Host agency InteleTravel buys Hickory Global Partners
Host agency InteleTravel has acquired corporate-focused consortium Hickory Global Partners.
Terms of the acquisition were not divulged.
In a release, InteleTravel said the acquisition “allows both companies to execute a new strategy — driven by the trend toward blended travel — to optimize leisure and business travel resources by combining purchasing and negotiating power, talent and technology.”
The Hickory brand will remain, and it will operate as a wholly owned unit of InteleTravel.
Hickory president Chris Dane, working with InteleTravel president James Ferrara, will focus on new opportunities. That includes expanding travel staffing solution Hickory 365 to provide leisure fulfillment for Hickory members. Additionally, Hickory will create a new business travel program and certification for InteleTravel advisors.
Hickory will draw on InteleTravel’s proprietary booking technology to give its members support for leisure travel demand. It will result in as much a s 30% more volume from members, InteleTravel estimated in a release. Additionally, InteleTravel’s 90,000 advisors will be a new source of unmanaged business travel sales.
InteleTravel’s advisors will realize opportunities through the new business travel education program as well as negotiated products and services via Hickory’s air, hotel and amenities programs.
“With the new blending of leisure and business travel, the idea of separate consortia for these markets is now outdated,” Ferrara said. “This merger creates a single source of advantages and support for all travelers and the professionals who serve them — the consortium of the future.”
Dane added, “Merging leisure and corporate travel businesses at a time when travel is booming and the lines for both sectors are becoming more blurred positions us for greater growth and benefits for our members, advisors and preferred suppliers. We have a vision for a consortium that leads into the next decades with a modern view of business and leisure travelers, and advantages, technology and supply for our members to satisfy those needs. InteleTravel’s resources and reach will help us do that.”
InteleTravel estimated the integration of the companies, and the new programs, will create 100 new jobs.
InteleTravel, founded in 1991, recently reported record growth in 2022, with more than $529 million in sales.
Source: Read Full Article
