Host agency and travel distribution group InteleTravel has acquired group travel automation technology 40Hammocks, with plans to relaunch the technology as a sourcing and management solution for the smaller-group market.
Hawaii-based 40Hammocks launched in 2024 and targets largely destination weddings and group events, enabling organizers to set up pre-negotiated rates for blocks of 10 or more rooms with customized booking links, room block tracking and guest perks.
With the acquisition, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, InteleTravel parent company Intravel is developing the technology into a new offering, Groupr, that will extend capabilities with automated sourcing, contracting and guest management, according to the company.
Groupr will be marketed both to the open B-to-B marketplace of travel advisors and meeting and event planners and will be developed for InteleTravel's own network of 145,000 travel advisors, integrated into both its business and leisure travel platforms. The relaunch is planned for early 2027, with the technology remaining available to advisors and planners in the interim, according to InteleTravel.
The company noted that platforms geared toward large corporate groups come with costs that often price out smaller groups, leaving them with a largely manual management process.
"Enterprise platforms have ignored the smaller-group market for years," Intravel managing partner and now Groupr board chairman James Ferrara said in a statement. "We saw technology that could solve that, a team that understood the problem and an opportunity to serve an entire segment of the market that's been underserved, including InteleTravel advisors, and advisors and planners everywhere."
The 40Hammocks team has joined InteleTravel under Groupr, and its co-founders, Mina Singson-Brightman and Sebastian Borys, will be board members and partners with Groupr.
40Hammocks is the latest in a series of acquisitions for InteleTravel in recent years, including corporate travel consortium Hickory Global Partners in 2023 and meetings agency MGME in 2024. This year, the company also launched a booking and travel management platform for small and midsized programs, BusinessTravel.com, and the 40Hammocks acquisition follows a similar strategy "focused on new markets and powerful new AI solutions," according to Ferrara.
Automated event management technology has been a growing area of focus in recent years, including tech start-ups like Naboo,Nowadays and BoomPop, which recently was acquired by Navan. Perk also launched an automated event planning tool earlier this year.