AccorHotels has announced its acquisition of Gekko, parent company of the HCorpo reservation platform, to create the world leader in B2B hotel distribution. The French hotel group intends to strengthen its position in the strategic business travel sector. "Business tourism is a key segment of the Group's business, and our ability to meet the specific needs of this segment throughout the value chain is a real point of differentiation."AccorHotels' Chief Disruption & Growth Officer, Thibault Viort, commented on this pending acquisition, which is valued at €100 million.
Launched in 2010, the Gekko Group has more than 300 major corporate customers and 14,000 travel agencies through its various subsidiaries, including HCorpo, the Teldar travel agency, the Miles Attack loyalty programme and Infinite Hotel, a wholesaler dedicated to the independent French hotel trade.
Both parties were already partners since 2015 through AccorHotels Business Solutions, an online booking platform managed on a white label basis by HCorpo, which includes travel policy management, centralised payment and monthly invoicing. Stéphane de Laforcade, co-founder of Gekko, describes it as "a mutual attraction"He explains the merger with the French hotel group, which comes at a key moment in the life of his company: "We are delighted to be joining forces with the French hotel group.With very strong growth, we had reached critical mass. This made it imperative for us to expand internationally, but to do so we needed to be able to move fast. So there was an alternative to pursuing our growth: either with even more money, which we don't have, or with the support of a powerful industrial player."
If Edenred was also in the runningAccorHotels intends to make Gekko the benchmark distribution channel for the B2B sector, while the B2C horizon is largely blocked by the giants Booking and Expedia. "It's an ambitious approach," says Stéphane de Laforcade. Sébastien Bazin's vision is to be commended. (Editor's note: CEO of AccorHotels) which has acknowledged that the hotel industry has missed out on B2C and does not intend to miss the boat on B2B, which accounts for a large proportion of its business."
With Gekko and its subsidiary HCorpo, AccorHotels will benefit from a technological platform that has proved its worth in business travel, with its interface connected to more than 500,000 hotels worldwide, but which is also integrated into the entire business travel ecosystem. "If you look at Booking, they too want to establish themselves in this market with the Booking for Business solution. But, unlike us, they are not interfaced with GDSs like Amadeus, corporate ERPs or payment solutions. They do not have global deals with major TMCs such as American Express GBT or BCD Travel. Gekko brings its expertise, connectivity and innovative technology to the table." The desire to rationalise the hotel budget should also be strengthened by this development.
