18 | World Travel Inc.

T0624WORLDTRAVELINC_LOGO_350 [Credit: World Travel]
2023 sales: $1.3 billion
Previous ranking: 19
Employees: 513 full-time, 5 part-time

620 Pennsylvania Drive
Exton, PA 19341
Phone: (610) 458-5554
Website

Executives

CHAIR/CEO: Liz Mandarino
PRESIDENT: Erika Moore
CFO: Chris Clarke
VP/CORPORATE COUNSEL: Monica Lawrence
EVP, OPERATIONS AND STRATEGIC PLANNING: Pam Zager

COMPANY FACTS

* Employee-owned company providing B2B services and solutions for global travel and meetings management.

* 90% business, 5% leisure, 5% other.

2023 DEVELOPMENTS

* Called 2023 "the beginning of a new era," in which the company set foundations for modernization and digital transformation efforts in addition to a growth and expansion strategy.

* Revamped the digitalization of internal reporting and commercial analytics capabilities.

* Partnered with U.K. travel management company Clarity to launch the One Global Platform,  technology with regional flexibility around the world with standardized reporting, mobile and security profiles.

* Launched World VC, which enables shopping and booking on the same virtual, multiuse card that can be loaded in a digital wallet. It allows merchant category codes to be modified at the traveler/trip level.

* Established Travel Academy, a three-month course, to promote the success of a future generation of workers in corporate travel management. 

LOOKING AHEAD

* Becoming 100% cloud hosted with a fully integrated data ecosystem and achieving operational automation.

* Restructuring data orchestration architecture.

* Migrating phone systems into a contact center that integrates the company's ecosystem with the travel ecosystem.

* Enhancing personalization of services across all platforms.

* Adopting an agent overlay to become fully GDS-agnostic.

* Expecting 2024 to be another year of growth for business travel, with sales exceeding 2023, and focusing on delivering high-touch technology solutions.

* Understanding that 2024 is when NDC officially takes off and achieves a point of no return, opening a new era of collaboration between airlines and travel management companies.

* Anticipating NDC adoption will become more widespread, shedding light on new areas in which airlines will require support in fulfilling customer needs.

* Expecting travelers will begin to understand NDC's impact on choice and require more support to manage diversity and optimization in their travel programs.

* Expects travel and travel policy to become an increasing element of what the up-and-coming labor force views as "work benefits" and a critical component of work-life balance, placing more pressure on travel managers to enhance their travel programs and maintain a competitive advantage to attract talent.

Comments

BACK TO POWER LIST


JDS Travel News JDS Viewpoints JDS Africa/MI