The
TUI Group and Worldspan revealed they intend to partner on hotel
distribution.
A pact would signal
the firm time that hotel content from TUI would be marketed through
a GDS, the companies stated. An integrated tourism enterprise in Europe with 32,000 travel
agencies, tourism brands and airlines, TUI's hotel content takes in
279 hotel companies in 30 countries.
Under the "intended partnership," as the
companies termed it, TUI's 26,000 properties would become available
to agencies through Worldspan, and Worldspan's 70,000 properties
would be available for distribution by
TUI.
In addition, the deal
would have a technology component. Worldspan would gain access to
TUI's Hotel Manager, a Web-based product that would enable hotels
to feed content, rates and inventory into Worldspan's
database.
The two companies
made the announcement about their intentions at the ITB trade show
in Berlin March 7.
To
contact reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to [email protected].