Former CWT executive Pelin Dede will head the upcoming hotel program joint venture from travel management company network Advantage Travel Partnership and corporate travel consortia Hickory Global Partners, Advantage announced Thursday.
Dede, who joined Advantage this year, will serve as head of accommodation for the joint venture, which the companies call Global Stays and which they plan to debut in 2025.
Dede most recently worked for CWT as the senior manager of global suppliers, a position in which she focused on the TMC’s global content, according to her LinkedIn profile. Her resume also includes stints with Expedia and Orbitz.
Hickory and Advantage each offer their members negotiated hotel rates at properties throughout the world. The companies in May announced the planned joint venture, which Advantage said would “offer more than 60,000 properties worldwide and over one million serviced apartments,” bookable through global distribution systems, to TMCs and corporate buyers throughout the world.
Dede will head the effort and will help to grow the JV’s content and handle supplier contracts and negotiations, according to Advantage.
“We are thrilled Pelin has joined the team to spearhead our Global Accommodation Programme at a time of transition for us as we look to build on the strength of the programme and pursue our ambitious global strategy to enhance this fantastic member benefit,” Advantage managing director of global business travel Andrea Caulfield-Smith said in a statement. “The accommodation sector is of significant strategic importance to our overall offering and an area in which we will look to leverage our size and scale further to deliver greater growth and continued member benefit.”
