InteleTravel, a global travel distribution group and host agency, announced that it had – through its parent company Intravel — acquired 40Hammocks, a group travel automation solution.
40Hammocks, according to the announcement, helps groups of 10 or more rooms secure pre-negotiated rates at hotels, manage custom booking links, track room blocks, secure event space and deliver guest perks. Intravel, said the announcement, will develop and relaunch the company as Groupr, extending its capabilities into more automated sourcing, contracting and guest management for the smaller-group market.
Large corporate groups, said the announcement, have long relied on platforms with licensing costs that price out the smaller-group market. Meeting planners, wedding planners and travel advisors in this segment still manage sourcing, proposals, negotiations, contracts and follow-up by phone and email, a manual process that limits how many groups they can manage, according to the announcement. Groupr will automate those workflows end to end.
James Ferrara, managing partner of Intravel, said, “Our acquisition strategy has been focused on new markets and powerful new AI solutions like businesstravel.com and now 40Hammocks.” He continued: “Enterprise platforms have ignored the smaller-group market for years. We saw technology that could solve that, a team that understood the problem, and an opportunity to serve an entire segment of the market that’s been underserved, including InteleTravel advisors, and advisors and planners everywhere.”
Kim Andreello, managing director of Groupr and senior vice president of strategy and corporate development at InteleTravel, said, “Groupr automates what planners have been doing by hand for decades including sourcing, proposals, contracts and follow-up.” This means, he said, that “ planners can manage more groups, serve their clients better, and build a stronger business off the same effort.”
The 40Hammocks team has transitioned to Groupr, including co-founders Mina Singson-Brightman and Sebastian Borys who will remain with the company as board members and partners.
