Latest news with #travelmanagement
Skift
22-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
How GDS Commission Shares Impact Global Hotel and Agency Revenue
Part one of this two-part series explores the global landscape for GDS commission shares, which represent tens of millions of dollars in revenue for travel management companies and agencies. A better understanding of gaps by region, country, and hotel class can lead to competitive advantages in global distribution. This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner. It's 5:59 a.m. on a rainy Monday in Chicago. A corporate traveler scans her company's booking tool, hits 'book,' and locks in a room at an upscale hotel in Auckland. That single click unleashes the Global Distribution System (GDS): reservation messages, credit‑card authorizations, and once the guest checks out, a commission to the travel management company (TMC) that facilitated the sale. Multiply that chain by hundreds of millions of transactions, and you begin to see why the GDS agency model remains one of hospitality's most durable revenue engines. Roughly 200 million hotel bookings flow through the three big GDS networks (Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport) every year, primarily from corporate travel. Corporate travel, and by extension, GDS channels, continue to be critical in the hotel booking ecosystem at a time when hotel companies are clinging to stable, predictable revenue streams. GDS Commissions in the Booking Universe: A One‑Slide Crash Course Hotel demand splits into two macro buckets. Direct bookings flow through voice/central‑reservation lines, and walk‑ins. Indirect bookings spread across online travel agencies (OTAs), wholesale, group blocks, and the GDS. Within GDS, two commercial models dominate: Agency / Post‑Pay : The hotel gets paid after the stay and owes a commission to the TMC. : The hotel gets paid after the stay and owes a commission to the TMC. Merchant / Net: The hotel is paid a wholesale rate, and the TMC then upsells the room to travelers to earn a margin on the markup. According to Skift Research data, global hotel bookings from these two models represented about 25% of global gross hotel bookings revenue in 2024. This article zeros in on the Agency/Post-Pay model because it generates commissionable revenue, or GDS Commission Share. GDS Commission Share: A Global Perspective According to OnyxInsights data, hotels paid an estimated $2.1 billion in commissions to TMCs through the GDS networks in 2024. However, GDS commission share, which represents the share of total hotel commissions incurred by GDS bookings, is unevenly distributed. Understanding gaps can lead to competitive advantages for players in the hotel bookings game. Region by Region: How GDS Commissions Differ North America (5% GDS commission share) has spent decades wiring corporate travel programs into back‑office systems. Deep links between TMCs, payment providers, and hotel CRS platforms keep agency bookings fast and relatively cheap. Europe (4.3%) enjoys dense cross‑border business and stringent duty‑of‑care rules, pushing travelers into managed channels. Yet, powerful direct booking campaigns from hotel companies limit GDS growth. Asia‑Pacific (4% and climbing) currently lags but has significant momentum. Multinational companies are scaling hubs in Singapore, Sydney, and Bangalore; local TMCs are modernizing; and card adoption is broadening, together fueling the steepest year‑over‑year gains globally. Country by Country: Where GDS Commissions Carry Higher Shares New Zealand (11% GDS commission share) and Australia (10.5%) top the league table, powered by resource‑sector compliance, lengthy domestic flight sectors, and dominant regional TMCs. The United States (5.1%) tracks just above the global mean of 4.8%, representing the tug‑of‑war between enormous corporate demand and loyalty‑fueled direct‑booking campaigns. Belgium (4.4%) shows how mid‑size economies can under‑index when large corporations negotiate static, direct deals with preferred chains, sidestepping the GDS entirely. How Room Class Drives GDS Commission Share Luxury and upper‑upscale hotels capture 6% to 7% of stays via GDS because they sit at the epicenter of managed‑travel itineraries: meeting space, negotiated last‑room‑available clauses, and premium loyalty tiers. Midscale and economy properties earn less than 3% GDS commission share. Their price‑sensitive guests flock to OTAs, metasearch sites, and air‑hotel bundles. Chain scale magnifies the gap: mega‑brands amortize connectivity costs and lock in global preferred suppliers, while independents shoulder higher fees or skip the channel altogether. Why GDS Commission Share Matters Why do these slight differences matter, if agency/post-pay GDS commissions comprise only about 5% of global hotel commissions? Indeed, hotels more broadly have been making efforts to migrate to direct-heavy distribution strategies since the dawn of the internet age, and Skift Research expects those efforts to intensify in the next several years, according to the 'Hotel Distribution Outlook 2024.' However, Skift Research also estimated in the report that agency bookings are expected to grow 125% by 2030. With every percentage point in GDS commission share representing millions of dollars, there's a significant amount of money on the table for hotels and agencies. Part 2: GDS Commission Implications at the Property Level Region, country, and hotel class explain only part of the variance in GDS commission share. The next Data Snap, coming out in July, will zoom into the property level — branded vs. independents, location, hotel persona — and show how hotels are turning hidden white space into high‑margin bookings. Stay tuned. 'The Data Snap' is a recurring article series that paints a clearer picture of the dynamic hotel booking landscape, empowering hotels and agencies to make data-driven decisions that help them build productive partner relationships and drive more revenue. OnyxInsights offers a comprehensive view of the industry landscape, enabling hotels and TMCs to make well-informed decisions and better serve their clients and partners. Onyx CenterSource processes over 100 million transactions annually on behalf of 200,000 agencies and 150,000 hotels globally, representing nearly $2.1 billion in hotel commission payments. Visit to learn more. This content was created collaboratively by Onyx CenterSource and Skift's branded content studio, SkiftX.
Skift
22-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
Navan Takes a Step Towards an IPO
U.S. stock markets are definitely not cooperating with Navan's long-held plans to IPO. Navan has hired underwriters for an IPO that could value the company at $8 billion. The move toward an IPO, reported by Reuters, follows Navan officials discussing such a prospect several times over the last couple of years. Goldman Sachs is the lead underwriter, according to the report, and an IPO, depending on market conditions, would take place in the fourth quarter at the earliest. A year ago, Navan CEO Ariel Cohen said the company is "not far" from an IPO, though he noted the timing could be affected by market conditions and geopolitical factors outside the company's control. In April 2024, Navan brought back former Chief Revenue Officer Rich Liu as CEO of Navan Travel and appointed former New York Stock Exchange CFO Amy Butte to its board, CNBC reported following an interview with Cohen in May 2024. Navan offers travel management, expense and payments services. Both Liu and Butte have IPO experience. Cohen, also a Navan co-founder, has been discussing IPO prospects for several years. In 2022, the company filed confidential IPO paperwork with the aim of going public at a $12 billion valuation. Business Insider reported in the summer of 2023 that Navan would seek to go public in about a year, subject to market conditions. Correction: The CNBC interview with Navan CEO Ariel Cohen took place in May 2024, not May 2025. The article has been updated to reflect that.
Skift
21-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
Open Bookings vs. Managed Travel: What Corporate Travel Leaders Should Know
Corporate travel buyers and financial leaders are under pressure to optimize business travel logistics and costs while providing duty of care for their employees. Achieving this combination is no small task. When it comes to choosing between open bookings and managed travel, here's what they need to consider. This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner. Economic uncertainty is roiling financial markets, prompting fuzzy leisure travel forecasts for the remainder of 2025. Meanwhile, the outlook for corporate travel remains cautiously optimistic. According to a 2025 GBTA survey, 71% of travel buyers said their company's business travel bookings increased last year. In addition, nearly half (48%) said their company will take more business trips this year than it did last year, compared to only 12% who believe their company will take fewer trips. Amid fluidity in the broader business environment, corporate travel buyers and financial leaders are under pressure to incorporate thoughtful and intentional policies that minimize costs, maximize flexibility, and optimize business travel's role in driving company growth. This article explores the differences between open bookings and managed travel to help companies understand the best ways to provide optimal pricing, employee support, timely expensing, and automated reporting. The Opportunity Cost of Open Bookings Not all corporate travel booking strategies are created equal. And that's a good thing. Travel booking requires a delicate balance for businesses of all sizes, and it can look different from department to department and even from trip to trip. Pressures on the corporate travel landscape have 'added new layers of complexity,' said Dan Skaggs, chief product officer for TravelBank. 'Employee expectations are becoming more demanding, and there are now more self-serve options available. Therefore, it's essential for travel and finance leaders to revisit their programs to ensure their tools, policies, and platforms are modern, flexible, and aligned with today's workforce needs.' Why Some Companies Prefer Open Booking Many organizations, especially small- and medium-sized businesses with limited resources, prefer an open booking model, which allows employees to choose whichever flights and accommodations they prefer. Employees tend to like these programs because 'they may not be required to get pre-trip approvals or be limited by pre-approved vendors,' Skaggs said. 'Some employees enjoy open bookings as they can select accommodations based on comfort, convenience, and personal loyalty programs.' And in some cases, employees may find lower base fares than those available through traditional managed programs. Potential Challenges from Open Booking Though it may satisfy some employee preferences and ease administrative burdens on the front end, an unmanaged, open booking model is not always the best solution from a business standpoint. While open booking may offer greater flexibility, it also introduces several challenges for management and finance teams: Tracking and reconciling expenses become more complex when bookings happen outside a centralized system, which can lead to frustration for business travelers and administrators alike. When employees book with unapproved vendors, exceed budget limits, or ignore company travel guidelines, companies may be at an increased risk of policy non-compliance. Open booking often sacrifices discounted rates that managed travel platforms secure by leveraging larger volumes of travel spend, ultimately resulting in lost cost-saving opportunities. When travel plans change or flights (inevitably!) get delayed, employees have to troubleshoot on their own. How Managed Travel Enhances Efficiency and Compliance When compared with open booking policies, managed travel programs offer a range of benefits that simplify and enhance employees' travel experience while reducing costs, increasing scale, and providing more policy oversight and employee services. Travel and Expense Benefits from Managed Travel Managed travel platforms are introducing smarter booking tools, personalized recommendations, conversational booking assistants, automated itineraries, and real-time expense tracking, all of which streamline the travel experience for employees and administrators. Furthermore, some platforms combine travel, expense, and card management into an all-in-one, easy-to-use system. Employees can use a centralized corporate card to handle bookings and simplify payments. And some platforms even reward employees for booking below budget. With automated systems in place, travelers no longer need to manually submit expense reports. They can minimize out-of-pocket costs and be reimbursed faster. How Businesses Can Save More with Managed Travel There are cost savings on the company side in this arrangement as well. Managed platforms can guide travelers to book within travel policy and automate approval requirements for out-of-policy requests. When travel plans need to be reassigned, it's much easier to cancel, modify, or transfer bookings without losing track of costs or responsibilities. Plus, 'a managed travel platform helps reduce the risk of fraud by automating and verifying expense claims before they're reimbursed,' Skaggs said. Scaling with a Managed Travel Platform By deploying a platform mandated to incorporate new technologies, tools, and services, companies can outsource the ever-growing challenge of understanding the latest advancements in the industry, allowing them to stay focused on what really matters: financial health and employee well-being. This is especially the case if they've integrated an all-in-one travel, card, and expense platform, which streamlines processes and increases visibility across a company's financial operations. Such a platform also unlocks access to negotiated rates and group discounts that are typically reserved for larger enterprises. Finance teams benefit from real-time insights into spending patterns, enabling more accurate forecasting and budget optimization. 'As the business grows, the platform scales alongside it, eliminating the need for costly system overhauls,' said Skaggs. 'By capturing more spend on corporate cards and reducing leakage, companies can also improve working capital and take advantage of financial incentives such as rebates and rewards programs. These efficiencies can significantly impact cash flow and long-term financial health.' How Managed Travel Enhances Employee Care There's also the question of duty of care for travelers and travel risk management (TRM). 'A free and open booking policy limits a company's visibility and control as it comes to duty of care,' said Skaggs. 'Without centralized tracking, it becomes difficult to locate employees or provide timely support during disruptions or emergencies. Additionally, without dedicated support, last-minute cancellations or logistical issues may go unsolved.' However, with managed travel platforms, itinerary information and real-time location tracking allow companies to quickly identify and assist travelers. In addition, professional agents are available 24/7 for support in case of delays, cancellations, or emergencies, which means a company employee isn't constantly on call to handle issues to which they may not know how to respond. In the end, Skaggs said, managed travel is a win for small- to mid-sized businesses. It centralizes functions to reduce administrative overhead, simplify travel management, and minimize the inefficiencies that come with juggling multiple systems — all while making travel easier and less stressful for employees. Wondering how CFOs are responding to T&E trends? TravelBank analyzed hundreds of thousands of booking and expense reports, saw three major shifts in 2025 T&E trends, and asked CFOs to weigh in. This content was created collaboratively by TravelBank and Skift's branded content studio, SkiftX.
Travel Daily News
20-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Daily News
Advito unveils new carbon forecasting and budgeting tool
Advito launches Carbon Strategy Planner, a forecasting and budgeting tool helping travel managers reduce emissions, align sustainability targets, and guide travel decisions strategically. CHICAGO – At the BTN Sustainability Summit Europe, Advito introduces its latest sustainability innovation: a carbon forecasting and budgeting tool called Carbon Strategy Planner. Developed in response to a rising demand for clarity, accountability, and strategic planning in corporate travel, the tool enables travel managers to forecast carbon emissions and spend, compare reduction strategies, and build actionable carbon budgets at both company and divisional levels to achieve sustainability targets. 'In the near future, companies will have to approach their emissions planning in the same way they do financial planning today,' said Julien Etchanchu, Senior Director, Sustainability Consulting at Advito. 'Our tool helps clients move beyond reporting alone, so they understand what actions will drive down emissions over time and where to focus their resources for maximum impact.' Built on Advito's trusted, ISO Certified GATE4 methodology, and compatible with any emissions standard, Carbon Strategy Planner enables travel managers to forecast future emissions by modeling a wide range of decarbonization levers that all clients can implement. The standard set of scenarios include reducing travel demand, future staffing projections, shifting modes of transportation, investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), or choosing more efficient aircraft and hotels, among others. Clients can either work toward an existing target or use the tool to set a realistic target based on the levers that would make the most impact in their travel program. Advito's tool was built specifically to help travel managers and sustainability leaders model a variety of carbon strategies. Unlike other carbon calculators, the tool transforms the forecast into carbon budgets that can guide real-world travel decisions. These budgets provide a framework for internal goal-setting, performance tracking, and aligning with an organization's broader business operations, answering questions like: 'What if we shift 10% of our flights to rail?' or 'Can we afford to send a team to New York without exceeding our sales division's carbon budget?' The Carbon Strategy Planner is integrated directly into Advito's Sustainability Consulting analytics suite – a centralized, visual platform that allows clients to forecast, budget, and track emissions all in one place. Advito sees this launch as the response to a gap in existing solutions today. 'Our clients are telling us that there's a real need for a tool that shows the expected carbon and spend impact of each action,' said Etchanchu. 'This platform helps connect strategy to action, and support organizations on their journey towards making carbon planning as fundamental to their business operations as financial planning.' Designed for both company-wide and business-unit level planning, the tool offers the flexibility and specificity today's organizations require to meet evolving sustainability mandates. Taking it one step further, Advito's expert consultants can help clients turn these insights into action with robust recommendations and tracking capabilities to drive actual emissions reductions. The Carbon Strategy Planner is available now.
Trade Arabia
20-05-2025
- Business
- Trade Arabia
RateHawk, GlobalStar partner for inventory access
RateHawk, a B2B online system for booking hotels, air tickets, and transfers, has announced a strategic partnership with GlobalStar Travel Management, a worldwide travel management organisation. This new partnership gives GlobalStar's partners around the world access to RateHawk's extensive inventory. RateHawk's all-in-one system will provide Global Star's partners over 2.7 million accommodation options, alongside a number of supplementary supplier sources for car rentals, transfers and train tickets. To assist travel managers in efficiently navigating the wide array of options, the company's AI-powered tools prioritise recommendations based on the most competitive rates available. 'Our collaboration is designed to further empower GlobalStar partners, increasing their confidence in the daily booking routine. We source our diverse range of accommodations from not only 320+ suppliers but also 130,000+ directly contracted properties. This enables us to provide real-time availability status and facilitate faster amendments. Also, our ML-driven pre-book check procedure helps minimise the risk of possible issues, ensuring a smoother experience. Additionally, our dedicated support team is available in 32 languages to assist with any inquiries,' shares Ilya Kravtsov, Chief Commercial Officer at Emerging Travel Group, RateHawk's parent company. "We are delighted to be partnering with a respected global booking system like RateHawk to complement our existing GDS-based hotel programme. In particular, RateHawk's ability to provide 'pre-pay' and 'credit' facilities closes a gap for GlobalStar in supporting our Partners in regions where this feature is a 'must-have' to manage hotel bookings. Alongside this, the additional flexibility of API integration provides our Partners with an opportunity for deeper integration where required. Initial feedback from our Partners has been extremely positive, and I look forward to engaging closely with the Network in the coming months to share more information, ' stated Julian Russell, Executive Director, IT and Supplier Relations, at GlobalStar.
