LONDON, 7 November 2018: UK travellers for the second year running are the top source market for Hotelbeds, a popular global bed bank platform.
Hotelbeds presented an update on the UK source market during the UK’s World Travel Market that opened on Monday.
Booking data from the company’s bedbank platforms confirmed that the UK remained, for the second year running, the main source market worldwide during the fiscal year 2017-2018 that ended 30 September.
Booking data included Tourico Holidays and GTA that joined Hotelbeds during the fiscal year starting in 2017.
The booking data also revealed the top destinations for British travellers during the past year using Hotelbeds’ platform. Predictably based on Hotelbeds’ booking data domestic destinations in the UK topped the list.
But an analysis of destination trends showed that Florida’s Orlando was the top international destination for British travellers – where Hotelbeds has a huge offering in the form of tickets for Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Studios.
This is followed in the rankings by Mallorca – moving up by one place compared to last year – and then Tenerife, the Algarve and New York.
Meanwhile, Rome leads as the top city destination, followed by Paris. Both city destinations experienced strong growth in room nights during the last year.
Hotelbeds wholesales sales and sourcing director, Sam Turner commented: “The UK market remains our number one source market globally, for the second year running since Tourico Holidays and GTA joined our company last year.
“One of the keys to our success is our ability to offer a very wide selection globally of directly contracted, hotel accommodation and ancillary services such as theme parks and transfers, often at exclusive rates, to our travel buying customers.”
The group works with 1,000 contractors worldwide sourcing the best prices at over 170,000 hotels.
The company hosted a panel discussion at WTM on Tuesday to explore the value proposition of B2B ancillary solutions, both from the point of view of the supplier (channel managers / tech platforms) and the client (OTAs tour operators, and TA).
