HRS signs distribution agreement with Sabre

Global Hotel Solutions Provider HRS to add thousands of properties to Sabre travel marketplace

Hotels benefiting from additional coverage and increased booking volumes

Barcelona, Oct. 21, 2013 – Sabre Travel Network, a global travel technology company serving travel suppliers and agencies, has signed a multi-year distribution agreement with HRS, the leading global hotel solutions provider. The agreement complements HRS’s existing relationship with GetThere.

Sabre-connected travel agents worldwide will have access to thousands of additional global hotel properties from HRS via the Sabre global distribution system (GDS). The agreement means HRS will become one of the largest hotel content providers to Sabre, enhancing the hotel portfolio with mainly independent hotels.

Sabre provides travel agents access to over 125,000 hotels, 400 airlines, 25 car rental brands, 50 rail providers, 13 cruise lines and many other global travel suppliers.  Sabre’s new agreement with HRS will bring a vast new array of highly-demanded independent hotels to the Sabre travel marketplace, including many hotels with HRS corporate discounts up to 30 percent cheaper than the best available rate.

“HRS is an industry leader and we look forward to working with them to make their content available to Sabre-connected travel agents in their efficient workflow,” said David Gross, senior vice president Global Supplier Commerce. “Sabre provides tremendous value to both hotels and travel buyers, and we are excited to expand our travel content offerings with HRS.”

Hotel shopping and booking can be a fragmented and confusing process for travel buyers.  The agreement between Sabre and HRS is another step in the effort to streamline access to hotel content so it is the most efficient and effective way to book a hotel room. The integration of HRS hotel offers into Sabre will eliminate labor-intensive hotel shopping and servicing by bookers, who typically compare rates for the same hotel across multiple channels before booking, which will reduce process cost of travel agencies significantly.

“Sabre is a valuable distribution channel that will help us continue to expand our international reach, particularly in North and South America as well as Asia,” said Tobias Ragge, CEO of HRS. “Sabre has a great deal to offer HRS and we are delighted to share some of our 250,000 hotels in our portfolio with them. The agreement underlines our strategy to make our content available via a variety of channels, significantly extending the coverage of our hotel partners and increasing their booking volumes. HRS’s integrated end-to-end solution, which connects independent properties directly with the GDS, helps to reduce our hotel partners’ distribution cost by 10 percent compared to competing solutions.”

The partnership with Sabre gives hotels affiliated to HRS access to Sabre’s global travel marketplace. Once integrated, HRS hotel partners will be bookable worldwide by approximately 350,000 travel agents in 130 countries, who use the Sabre system. With this cooperation, HRS is opening the door for its hotel partners to travel agencies and Travel Management Companies (TMCs) worldwide.