TAB a clear growth area for Hotelbeds

Hotelbeds Group is expanding its Transfers and Activity Bank (TAB), and has high hopes for the business unit.

Speaking at the company’s inaugural MarketHub Asia event, which is taking place in Bangkok this week, Xavier Redo, Hotelbeds’ head of sales for TAB in Asia Pacific, revealed that the sector is now worth US$60 billion per year globally, which is more than travellers spend on shopping, souvenirs and sightseeing combined.

This makes it the third most valuable sector in the industry, after air travel and accommodation, but 61% of this total is generated within the destination. And this fact, according to Redo, present “huge opportunities [for travel agents] to generate extra revenue”.

To help agents take advantage of this opportunity, Hotelbeds’ TAB division now offers a global portfolio of 12,000 activities, including theme parks, tickets, excursions and car rental, and 20,000 transfer routes between airport terminals and hotels, or between different hotels. These are now offered in 125 countries.

It is also offering a broader range of products, including Broadway theatre shows, Cirque du Soleil performances, and FC Barcelona football matches.

And this extensive portfolio is expected to generate significant gains for Hotelbeds in future; the company recently unveiled plans to triple its TAB sales in the coming years.

Utilising advanced technology platforms such as XML API, white label and online widget solutions, TAB’s products are now being distributed to more than 35,000 travel intermediaries globally via Hotelbeds Group’s distribution platform.