The former OTA Insight, which became Lighthouse at the end of 2023, is extending its range of services beyond data management by acquiring a digital marketing specialist that is keen to promote direct hotel sales.
This deal is part of the current trend among technology solution providers to broaden their range of services by offering increasingly integrated ‘platforms’.
PMS designers are buying RMS solutions, GDSs are buying CRSs, CRSs are buying CRMs… Not to be outdone, Lighthouse has successfully raised $370m from the KKR fund, with the same ambition of successfully making the transition to artificial intelligence.
The money will already be used to finance the acquisition of The Hotels Network, a Barcelona-based company founded in 2015 by Juanjo Rodriguez, a serial start-up specialising in digital marketing in the travel sector.
In ten years, the company has carved out a place for itself in the world of personalised digital marketing and has developed a special technology to boost access to direct sales channels for the benefit of hotels. It has particularly invested in the contribution of AI to marketing strategy and the personalisation of messages.
The Hotels Network boasts a portfolio of 20,000 client hotels in over 100 countries, both independent and members of groups such as Minor Hotels, One&Only, H World International and Preferred Hotels & Resorts. The company reports an average 32% increase in direct bookings for its hotel partners.
With this acquisition, Lighthouse aims to promote access to a single marketing platform. ‘By integrating the marketing capabilities of The Hotels Network with existing market demand and pricing data in the Lighthouse platform, we enable hotels to transform market intelligence into personalised booking experiences that drive revenue through direct sales channels,’ said Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO.
