Hotelcon plays a significant role in Romania’s rapidly developing tourism industry. The innovative company, founded in 1998 to sell hotel accommodation, has grown to become Romania’s biggest wholesale provider of hotel accommodation, airline tickets and car-hire reservations, tours, transfers and travel insurance to travel agencies. Its spin-off operation Hotelair, a provider of airline tickets, is among Romania’s top three companies in its field and for the last year the top seller for the Romanian national airline, TAROM.
Hotelcon recently signed a contract with global group Worldspan, a platform through which travel agencies purchase mainly air tickets as well as other tourism related services. This contract makes Hotelcon one of only 15 companies in the world to be able to sell its products through the Worldspan’s international product, ‘Rooms and more’.
Owner and CEO Ioannis Ioannidis explains, “We have 950 clients in Romania now, and through Worldspan we will have access to 67,000 travel agencies worldwide once we start offering products globally in Easter 2015. You can imagine our success even if only 5% of those agencies purchase from us! It is a deal that will change our day to day life”. Hotelcon focuses on outbound tourism from Romania, given the current difficulties of handling inbound tourism in the country.
Exceptional investment opportunity with proven track record
Ioannis Ioannidis is considering selling the company and has already received queries from several interested buyers who are attracted by the company’s strong track record. He says, “I am definitely not negative to sell Hotelcon and should a serious offer come, I am ready to negotiate a deal, but I will only choose a buyer who will protect the jobs of my staff, at least for a certain period.” The company now has 30 employees. Hotelcon is an outstanding investment prospect, a turn key enterprise. It is very well known in Romania for its efficient, ethical operations and it also has in-depth knowledge of the local tourism market. The company’s Worldspan contract is of course a definite plus.
Ioannis Ioannidis believes that now is the time to invest in Romania. He says, “Romania has always been and will always be an excellent investment target because of the high quality of its human resources along with its low labour costs. Romania is truly a land of opportunity, and now is the time for investors to get some really good deals here. As for Hotelcon, our contract with Worldspan means we will be able to sell 10 times as much as before. This company can truly be the goose that lays the golden egg for investors.”
