Businessmodel of HRS Hotel Reservation Service

Customer Segments

HRS serves more than 40,000 corporate customers worldwide from a variety of sectors. The Company provides solutions to companies of all sizes, with HRS dividing its customers base into three segments:

• Global Corporates, comprising large-scale enterprises with a multinational presence;
• National Businesses, comprising large corporates with a broad national presence; and
• Small Businesses, comprising small businesses with a small local or regional footprint. HRS also serves professionals and individual travellers. The Company includes among its customers a range of well-known companies, including engineering company The Linde Group, IT and business services provider Steria, cosmetics company Lush, sports retailer JD Sports, media company Zoom Media.

HRS also provides a range of advertising solutions to hotels, hotel chains, tourist boards and companies through its website and newsletter.

Value Propositions

HRS provides value to its customers in the following ways:

• The flexibility and accessibility of its platform, with customers able to access the Company’s services online, as well as via mobile applications, managing accounts and making bookings autonomously from anywhere;
• Its global network of partners, with the Company collaborating with more than 300,000 partner hotels worldwide, and offering services to customer in 32 languages;
• Its competitive pricing and corporate discounts, with the Company providing discounted prices, free cancellations, and fee free services; and
• The Experience and expertise of its executives and staff, with the Company employing experienced industry executives and a global network of more than 1,300 industry experts. ### Channels

HRS operates a corporate website at www.hrscorporate.com, through which it provides information to existing and prospective clients regarding its services and activities, outlining the advantages of its platform.

The Company’s corporate sales are handled via this corporate portal by HRS’s in-house sales team, which can be contacted over the phone, via email, or through an online contact form. HRS has branch offices in Paris, London, Warsaw, Shanghai, Rome, Milan, Istanbul, Barcelona, Moscow, Singapore, Japan, Sao Paulo, and New York.

HRS operates its flagship online reservation portal at www.hrs.de, which is available in more than 30 languages. The Company makes a substantial proportion of its sales through this online channel, notably sales to individual professionals and small groups of travellers taking a single trip. The Company also operates an affiliate program, partnering with a network of websites and travel agents which can earn commissions by generating sales.

Customer Relationships

HRS makes its services available to customers on a self-service basis through its online reservation portal, which can be accessed through mobile and desktop browsers. Customers are able to register for an account, make and cancel reservations, and manage their payment records through the Company’s online portal, as well as through its mobile apps, without interacting with members of the HRS sales team. The Company’s online portal typically serves one-time, single trip customers.

HRS aims to establish more long-term relationships with its corporate customers, who are required to consult directly with the Company’s sales representatives to discuss their requirements and budgets. This also enables the Company to offer its larger clients additional supplementary services, such as travel pattern analysis.

HRS provides a range of online resources to its customers, including white papers, as well as 24-hour customer service, which enables customers to contact HRS representatives by phone at any time. Corporate customers are also able to obtain personal assistance over the phone, by email or through an online contact form.

Additionally, customers can contact HRS directly through its social media accounts, including with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google+.

Key Activities

HRS owns and operates a hotel booking portal, which enables business and private travellers to browse and make reservations at a range of hotels, holiday homes, and apartments worldwide.

The Company also provides bespoke solutions to small, medium and large businesses, managing corporate travel plans, organising group bookings, providing travel analytics, and business intelligence data, and providing automated processing and invoicing and payment reporting solutions.

HRS also makes a range of advertising solutions available to customers, primarily companies and organisations operating within the travel sector.

Key Partners

HRS partners with a range of businesses in order to enhance its own services and solutions. The Company’s partners include:

• Affiliate Partners, including travel agents and website that work to extend the Company’s sales and marketing reach to a broader online audience;
• Hotel and Hospitality Partners, including a network of more than 300,000 hotels and guest houses worldwide that make reservations available via the HRS portal; and
• Online Booking and Travel Management Partners, which integrate their own booking and reservation systems with HRS’s, with the Company’s booking system handling third-party reservations. The Company includes among its partners companies such as Amadeus, SAP, TravelSky, Sabre, Atlatos, and GetThere.

Key Resources

HRS’s key resources are its technology and online platform, its IT infrastructure – including servers and data centres, its network of affiliate partners and participating hotels, and its personnel.

Cost Structure

HRS incurs costs in relation to the development and operation of its online platform, the maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the management and development of its partner network, and the retention of its personnel.

HRS operates an international network of offices, spanning Europe, Asia and the Americas, accruing fixed costs in the form of rental and utility fees.

The Company also employs a multinational workforce, representing costs in the form of salaries and benefits.

Revenue Streams

HRS generates revenue primarily through the operation of its online reservation portal. The Company takes a commission on the nightly room price for all booking made through the Company’s booking website. The Company also generates revenue through the provision of various ancillary corporate services.

HRS additionally provides a range of advertising solutions to individual hotels, hotel chains, tourist boards and companies, including advertisement placed on its homepage, banner ads, and advertisement through its newsletter. The pricing model for its various solutions is available on its website, with prices going as high as €22,750 for a single week of homepage advertising.

HRS is a privately-owned company and, as such, is not obliged to publish its annual financial reports. Information pertaining to the Company’s annual revenue is not, therefore, available on its website.