RateGain Appoints Omni Hotel’s Peter Strebel to Drive Expansion in Americas

India-headquartered travel tech firm RateGain has set its sights on expanding in the Americas, and to spearhead this effort, it has appointed Peter Strebel as President for the Americas region, Skift has confirmed.

Strebel, who serves as the chairman of Omni Hotels & Resorts, will take over from Chinmai Sharma, who had been with RateGain for more than five years.

RateGain aims to accelerate growth and double its revenue within the next three years, and Strebel brings knowledge of the industry and experience in the region.

Strebel has held positions such as executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Wyndham Hotel Group, where he later became the president before returning to Omni. He has also held board memberships in organizations like the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) and the Incarnation House in Dallas, Texas.

Strebel was involved in the rebranding and repositioning of Wyndham Worldwide during its acquisition by Cendant Hotel Group.

Founder Bhanu Chopra expressed confidence in Strebel: “The next phase of RateGain’s growth requires a leadership team that can help us outsize the impact we are making on our industry, and I am quite certain that Peter will help in bringing that to RateGain. His experience in leading operations, sales, and marketing will be critical for us to drive more well-rounded growth as we aim for our next big goal.”

Speaking about his new role, Strebel said, “Having built a career by continuously identifying new areas of investment and innovation to change the status quo, I believe that RateGain is also trying to do the same for the hospitality industry. The opportunity to do that for over 100,000 hotels excites me about this opportunity.”

David Peller Joins as Board Adviser

RateGain is also adding industry veteran David Peller to its team as a board adviser. With prior experience at Google and Booking.com, Chopra said, Peller would be instrumental in helping the company scale up its technology offerings as he has also led Amazon’s travel and hospitality division.

During an earnings call on Monday, RateGain shared positive insights from the Skift Travel Health Index, projecting a promising tourism outlook for the summer, with the United States ranking at 108.

Over the past few years, RateGain bolstered its presence in the enterprise segment within the Americas region through acquisitions. As a result, the region has become a substantial contributor to the company’s overall revenue.

Earlier this year, it acquired Adara, a Silicon Valley-based firm in travel martech and predictive consumer intelligence, the company’s fourth acquisition, but the first one after it went public in 2021.

RateGain also acquired Dallas-based hotel distribution tech company Distribution Hospitality Intelligent Systems Co (DHISCO) in 2018 and BCV, a Chicago-based social media management and strategy company focused on the hotel sector, in 2019.

Restructuring and Revenue

At the beginning of fiscal year 2021, RateGain underwent a restructuring process aimed at fostering growth and efficiency.

Emphasizing the acquisition of top talent, the company appointed general managers to lead each business unit, thereby granting them greater autonomy.

This strategic move, according to Chopra, was instrumental in propelling healthy growth across various verticals.

During recent months, RateGain has further strengthened its leadership team by welcoming professionals from organizations such as BCG, Netflix, and Deloitte.

RateGain reported earnings results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2023. For the first quarter, the company reported sales was $26 million compared to $14 million a year ago. Revenue was $27 million compared to $15 million a year ago. Net income was $3 million compared to $1 million a year ago.