Tourico Holidays yesterday officially become part of Hotelbeds Group and will become a business unit within the global bedbank while the integration progresses, following the closure of the customary regulatory and legal procedures since the merger was announced in February.
A strategic plan is already in development to combine both businesses in stages. In due course both hotel and ancillaries partners and clients of each company will have access to the complete range of services and technology solutions currently available from both Hotelbeds and Tourico.
Joan Vilà, executive chairman of Hotelbeds, commented: “This deal expands our footprint in the important North American market and – along with our plans also for GTA to join us – forms part of our strategy to accelerate the growth of our business both organically and via M&A activity.
“Our medium-term objective is to combine our respective best in class technology and distribution expertise for the benefit of both our hotel partners and clients. We will do this in stages and over the coming months will provide partners with further updates on how and when this will happen.”
Meanwhile, Tourico founder Uri Argov has made the decision to retire but will remain a shareholder of the combined company. Asi Ginio, who has been with the company since 1999 and is currently COO, will now step into the CEO role while the company transitions to full integration.
The GTA acquisition – which is expected give Hotelbeds “significant presence in the fast-growing and strategic Asia-Pacific market” – is independent from the Tourico Holidays deal and is subject to both its own regulatory approval process and integration timeline. For the time being, GTA remains an independent company and is not part of Hotelbeds.
