Sabre Corporation(NASDAQ: SABR), a leading software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, today announced an enhanced distribution agreement with Huazhu Group to grow geographic reach for its upscale and luxury hotel brands and help fuel its ambitious global growth strategy.
Under the deal, the fast-growing, multi-brand company, which is currently China’s second-largest hotel group by number of rooms, will add more properties to the Sabre’s SynXis Platform in 2021, 2022 and beyond, following an initial agreement in 2019. This means more of its hotels will be connected to all major Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), including Sabre’s own, and will benefit from Sabre’s industry-leading reach to hundreds of thousands of travel agents and nearly 700 online channels across the globe, including hundreds of online travel agencies (OTAs), travel management companies (TMCs), and metasearch engines.
The group has ongoing expansion plans to continue adding properties to SynXis following the recent establishment of its new private label chain code which will help it to secure a more powerful brand presence across the GDSs. Sabre and Huazhu will also work together to streamline the traditionally manual tour operations process by introducing SynXis Tour Manager.
“As we move through the pandemic, Huazhu remains deeply focused on ensuring we are making the technological advancements needed to support our large-scale expansion plans in this competitive landscape,” said Mr. Xu Hui, VP of Sales and Marketing, Global High-end Brands, Huazhu. “Therefore, it is imperative we are working with the right technology partner with advanced, robust, reliable solutions to enable us to optimize our global distribution strategy, reach new leisure and corporate travellers across the world and support us as we aim to grow future occupancy rates and increase RevPar beyond pre-pandemic levels to allow more guests to appreciate the experience of contemporary Chinese hotel brands.”
Huazhu already operates 7,000+ hotels in 17 countries across a portfolio of more than 20 distinct hotel brands and plans to open hundreds more properties within the coming months. In particular, Huazhu Group will be leveraging the Sabre SynXis platform to distribute its luxury and upscale brands, including Joya and Blossom House, to international business and high-end leisure travellers globally.
“We’re delighted Huazhu have put their trust in Sabre’s advanced hospitality solutions to reach new market segments and achieve their next stage of growth at this exciting time for the group,” said Frank Trampert, SVP, Global Managing Director, Sabre Hospitality Solutions. “It is vital hoteliers take this time to ensure they are well positioned for the post-pandemic travel market; making certain they have robust, agile and easily scalable distribution strategies in place to significantly grow their geographic footprint while giving travel agents access to a more diverse range of hotel products and ancillaries.”
GDS users can now locate Huazhu’s properties through the dedicated chain code ‘HW’.