US agency groups plan global network

 

 

A worldwide travel agency network is being created through the combination of two US groups.

 

Hickory Travel System’s business travel services and eTravCo’s leisure travel consortium are coming together to form the new venture.  

 

They want to utilise their combined buying power to create a "one-stop shop" for both leisure and corporate travel agents.

 

Hickory Travel Systems has affiliates in 40 countries representing more than 3,000 locations worldwide.

eTravCo, the third largest travel consortium in the US with $3.3 billion in sales, has 950 agency members with 2,850 agents in 41 states, and 60 national vendors.

 

It operates a series of destination-based travel booking websites under the Town Travel brand and a discount travel website under the BookAirlineTickets.com brand.

 

Hickory chairman and CEO L William Chiles said: "We believe that by combining our resources and our buying power we will create a force truly unique in our industry.

 

"We are coming together to create a much stronger value proposition and offer a more comprehensive program to our members and an extensive distribution network for our global suppliers.

 

"This truly positions the travel agent as a critical component to the distribution process."

 

eTravCo CEO Blair Caple said: "We have reviewed the direction of the industry and are excited about the opportunity to align our companies to maximize the strength of our membership and our value to our suppliers.

 

"Not only is this venture a unique choice for comprehensive agency services, but we can now provide services to agencies with existing affiliations.

 

"Dual affiliation is becoming a fact of life in this dynamic marketplace."

 

The new venture is positioned to be the "logical choice" for corporate agencies, leisure agencies, brick and mortar agencies, online agencies, corporate travel departments, home-based agencies, and agency start-ups, according to the two companies.

 

by Phil Davies