Webjet has launched a Dubai-based business to business hotel aggregation platform to capitalise on the flourishing Middle East market with expectations to generate revenue of $20 million in its first full year.
The retailer has named the wholly-owned subsidiary Lots of Hotels, the name originally touted for its Australian consumer accommodation site but ditched in favour of Webjet Hotels which launched in October last year.
It will take product from Expedia, GTA, Hotelbeds, HotelClub, Tourico and The Australian Outback Travel Company.
Headed by Ossama Wagdi, the new site will initially market in Dubai, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Webjet said the venture had been prompted by its development of “substantial international business” with rapidly expanding Middle Eastern carriers such as Etihad, Emirates and Qatar.
“We expect further opportunities to follow from these associations for both tourism business inbound to the Middle East, and from traffic originating from the Middle East and Europe to the rest of the world,” the retailer said.
Lots of Hotels is expected to produce a TTV of approximately $20 million in its first full year from an investment from Webjet of $1.5 million.
“This is not an experiment or an adventure for Webjet,” managing director John Guscic insisted. “This positions us well to capitalise on the growth in tourism intra-region as well as inbound and outbound.”
