Strengthens TUI Travel A&D’s presence in South America and consolidates its objective to achieve a leadership position in this market
27th September 2012 – TUI Travel Accommodation & Destinations, part of TUI Travel PLC one of the world´s leading leisure travel companies, is pleased to announce the acquisition of MalaPronta.com, one of Brazil’s leading domestic accommodation online travel agents (OTA).
MalaPronta.com is Brazil’s fourth largest accommodation-only OTA, offering 1,200 properties in over 200 Brazilian destinations. It was established in 2004 by its founder and CEO Francisco Millarch and since then has earned a strong reputation with customers and hotel partners. MalaPronta.com translates to ´pack your bags´ which has helped the brand stand out in the market and achieve strong positioning. MalaPronta.com has achieved 117% compound annual revenue growth in the past 7 years.
TUI Travel Accommodation & Destinations (TUI Travel A&D) is responsible for all the online accommodation businesses within TUI Travel. The accommodation OTA market is the fastest growing area of leisure travel and has experienced significant growth in the last 3 years particularly in emerging markets. TUI Travel A&D already has an existing presence in Brazil and throughout South America with Hotelbeds, the international accommodation wholesaler, which provides accommodation to the travel industry from across the region. The acquisition of MalaPronta.com compliments TUI Travel A&D’s other consumer facing online accommodation brands which include LateRooms.com and AsiaRooms.com, leaders in the UK and Asia respectively.
Joan Vilà, Managing Director, TUI Travel A&D, commented: “Brazil is a very important market for us where we see tremendous growth opportunities particularly in the online accommodation segment as there is an increasing propensity to travel and a high percentage of customers booking online. I am delighted to welcome MalaPronta.com into TUI Travel A&D and look forward to working with them to deliver opportunities for future growth throughout the region.”
Chris Morris, Managing Director of the accommodation OTA businesses for TUI Travel A&D remarked: “MalaPronta.com is an established business with great brand memorability and SEO positioning. It is an excellent fit with LateRooms.com and AsiaRooms.com and our strategy to focus on the opportunities in the emerging markets. We look forward to working with Francisco Millarch and his team to develop the business.”
MalaPronta.com will continue to be managed by its founder and CEO Francisco Millarch, who will report into Chris Morris. Francisco Millarch, CEO MalaPronta.com added: “This deal is a milestone for MalaPronta.com and is the result of our continued focus on quality and strong relationships with our partner hotels and clients over the years. We remain focused on growing and developing MalaPronta.com and, with TUI´s support and expertise, significantly increasing our footprint in the online travel market.”
