TUI Group will acquire the destination-management business
of HotelBeds Group for 110 million euros (about $135 million).
The deal would bring with it Intercruises Shoreside &
Ports Services, which provides ground-handling services for cruise lines at more than
400 ports in 60 countries.
It also brings a unit that is a major provider of incoming
services to tour operators globally. The company offers tours, transfers and
other in-destination services to its tour operator partners in over 70
countries worldwide and handles around 2.2 million passengers per year.
A third segment, Pacific World, is a meetings, incentives,
conferences and events company operating in some 30 countries in Asia, Europe,
the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. Founded in 1980 in Hong Kong, the
company handles around 1,300 events per year globally.
TUI Group, based in Hannover and Berlin, Germany, said the
acquisition will make it the "world's leading provider of services and leisure
activities at [vacation] destinations."
TUI already has its own Destination Management Services
unit, based in Palma de Mallorca, with 6,500 employees and 23 offices,
including regional offices in Athens and Miami.
The acquisition of Intercruises will lend the deal synergies
because TUI's three cruise brands --Hapag-Lloyd, TUI and Marella -- will no
longer be outside customers of Intercruises.
TUI said destination management is extremely fragmented,
with about 350,000 providers globally, many of which are not digitized.
TUI said that with its IT and CRM systems, the company is in
a good position to accumulate market share in the business.