Host travel agency InteleTravel has acquired corporate
travel consortium Hickory Global Partners with plans to combine resources to
target travelers blending business and leisure travel, the companies announced.
With the acquisition, the financial terms of which were not
disclosed, Hickory will continue its brand as a wholly owned unit of
InteleTravel. Hickory president Chris Dane will be in charge of emerging
marketing opportunities, including a new version of the Hickory Solutions365
staffing solution introduced earlier this year that provides fulfillment for
leisure travel and a business travel education and certification program for
InteleTravel advisors, the companies said.
“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,”
Dane said in a statement. “InteleTravel’s resources and reach will help us
do that.”
Hickory also will provide InteleTravel advisors with
negotiated products and services via its air portfolio, hotel programs and
expense management tools, opening up corporate travel opportunities for the
agents. Hickory, meanwhile, projects volume from members could increase as much
as 30 percent by being able to support members in leisure demand, and they will
gain access to previously untapped unmanaged business travel sales with
InteleTravel.
InteleTravel president James Ferrara said separate consortia
for corporate and leisure travel markets is “outdated.”
“The pandemic, new technologies and trends have changed
travelers, which requires new solutions,” he said in a statement. “This
merger creates a single source of advantages and support for all travelers and
the professionals who serve them—the consortium of the future.”
