Youth online travel brand Hostelworld.com has singed a three-year contract with one of the biggest travel agencies in Latin America Despegar.com, a key player in Brazilian tourism through its Decolar.com website.
The announcement was made during this week’s Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Brazil, aimed at helping 34 Irish companies win new business and increase export sales in this vast market.
The partnership with Hostelworld.com not only offers significant commercial benefits for both companies but will importantly benefit the millions of users of Despegar.com and Decolar.com by giving them access to a wide range of options when booking budget accommodation.
The Despegar.com partnership comes at an optimal time with WRI growing its business internationally with a key focus on Latin America. An essential element of this growth is the development of relationships with key partners in Brazil and throughout Latin America.
Hostelworld.com has experienced growth in the region of 30pc in bookings into Latin America alone this year and has seized the opportunity to build on significant consumer demand by creating an operation in Latin America alongside the imminent launch of its Brazilian Portuguese website.
Hostelworld.com is one of the first websites that will cater specifically to Brazilians looking to book the widest range of hostels, pousadas and other independently owned accommodation online for their travels within Brazil, Latin America and further afield.
“WRI has made significant steps to grow the business internationally and I’m delighted with the progress we have made in Latin America with the announcement of our partnership with Despegar.com,” Feargal Mooney CEO of WRI explained.
Olympic Games 2016
Mooney continued: “We are thrilled to collaborate with such a key player as it offers us the opportunity to gain a strong foothold in South America and raise brand awareness for Hostelworld.
“Our strategy is to aggressively grow the Latin American market through a number of key initiatives, including the expansion of our property base, the enhancement of our unique content and further fostering and development of relationships with key Brazilian partners.
“Our third Latin America Hostel Conference, which recently hosted over 250 delegates from across the region, emphasises the strength of our current presence which we hope to build upon considerably. Brazil offers us some very exciting opportunities to further grow our business over the coming years with the upcoming 2014 World Cup and the Olympic Games in 2016,” Mooney said.
