Yanolja Cloud, a global provider of AI-based SaaS solutions for the hospitality and leisure industries, has announced acquisition of Go Global Travel (GGT), a B2B travel technology company, which distributes its inventory of more than 1 million hotels and other travel products from 200 countries to over 20,000 client partners. Through this acquisition, Yanolja Cloud has significantly expanded its travel and hospitality inventory which will further enhance its solution offerings and differentiation.
Founded in Israel in 2000, GGT is a top-tier global travel solutions company that distributes travel products including hotel and resort rooms, airline tickets, and car rentals. GGT distributes these products primarily in North America and Europe through over 50,000 direct contracts, and over 10,000 sales channels.
The acquisition of GGT from AMI Opportunities Fund which is advised by Apax Partners, a global private equity advisory firm, will give Yanolja Cloud distribution capabilities, making it a company that allowing properties of all types, sizes, and budget ranges and in every corner of the world to digitise property operations. The acquisition is anticipated to result in the development of new technologies leveraging a broad range of data from across Yanolja Cloud member companies to allow for greater personalisation and AI-based automation.
The acquisition is expected to produce multiple benefits for new and existing Yanolja Cloud and GGT customers, including greater global reach for businesses, and more choice and personalisation for travelers. GGT partner properties and other travel-related services will be made available through Yanolja’s B2C platform businesses Yanolja and Interpark (South Korea’s travel and leisure super apps). Additionally, Yanolja Cloud aims to distribute its strong Asian inventory through GGT platform channels and online and offline travel agencies worldwide, including North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Together, this newly combined inventory from across Yanolja Cloud and GGT, now in scale, can be packaged together and offered to new channels.
The acquisition also supports Yanolja Cloud’s mission to create technology to make it easier for hospitality and leisure properties to transform their business and delight their guests by accelerating the adoption of its integrated solutions to properties around the world. The company expects it will be able to begin expanding global sales by providing advanced hospitality solutions that can be efficiently integrated with existing customer solutions. Yanolja Cloud intends to leverage GGT’s 20 overseas branches as bases for global business expansion, strengthening the global solution sales and customer service networks of Yanolja Cloud member companies including eZee and Innsoft.
This acquisition also adds to Yanolja Cloud’s reputation as a provider of global channeling solutions (Channel Management Systems). It currently provides channeling solution technology enabling travel agencies and platform businesses to sell various travel products without the need to directly secure rights for the inventory, resulting in greater distribution and decision making for hospitality providers. This year, Yanolja Cloud member company eZee Technosys (eZee) recently earned status as a Booking.com connectivity partner and Expedia elite connectivity partner. With its acquisition of GGT, Yanolja Cloud and its member companies will further enhance their channel distribution capabilities.
Kim Jong-yoon, co-CEO of Yanolja Cloud, expressed enthusiasm for the acquisition, “Yanolja Cloud is made up of member companies from around the world, all with a different history and expertise. We welcome Go Global Travel as our latest member company which will help us further fulfill our vision of leading the digital transformation of hospitality and leisure properties everywhere. I look forward to seeing the future innovation that will be born from this acquisition.”
Ophir Ben-Ezra, chairman of Go Global Travel adds, “I am so proud of what Go Global Travel and its employees around the world have achieved since its founding over 20 years ago. I look forward to continuing to provide the same high-level of products and service to our client partners while being able to offer new inventory as well as innovative solutions from across Yanolja Cloud, including Booking Engines, Property and Revenue Management Software and more.”
Since its founding in 2019 as a subsidiary of Yanolja, Yanolja Cloud has achieved tremendous growth, increasing its sales from KRW 1 billion to KRW 100 billion within just three years (as of 2022). The company has gone from 39,000 global cloud-based solutions (SaaS) licenses in 2019 to over 80,000 today and has been expanding its global business through acquisitions, as well as partnerships with renowned travel operators like Agoda and Amadeus.
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