Hotels4u.com’s £21.8 million acquisition by the Thomas Cook Group should help the bed bank increase its margins.
Managing director Haim Perry said the bed bank expects to have increased bargaining power with hoteliers and will therefore be offered cheaper prices. It is these cheaper prices rather than higher prices for customers that will increase margins.
Perry said: “We can buy properties cheaper than our competitors because of our buying power following the Thomas Cook deal. We are attached to one of the biggest names in the world and it’ll give more confidence to our hoteliers.”
Perry added the bed bank is already featuring Thomas Cook properties. Thomas Cook Group chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa said the group bought the bed bank because of its technology and management team.
He said: “It’s a business that I have been tracking for some time. Our plan is to keep Haim Perry running it. We will not change the relationship with the trade but we want to expand Hotels4u into overseas markets starting with Germany.”