Lowcosttravelgroup has announced its latest stage of global expansion by launching new B2B and B2C websites in the USA, New Zealand and South Korea, with Australia going live by the end of this month. 
“This is an exciting time in the development of the lowcosttravelgroup”, said Paul Evans, Chief Executive. “With the new sites launching this month, we are now live in 40 countries. Additional Asian websites and XML partners will be next, meaning we will be live in 47 countries by the end of the year.
“We will be 10 years old in 2014, with a business unrecognisable from when we started. We have developed a truly global business, now available in 13 languages.
“I anticipate that over 50% of our business will be outside of the UK by the end of 2013, where we see higher margins and a significant opportunity for both growth and profits.”
The expansion plans now mean that lowcostholidays is based in Palma, Spain, and lowcostbeds in Switzerland, with group support functions in Gatwick. Additional sales offices in Switzerland, USA, Brazil, Australia, Thailand and the Middle East now provide the group with 24-7 global support.
This week also saw the announcement of three experienced overseas-based personnel, to further accelerate the group’s growth: Adam Alford – Asia, Liz Hall – USA, and Claudia Baino – Brazil & Latin America.
The company is also recruiting a significant number of new hotel buyers, to accelerate its global roll out in order to increase numbers of hotels relevant to local markets.
“As we grow to over 16,000 own stock hotels and 200,000 third-party hotels in the next 12 months, our focus will be to grow our international B2B and B2C businesses,” said Clem Walshe, Managing Director for the group’s operations in Ireland. “In addition we will continue to grow our Irish trade business through our existing and new trade relationships.”
The group is also planning a number of special events and promotions next year to celebrate its 10th anniversary, starting at this month’s World Travel Market.
