The Priceline Group has taken a minority stake in Hotel Urbano, investing $60 million to expand its footprint in the Brazil market.
The setup is similar to the way that Booking.com powers eDreams and other European agencies, although this agreement is limited to providing access to accommodations outside of Latin America to Hotel Urbano users.
The announcement highlighted how the key benefits of the partnership for both parties:
The partnership will give consumers in Brazil and Latin America access to even more great accommodations around the world through The Priceline Group's network. Hotel Urbano will use Booking.com to power its non-LATAM retail hotels product on an exclusive basis, and The Priceline Group will also be the preferred provider for Hotel Urbano's global packages.
Even with the recent economic headwinds, the market is still estimated to exceed $34 billion in 2016. This outlook is also driven by the 2016 Olympics, another important advantage in this strategic partnership for Priceline.
Priceline Group CEO Darren Huston explains further:
Brazil is a dynamic, fast growing market and both of us are growing very rapidly within this region. We are excited to partner with Hotel Urbano to help globalize their offering and let their customers experience the best of what both of us have to offer.
On the Hotel Urbano front, co-founders Joao Ricardo and Jose Eduardo Mendes had this to say:
The Priceline Group has truly global scale and partners with the world's best and most diverse accommodations worldwide – from hotels to villas and beyond. We are not only committed to bringing our customers access to the best experience out there, we are committed to expanding our presence in Latin America, and look forward to having this unique partnership with The Priceline Group as our first major step in this regard.
The integrations are set to begin right away, with the full rollout completed over the next few quarters.