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Supplier profile

GTA Travel API integration: what happened and how to reconnect

GTA, short for Gullivers Travel Associates, was a long-running wholesaler of hotels and ground services for the travel trade. It no longer trades as a separate supplier: it joined Hotelbeds Group in 2017. Agencies that sold GTA inventory now reach that business through Hotelbeds, which PHPTRAVELS connects natively.

  • Part of Hotelbeds since 2017
  • GTA brand phased out
  • Reconnect through Hotelbeds
  • Migration checklist

Supplier status

GTA at a glance, today

If you landed here looking for a GTA connector, this is the short answer.

Status
No longer a separate supplier
Part of
Hotelbeds, within HBX Group
Route in PHPTRAVELS
The native Hotelbeds hotels connector

What GTA was

A London-based business-to-business wholesaler that sold hotels, apartments, transfers and sightseeing to tour operators, wholesalers and travel agents, through its own booking sites and an XML API.

What it is now

After the 2017 deal, the GTA business was folded into Hotelbeds and its retail brands moved to Bedsonline. There is no GTA account to open today; agencies sign up with Hotelbeds instead. The supplier profile explains that route: Hotelbeds supplier profile

Timeline

Five decades, four owners, one destination

The main ownership changes behind the GTA name, from its start in London to its place inside Hotelbeds.

  1. 1975

    Founded in London

    Gullivers Travel Associates starts as a wholesaler of hotels and ground travel for the trade.

  2. 2005

    Bought by Cendant

    Cendant acquires GTA; the business later sits inside Travelport when Cendant's travel arm is spun off.

  3. 2011

    Sold to Kuoni

    Travelport sells GTA to the Swiss travel group Kuoni, which runs it as its online wholesale arm.

  4. 2017

    Hotelbeds deal agreed

    In April, Hotelbeds Group agrees to combine GTA with its own bedbank business.

  5. 2017

    Deal completed

    After regulatory clearance, GTA becomes part of Hotelbeds Group in the autumn, months after Tourico Holidays joined.

  6. 2018

    Brands move to Bedsonline

    Hotelbeds starts phasing out the GTA, TravelCube and TravelBound retail brands in favour of Bedsonline.

  7. 2023

    HBX Group

    The parent company takes the HBX Group name, with Hotelbeds and Bedsonline as its brands.

Dates are from public announcements by the companies involved. Months are left out where reports differ.

Then and now

What you used at GTA and where it lives today

A row-by-row guide for agencies that used to sell GTA products and want the same kind of inventory on their own site.

What you used at GTA and where it lives today
At GTAToday in the groupIn PHPTRAVELS
HotelsHotelbeds hotel inventory, under a Hotelbeds contract.NativeReady Hotelbeds connector in the stays module.
ApartmentsSold through the same Hotelbeds accommodation product.NativeShown in stays results with their own room and board details.
TransfersHotelbeds transfers.On requestBuilt as a custom integration when you need it.
Sightseeing and toursHotelbeds activities.On requestBuilt as a custom integration and listed in the tours module.
GTA API credentialsReplaced by a Hotelbeds account and its own API keys.Not neededAdd the new Hotelbeds keys in the admin; old GTA keys are not used.
GTA hotel and city codesHotelbeds uses its own codes for hotels and destinations.Not neededMapped again during setup; do not assume old codes carry over.

Want transfers or activities as well? How custom supplier work is scoped: Custom API integration

# stays supplier: before and after

  1. -supplier:gta
  2. -endpoint:legacy-gta-endpoint
  3. +supplier:hotelbeds
  4. +environment:test
  5. +credentials:api_key •••• secret ••••
  6. +markup:per_market, per_channel

Illustrative only. Real keys live in your admin and are never shown in full.

The switch

Changing supplier is a configuration job, not a rebuild

Your website, agent portal and checkout stay the same. What changes is the supplier behind the stays search.

  • New account, new keys

    You sign a Hotelbeds contract and receive test and live credentials. Nothing from the old GTA account is reused.

  • Fresh mapping

    Destinations, hotels and room types are mapped to Hotelbeds codes so search results and saved content line up.

  • Margins reviewed

    Net rates and payment terms come from the new contract, so markups per market and channel are set again before go-live.

Migration checklist

Six steps from old GTA business to live Hotelbeds bookings

Tick the steps as you go. The list is the same one our delivery team works through with agencies.

Steps done0 / 6

Read nextHotelbeds API integrationBedsonline integrationStays

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FAQ

Questions about GTA and Hotelbeds

Short answers for agencies that used GTA in the past.

Talk to sales

Not as a separate company. GTA joined Hotelbeds Group in 2017, and its retail brands were later folded into Bedsonline. The inventory is sold through the group's brands today.

No, and you do not need one. The route to that inventory today is the native Hotelbeds connector in the stays module, used with your own Hotelbeds account.

You should not count on them. Plan for a new Hotelbeds account with its own test and live keys, and add those in the admin.

The GTA business was combined with Hotelbeds, but hotel contracts change over time. Check the hotels that matter most to you during testing.

Retail agents were moved to Bedsonline. If you want your own website or agent portal instead, PHPTRAVELS can run it with a Hotelbeds API account.

Hotelbeds offers transfers and activities. They are not part of the ready hotels connector, so we build them as a custom integration when you need them.

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