Illusions expands with first European acquisition

Dubai-based travel technology company Illusions has made its first ever strategic acquisition.

The group, which operates the i-World Travel eXchange (iWTX), has agreed to buy Polish travel technology firm anixe for an undisclosed sum.

The deal, which was announced today at the FVW Travel Technology Day in Germany, will give Illusions access to exclusive technology, global hotel content and a new client base in Europe. anixe specialises in distributing global hotel product to the European and UK travel trade.

“It was anixe’s technology, customers, infrastructure, distribution strength and crucially, its team of technology experts, headed up by a very smart CEO, that clinched the deal and I believe we can grow this into a much bigger business,” said Illusions’ founder & CEO, Faisal Memon.

Faisal Memon, founder & CEO of Illusions, seals the deal with anixe's founder & CEO, Piotr Zolnierek
Faisal Memon, founder & CEO of Illusions, seals the deal with anixe’s founder & CEO, Piotr Zolnierek
“The product and distribution capabilities of anixe will grow iWTX’s hotel inventory to exponential proportions, with our combined offering amounting to a staggering half a million unique hotels.”

Memon has made no secret of his quest to be market leader in Germany, Europe’s biggest travel market, in a short time frame, and he says this will “pave the way for the domination of the entire continent”.

Illusions already counts Der Touristik, part of the REWE Group, as one its top clients and the anixe partnership brings another German heavyweight, FTI Touristik, into its fold.

Under the terms of the deal, anixe’s current base in Wroclaw will become Illusions’ first office in Eastern Europe and its second on the continent. Its first European office opened its doors in Lisbon last week.

“Setting up a satellite office in Poland demonstrates our commitment to the European market, in particular Germany, and brings us much closer to our key clients, allowing us to meet their needs more effectively,” said Memon

Illusions said anixe will give it access to technology that maps the same hotel product across different sources to a room type level, refining searches to show the best deals by room category, which no other system can offer. These searches are also customisable by market.

“With this acquisition comes a number of enhancements to our platform, with functionality and out-of-the-box solutions for the global travel industry that will set us apart in this competitive market place,” Memon concluded.

sourced:traveldailymedia.com