The bed bank said the acquisition underlined its commitment to ancillary sales.
HolidayTaxis will operate as an independent brand in Hotelbeds’ recently rebranded “Beyond the Bed” ancillaries unit.
Hotelbeds executive chairman Joan Vila said ancillaries had become an increasingly important strand of its business.
“Our technology platform and global distribution network has positioned us effectively to take full advantage of the increasing demand for in-destination activities worldwide,” said Vila.
Ian Coyle, HolidayTaxis chief executive, added: “We are enormously excited to be joining Hotelbeds as it continues to push the boundaries of travel distribution.”
Hotelbeds said the acquisition would “further complement” its existing product portfolio and “reinforced the company’s commitment to growth in the rapidly expanding ancillary distribution space”.
It follows Hotelbeds’ recent decision to rebrand its ancillary product line as Beyond the Bed.
The bed bank will phase out its newly-acquired GTA and Tourico Holidays brands and consolidate all its ancillary operations under Beyond the Bed.
This division is responsible for transfers, activities, tickets, theme parks, car hire, travel insurance and specialist tours, making HolidayTaxis a “strategic fit”.
The HolidayTaxis brand will remain separate and independent from Hotelbeds, but will form part of Beyond the Bed.
Coyle will report to Beyond the Bed director Javier Arevalo.
HolidayTaxis was founded in 2002 and now operates 21,000 transfer routes across 150 countries.
“We look forward to working with Ian and all his colleagues in helping our travel partners everywhere to drive incremental sales and boost profit margins,” said Vila.
“In recent years, our ancillaries business has grown substantially. We already offer a wide range of revenue enhancing products to our partners. The addition of HolidayTaxis significantly strengthens our portfolio, underlining our commitment to provide greater choice to our travel trade partners.”
Coyle said the deal would “push the boundaries of travel distribution”.
“This is a unique opportunity allowing us to share additional ancillary revenue generating solutions with the 60,000 travel selling partners Hotelbeds works with globally, many of whom are very hard to reach otherwise," he said.
“I’m convinced that our supplier and distribution partners, across our respective businesses, will benefit from the strengths of something very special that is about to happen.”
