Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Monaker Group (MKGI) to Capture Alternative Lodging Market Share via Preferred Distributor Deal with CustomTravelClubs.com

By all accounts the hotel industry today is witnessing a period of sustained growth amid the efflorescence of travel industry technologies and options for consumers, with positive indicators up across the board that range from baseline metrics such as occupancy, to the average daily rate, and revenue per available room. The outlook through this May for the top 25 North American markets looks to be up by around 2.5 percent when it comes to committed occupancy (based on group commitments and individual reservations) compared to the same period in the previous year, according to TravelClick, the well-known revenue generating solutions provider that helps hotels navigate the chaotic sea of online reservations.

The success of sharing economy-centric players such as Airbnb, which surpassed rival HomeAway last year to have the biggest roster of vacation rental listings at over 1.2 million, has prompted many within the travel industry to predict an inevitable intersection with traditional markets, from brick and mortar-focused big boys like Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), to tech-driven consumer facilitators like Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN) and Tripadvisor (NASDAQ: TRIP), or even new entrants like peer-to-peer marketplace innovators such as FlexWeek (OTC: FXWK), which has developed a unique platform to harness the underserved timeshare segment that allows timeshare owners to discover, book and offer unused vacation time directly to the public or other owners. A handful of companies today are truly poised to exploit the sharing economy sea-change and the impact of the growing alternative lodging segment, but the potential rewards for those who do are substantial to say the least.

Little surprise then that Monaker Group (OTCQB: MKGI), the established travel industry player with over six decades in operational leisure travel and a family of diverse industry-enabling companies under its belt, today announced plans to add CustomTravelClubs.com as a preferred distributor for its growing portfolio of travel products. This is a smart move for Monaker, which has built up quite a presence in the alternative lodging segment and continues to be recognized as a trailblazer in such areas as land and tour escorted vacation packages thanks to its Maupintour brand, which gained worldwide esteem back in the late 50’s as the first company to arrange tourism into the Soviet Union after World War II. CustomTravelClubs.com actually approached Monaker on behalf of its members in order to obtain access to the company’s sizable inventory of alternative lodging, escorted tours and other products, and with Maupintour, in particular, enjoying the highest repeat rate in the industry among travelers, this synergistic marriage is clearly a match made in heaven for both MKGI and CustomTravelClubs.com.

Monaker is something of a developing juggernaut within the industry, with companies such as its flagship NextTrip.com, which developed one of the industry’s first booking engines to feature alternative lodging alongside a comprehensive list spanning airlines, cruises, hotels, rental cars, tours, and concierge services, as well as Monaker’s travel, home and lifestyle products/services private savings club, known as Home & Away Club. Monaker also offers Voyage TV, which boasts an incredible library consisting of thousands of hours of travel footage from over 30 countries across the globe. Another major component is Monaker’s RealBiz Media Group, a sophisticated digital media and marketing company focused on the real estate industry, which has over twenty imaging technology-centric patents for real estate platforms and an exclusive agreement with Realtor.com, as well as a preferred supplier arrangement with Realogy (NYSE: RLGY) for virtual tours.

Chairman and CEO of MKGI Bill Kerby couldn’t contain his excitement at the prospect of sharing the company’s mounting inventory with CustomTravelClubs.com, which he praised as a highly unique travel club provider within the industry before going on to tout its founder, Mike Putman, on account of his success in building up numerous large and successful travel companies. Kerby was quite pleased to be on-board for Putman’s latest expedition and anticipates not only mutual user base growth as a result of the deal, but significantly beneficial business opportunities for MKGI in the long run as well.

With over a century of combined travel industry experience behind it, CustomTravelClubs.com is poised to become a major fixture of the evolving travel industry landscape, acting as a one-stop shop for travel club platforms and solutions. CustomTravelClubs.com employs a highly tailored approach when it comes to providing travel benefits to its members, such as discounts and assistance on everything from cruises and hotels to event tickets. Facts which subsequently make CustomTravelClubs.com an ideal partner for Monaker moving forward, especially when it comes to gobbling up market share in the rapidly-emerging $100 billion-plus alternative lodging segment, which is on track to hit upwards of $169 billion within the next three years alone, according to a new report published by Research and Markets.

Take a closer look, visit www.monakergroup.com


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