Hungary-based OTA Szallas.hu now the sole shareholder of the HOTEL.CZ
BUDAPEST, 2019-Aug-06 — /Travel PR News/ — Szallas.hu PLC. has successfully acquired two Hungary-based intercountry travel agencies, Utazok.hu PLC. and Maiutazás Group, both of them offers discount trips online. By also purchasing Pihipakk.hu, the portfolio of Szallas.hu PLC. is now supplemented with experience packages, and Maiutazas.hu will be integrated into the international travel branch. Maiutazas Group achieved EUR 5,5 million turnover in 2018 and after the merge, the new group has gained EUR 27,8 million in all.
Szallas.hu PLC. has secured its international position with three major transactions in the past two years: by purchasing Polish ‘Spanie.pl’, Czech HOTEL.CZ a.s. and buying partial ownership of Romanian ‘Travelminit’, Hungarian OTA now offers its services in Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary. “We aim to grant half of our total revenue from abroad by 2021, and we expect to become a regionally defining actor in the online travel market” – said József Szigetvári, the chief executive officer of Szallas.hu PLC.
The first milestone of the international expansion of Szallas.hu PLC. was the acquisition of one of the oldest market players in the Polish market, Spanie.pl. By completing this purchase in December 2017, the operations of Szallas.hu in Poland have been tripled. Due to past years’ dynamic growth, currently almost 52,000 accommodations are listed and 5 million potential travellers are visiting the site. At this rate, becoming the market leader in the Polish market is a reachable goal in the medium term.
In the next stage of the international development, Szallas.hu PLC. has acquired share ownership in the Romanian Travelminit International SRL, which manages 30,000 bookings in the past year. The company, which administered bookings in the value of EUR 6 million in 2018, was chosen by Szallas.hu PLC.. due to its dynamic team and the quickest expansion rate in Romania. A milestone in the cooperation between Szallas.hu PLC. and Travelminit is a result of a combined cash and share-exchange transaction. It is expected to take place in 2020, when the Hungarian OTA procures the entire holding.
SOURCE: EuropaWire