strategy Officer said that Hotelbeds distribution channel of Business-to-Business travel buyers aids the company in accessing new geographies and customer segments. Moreover, the bedbank firm's affordable distribution channel makes them the perfect partner for attaining the company’s goal.
A news report by the Economic Times quoted Oyo Hotels & Homes saying that the company will be able to distribute its hotel rooms through both the wholesale channel, which runs under the brand-name Hotelbeds and the retail travel agent channel which runs under the Bedsonline brand-name, all operating under one contract.
Mark Redmond, Hotelbeds’ Head of Global Chains stated that being the largest budget hotel chain, Oyo Hotels & Homes provides a new offering for Hotelbeds’ 60,000 plus travel buying customers using its platform, which means the firm’s distribution channel perfectly meets their needs. Though they presently have 515,000 rooms, they aim to increase the number up to 1 million by the end of 2019 and the firm anticipates helping them find higher-yielding and incremental bookings for those rooms, Redmond added.
Financial details of the partnership have not been disclosed yet, reported sources.