PALMA, Spain, 8 June 2021: Hotelbeds, a leading bedbank, inked a new collaboration deal last week with Samoa Tourism Authority to drive in-bound tourism to the Pacific island.
Until long-haul, international travel restrictions ease, marketing focus on Australia and New Zealand outbound travel.
The campaign will focus on introducing Samoa as a tourist destination to travel trade buyers in Australia and New Zealand, highlighting the Pacific island’s greatest attractions, including its beautiful landscapes, genuine hospitality and breath-taking adventure travel options.
The campaign runs until the end of September, appearing in Hotelbeds’ two main distribution channels, Bedsonline, targeting retail travel agencies, and Hotelbeds, focused on wholesale distribution.
As part of this deal, Hotelbeds’ sourcing team in the region will contract more hotels in Samoa and negotiate exclusive rates to support the campaign, which will then be accessible to the companies’ extensive network of buyers in Australia, New Zealand and beyond.
Meanwhile, hoteliers in Phuket report that Hotelbeds was one of the first to contact them for rates following the announcement of the 1 July opening for vaccinated travellers who will be able to stay on the island without undergoing a 14-day quarantine.
Hoteliers said they faced challenges contacting tour operators worldwide and reactivating booking content for the island’s room inventory. Hotelbeds made the first move to place hotel content on systems reaching around 60,000 tour operators and travel retailers. Many local tour operators based in Bangkok closed permanently or suspended operations with staff on furlough or working from home. Phuket hoteliers say it is challenging to reconnect with potential B2B trade partners to revive bookings and update content. Even with Phuket planning a 1 July reopening, it may take until October to see a marked improvement in bookings.
