2023 sales: $1.06 billion
Previous ranking: 26
Employees: 225 full-time
1625 S. Congress Ave., Suite 100
Delray Beach, FL 33445
Phone: (800) 873-5353
Website Executives
PRESIDENT, INTELETRAVEL: James Ferrara
EVP, INTELETRAVEL/CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER: Tara Minson
SVP, INDUSTRY RELATIONS, INTELETRAVEL: Dave Spinelli
PRESIDENT/MANAGING PARTNER OF HICKORY GLOBAL PARTNERS: Chris Dane
PRESIDENT/CEO OF MGME: Carvie Gillikin
CFO, INTELETRAVEL: Lori Currier
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, INTELETRAVEL: Susan Petrillo
COMPANY FACTS
* Privately held company.
* Business model includes hosted independent advisors, corporate travel members, a tour operator and a MICE company.
* Joseph Traina and James Ferrara are majority shareholders.
* Works with 105,000 independent contractors.
* $859 million in sales by hosted agents.
* Sales: 70% leisure, 20% business, 10% other.
* A member of Travel Leaders Network, Meeting Professionals International, ASTA, Association of British Travel Agents, CLIA, ARC, IATA, the Global Business Travel Association, the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence and the Professional Convention Management Association.
2023 DEVELOPMENTS
* Acquired Hickory Global Partners, a business and corporate travel consortium; MGME, a MICE provider that works mainly with blue-chip corporate and life sciences clients; and an undisclosed tour operator.
* Returned to Travel Leaders Network after a six-year hiatus.
* Pushed what it deems is a more modern blending of markets (bleisure) and began to integrate product control vertically, finding cost efficiencies and buying-power advantages.
* Advanced technology, including integrating AI to simplify operations for its advisors and optimize business processes and data reporting; introduced an automated rewards platform for points redeemable for luxury goods, electronics and travel; added native mobile apps for advisors to book and access management tools for their individual agency businesses.
* MGME is focused on giving neurodivergent people (10% to 15% of the population) the same considerations it provides other underrepresented community members. It plans to equip meeting planners with strategies to make their events more accessible and comfortable for the neurodivergent community across all touch points. MGME has also developed guidelines and a curriculum for event planning with an emphasis on the needs of neurodivergent people and has live event planners incorporate them into their action plans.
LOOKING AHEAD
* Expanding globally, providing new income opportunities and professional education to more hosted travel business owners; grow consortium membership, including new international networks; and add new MICE clients.
* Inventing more technology, including new AI-powered search; next-generation air solutions; loyalty and rewards programs; mobile apps for agents and customers; and proprietary booking- engine enhancements.
* Curating qualified labor using a cost-effective approach with three strategic off-shore logistics partnerships, operating high-quality call centers, and the new Hickory365 variable and responsive staffing solution.
* Vertically integrating powerful distribution across all travel market segments with proprietary technology and product/content.
* Delivering on its blended travel strategy by providing InteleTravel leisure contracts and programs to Hickory members and Hickory business travel education and content to InteleTravel-hosted advisors; also planning to launch its businesstravel.com platform.
* Expects another record-breaking year in 2024. Significant momentum thus far will propel the company through the friction of a presidential election year and other world events and toward more milestones. This includes additional mergers and acquisitions and another contemporary cruise market full-ship charter for its annual host agency conference, InteleTravel Quest.