OTC adds 60,000 hotels through acquisition

OTC has bought accommodation website, All-hotels.

The inventory of 60,000 hotels from All-Hotels will be added to OTC’s own websites and those of its customers, totalling 80 travel websites.

OTC’s general manager of leisure brands, John Bevan (left), told TravelMole: “All-Hotels really filled a gap in the hotel area, and there are few major gaps left at OTC. We can add our muscle to All-Hotels through greater coverage and marketing. It is a very exciting venture”.

All-Hotels joins OTC’s rapidly expanding portfolio of websites including Bargainholidays, A2btravel, Ferrybooker, and the recently acquired Travelstore.com and Sydney Travel Centre.

OTC claims that All-Hotels has six million annual visitors, and 200,000 subscribers. It generated a turnover of £11 million from 160,000 hotel room sales last year. OTC is buying the brand for £1.425 million.

Mr Bevan said that a further advantage of All-Hotels is that it comes with good technology. He told TravelMole: “It has a clever booking engine that sources hotels from wholesalers, GDSs, and hotels own inventory through a-Res. This brings hotel inventories to the website that are maintained by hoteliers themselves, so it caters to specific products like golf or diving”.

All-Hotels chief executive, Jane Karwoski said that the company would remain in its Edinburgh office with the same staff.

OTC said its growth plans do not stop there. It has raised a further £2 million through share placement, which it plans to use to further develop and expand the company. Mr Bevan said there was nothing to disclose at this stage, but that OTC was looking into specialised areas such as golf.

Read our previous stories:
29-August-2002 PADI to launch dive holidays site for UK market
20-August-2002 OTC set for Asia Pacific expansion after Australian acquisition
22-JUly-2002 lastminute spending spree continues
10-July-2002 OTC snaps up Travelstore.com for £2.1m
15-May-2002 OTC offers tailor-made holidays online