NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK
“That’s testament to the local management we have here in the UK but also to the resilience of the British traveller.” The acquisitions of Hoseasons and James Villas have brought Wyndham closer to the trade, with the former seeing increased and more diverse inventory added as it prepares to mark its 70th birthday. Holmes said agents’
enlightened attitude to technology had helped them to remain relevant to consumers. “There was once a reluctance on behalf of agents to embrace all the technology that’s available,” he said. “That technological capability has accelerated at an exponential pace and travel agents are embracing it and are more accepting of what technology can do for them instead of fearing it. “There’s still a need for the
public to sit across the table from someone. People are making a decision about the most important two weeks of the year and want to know they are getting the right thing for their families. “The travel agent market has
adapted to competition with the OTAs, and the survivors have
WYNDHAM FACTS
Founded: 2006 Business includes: l Wyndham Hotel Group
lWyndham Exchange & Rentals
lWyndham Vacation Ownership
Number of US-based associates: 25,400
Number of global associates: 34,400
2014 revenue: $5.3 billion
Net income for 2014: $573 million
Wyndham has been relatively quiet in terms of M&A activity in recent years but Holmes said acquisitions remained “in our DNA”. “We are a company that’s been built through acquisition,” he said. “We will be disciplined in our approach. We want to buy profitability and be a good service provider. This is what we are first and foremost.” Holmes said it was not possible
to predict where Wyndham might find acquisition targets because it depended on owners’ willingness to sell. But he said all areas were open and opportunities are assessed in the UK as well as emerging markets like India and China, where Wyndham is already the largest US hotel firm. Hotels has seen the largest
HOLMES: ‘We want to buy profitability and be a good service provider’
turned out probably stronger than before they encountered online disintermediation. “What you are actually doing is enabling. Your objective is to make sure you are providing a valuable customer service and we are there to support you.” Holmes said Wyndham sees opportunities in all distribution channels including OTAs, despite the growing dominance of Expedia and
Booking.com, and the fast- emerging sharing market led by Airbnb and HomeAway. “We have worked through all distribution channels. When the OTAs really took off in the 2000s, people were saying that would be the end of the hotel industry. “The fact is it’s just another distribution channel for us. If we can fill rooms we should embrace it. We have always been a very inclusive organisation for working with all forms of distribution. “We have never taken a position
that we want to be at war with the OTAs. We’ve not gone into battle;
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travelweekly.co.uk 26 November 2015
“OTAs are just another distribution channel. If we can fill rooms we should embrace them”
we have always viewed them as a distribution partner.” Technology is also being used
by Wyndham for the benefit of its other set of customers, the property owners that provide rental accommodation for its various brands. Holmes said this was bringing
hotel sector-style revenue management to small businesses for the first time and Wyndham was also able to advise owners about the premium they could make if their property has a hot tub or allows pets, for example. Business development agents visiting rental accommodation have been issued with iPads so they can access that information in meetings with owners.
growth in recent years for Wyndham but still remains the smallest of the three sectors it operates in behind holiday rentals and its biggest timeshare. Holmes said this last sector is
seeing a resurgence across the world, in particular in the US, and Wyndham has launched in Brazil, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. But he said the UK market had been more dormant than anywhere else as timeshare struggled to shake off the hard-sell and untrustworthy image it acquired. Holmes welcomed the new European timeshare directive, saying this would provide opportunities for registered agents with real-estate licences to sell it. “The product delivers exactly
what UK consumers are looking for: accommodation in which they can have a great holiday with their family. In the US there was a time when it had a terrible image, but regulations came along and now it’s not a product people shy away from. This has not broken through in the UK yet. I think it will come back.”
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