Unlocking Global Success: How Travel Management Companies Are Building Strong Partnerships: Know More

Published on July 18, 2025

The travel management sector has seen a shake-up with the likes of American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) and CWT seeking to merge and increase market share. As a result, many independent travel management companies (TMCs) have been reconsidering their growth and competitive strategy, especially amidst competition for major corporate clients. There’s increasing pressure on businesses to grow and compete in a consolidating market.

Some TMCs are opting to grow through acquisitions to expand their footprint, others through a different expansion path: affiliation with an TMC network or consortium. This is done in an extremely cost-effective way, ensuring global coverage, without a huge financial risk needed to expand through first line channels, particularly within such an inflationary economy. In this article, we explore how TMCs are dealing with these changes and why strategic partnerships are crucial with the changing face of global travel.

The strong role of alliances in competitive marketplace

One of the best examples of such a strategy of growing via partnerships is rtk International, a TMC with headquarters in Luxembourg that is gaining huge traction across Europe. The rtk Group is a dominant player in the European travel management market and has successfully capitalized on strategic alliances to extend its presence. The company’s purchase of Belgium’s Avitour in 2019 was a significant move in its efforts to solidify its position in the Benelux. More recently, rtk has solidified its position in France and opened a channel to greater Europe with the purchase of a 34% interest in TourCom, of France.

By making strategic investments such as these, rtk can improve its negotiating position with suppliers, obtain preferential rates and strike privileged technology partnerships at a time when such relationships are increasingly important in the highly competitive travel space. As a result of the deal, rtk now has a broader service network spanning a number of European markets, accessing a greater client pool and being able to offer a broader service offering. This enables them to deliver a consistent corporate travel experience for the business travelers in various markets, including consolidated booking tools and tailored travel management services.

The ability to use collective purchasing power and tap into global resources without having to establish a physical presence has proven to be a big advantage for the rtk and other such organisations against smaller independent TMCs. For such companies, joining a larger network means global access and expanded services in the marketplace while maintaining the freedom to operate independently.

Participating in Networks or Consortia: The Road to World-Wide Service with a Fraction of the Investment

After all, TMCs have had to deal for years with the hurdle of competing with behemoths such as Amex GBT and CWT, especially in a market where sheer size yields big-time market presence. M&A continues to be a favored method for growth, but for independent TMCs that cannot—or do not wish to—make the massive financial commitment associated with an acquisition, joining a TMC network or consortium represents a compelling approach to expand.

Through coming into a TMC network, smaller firms who may not have a competitive edge among peers are able to blend resources and strengthen competitive positions with other such-minded entities. Networks can offer the opportunities for the TMCs to own these types of assets similar to the consortia, and can provide preferred supplier rates, shared resources, and common technology platforms that individual TMCs may find challenging to acquire on their own. For instance, being part of several consortia has allowed rtk to access resource pooling of technology and to negotiate discounted prices from suppliers across Europe.

In addition, TMC consortium members derive further value from networking, best practice sharing, industry analysis and co-marketing opportunities, all of which are necessary to succeed in a growing marketplace. That for a lot of smaller TMCs it’s a smarter and cheaper way to grow without the overhead of an amalgamation, just like preferential collaboration at the local level between small to medium-sized TMCs.

The Importance of Technology in Travel Management is on the Rise

Like all businesses, TMCs are using technology to deliver better customer experience as well as to add operational efficiencies and as the travel sector becomes more tech-dependent, TMCs are looking to technology partnerships to stay competitive. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics, when implemented in travel management systems, are changing the way travel agencies cope with the bookings, optimize itineraries, and monitor the costs.

Specifically, technology is allowing TMCs to provide more individualized travel, anticipate client needs more accurately, and provide in the moment responses to issues that arise. At the same time, as the preferences of corporate travelers continue to shift this becomes more and more important. Innovative technologies supported by companies like those in the rtk consortium enable travel management companies to provide better services to their clients, such as self booking tools, powerful data analysis, and fortified travel ecosystems to ease the pain of traveling.

In each week that passes, technology is increasingly as important to TMCs as a good supplier deal when it comes to staying ahead of the game. This is why a lot of companies are relying on tech partnerships with the companies in their networks to be operationally efficient, and able to provide modern business capabilities to your clients without needing to invest heavily on manufacturing the technology behind the scenes.

Effect on Smaller TMCs due to The Emergence Of The Globe-trotting Clientele

Consolidation across the industry led by giants such as Amex GBT and CWT is raising the stakes for smaller TMCs trying to stay competitive. As large cross-border mergers provide more extensive global networks, the networking challenges, and those relating to integration and upholding personalized service in some aspects of business, become more difficult. Smaller, but independent, TMCs that can become part of networks or partnerships can then offer the global reach of larger competitors, but can often still offer the flexibility, tailored services and specialist know-how which are disproportionately absent from larger companies.

With the likes of rtk racing ahead through acquisition led growth and synergies, collaboration is going to be the key to success in global travel market. These relationships are allowing independent TMCs to compete with their larger counterparts, without losing their bespoke approach to client solutions.

Conclusion: Cooperative Growth in a New World of Business

The TMC – travel management company – world is developing rapidly, and if there’s a spotlight on anything it’s mergers and acquisitions. While for smaller, independent TMCs, joining networks and consortia will be a means to come together and form strategic alliances that allow them to compete with larger players. It enables them to expand their worldwide footprint, strengthen offerings, and capitalize on the synergies of a larger organization — all without the cost (or risk) of a massive acquisition.

Entering into a time period where technology and supplier relationships are paramount in travel management, those TMCs who are willing to work together, innovate, and merge resources effectively are set for success. The world of corporate travel is changing and TMCs who can adapt in the right way to these changes, via strategic alliances will survive, bringing their superior services to global clients in an industry that is becoming more and more competitive.

Source : www.businesstravelnewseurope.com