Bedbank company, Hotelbeds has announced an ambitious plan to increase the number of travel agent customers affiliated to the bedbank booking platform as part of its commitment to offer hoteliers access to high-value guests.

The goal of this strategic plan is to add 14,000 new travel agent customers – focusing in particular on luxury travel agents and those specialising in high-value, long-haul bookings – in the coming next three years, taking the total to over 64,000 travel agents globally.

Travel agents – along with tour operators, airlines and points redemption schemes – form a central part of Hotelbeds’ strong commitment to offer to hoteliers incremental bookings of non-domestic and high-value guests who book further in advance, cancel less, pay more for a room, spend more in destination and come back more frequently.

Carlos Muñoz, managing director, Bedbank commented, “Recently we announced the beginning of a new era for Hotelbeds under a single unified brand and purpose: to support our hotel partners by providing incremental bookings of non-domestic and high-value guests through a network of B2B travel trade buyers formed by travel agents, tour operators, points redemption schemes and airlines. Our three-year plan for the retail channel is to continue to grow the number of travel agents to over 64,000 by 2022 – an increase of 14,000 – especially in niche segments such as luxury and high-end, long-haul oriented and specialty packages.”

The recently refreshed new Bedsonline brand – which is the retail brand used by Hotelbeds – and enhanced value proposition for customers, along with Hotelbeds’ strong local relevance and presence, improved product offering and tools are going to be the key drivers in achieving this goal, he added.