In 1972 Robert Ragge opened a travel agency in a former greengrocer’s shop in Cologne, Germany, which specialized in arranging hotel rooms during trade fairs.
In 1986, HRS published an international hotel directory with fixed prices. In addition, a computer-aided reservation system was introduced in the 1980s, which formed the basis for the presence in the on-screen text.
After 1989, HRS was the first provider to make electronic bookings possible. Customers were presented with a list of free hotel rooms that could previously only be accessed by telephone. In 1995 the company started the first online portal for hotel bookings in what was the new medium, called the Internet. This meant a significant boost for the business and faxes and phone orders were slowly discontinued.
Today, HRS is a global company with offices in New York, New York, and Dallas, Texas.
The company earns revenue via bookings. Booking via HRS is free of charge for travelers, but hoteliers pay a standard commission of 15%.
The company also offers more than 500,000-holiday homes and apartments. A special feature of the platform is that there is no need to inquire about availability from the providers, as all accommodations can be booked directly by travelers.
HRS is one of the market leaders in this area. Major customers are, for example, Google, Siemens, and Toyota.
HRS maintains a corporate office in the United States in Plano, Texas.
