LONDON — W Communications and its travel PR and marketing specialist agency Lotus have been appointed to manage UK PR for travel technology start-up Impala.

Impala connects hotels with customers such as tour operators who want to sell hotel rooms. The booking platform, set up in 2017, is backed by investment from Lakestar, Kima Ventures, Stride VC and Latitude, which also backed Airbnb, Trivago and Deliveroo.

W Communications completed its full acquisition of Lotus in September last year, after buying a majority stake in the agency in 2018. Lotus continues to operate under its own brand with its own clients, and also works on joint clients with W under the W Lotus name.

On the Impala account, the W Lotus team will blend technology and B2B travel experience with creative brand campaigns. There was no incumbent agency.

Impala CMO Caroline Hudack, who joined the company last May after being Airbnb’s EMEA marketing director and previously heading up EMEA marketing at Facebook, said: “We’re building a team that assembles the very best talent from across travel and tech, to create a product that reimagines travel as it should be. We were looking for a partner that deeply understands the travel space – and what our tech makes possible. We’re delighted to be working with W Lotus to tell our story as we continue our growth in 2022.”

Lotus CEO Jules Ugo, who has been with the firm since 2008, added: “This fantastic win bolsters our travel tech division at W Lotus and perfectly brings together the skill sets across the W and Lotus teams. We are excited to be working with Impala to shake things up in the industry and help open up new opportunities for the travel sector during a critical period of recovery.”