Travel Weekly has released its annual Power List for 2023, revealing the world's biggest sellers based on full-year 2022 travel sales.
While last year's list saw a major recovery for leisure travel in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, this year's Power List suggests that business travel is also in the midst of a significant bounce back.
With sales numbers booming, Travel Weekly restored the traditional $100 million global sales threshold for agencies for the first time since the pandemic was declared in 2020.
The top five companies retained their order from last year but more than a dozen agencies entered the list for the first time. In total, 61 companies made the 2023 Power List. Here's a look at the top 20 and where they stand right now.
1. Booking Holdings
(photo courtesy of Booking Holdings)
Booking Holdings, which is inclusive of brands such as Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Rentalcars.com, Kayak and OpenTable, held steady at number one this year, with 2022 sales topping $121 billion, up significantly from $76.6 billion in 2021.
2. Expedia Group
Expedia Group remains the second-most-powerful travel agency in 2023 with sales of $95.1 billion last year. The online travel agency boasts a slew of well-known brands including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, Vrbo, Trivago and Hotwire.
3. American Express Global Business Travel
American Express Global Business Travel, which went public in May, also held steady at number three on the Power List with 2022 sales of $23 billion. Looking ahead, Amex GBT is expecting a 24 percent growth in business travel spend.
4. BCD Travel
(photo courtesy of BCD Travel)
BCD Travel, a privately held B2B travel management company owned by BCD Group, ranks fourth yet again in 2023, with sales climbing from $6.5 billion in 2021 to $16 billion in 2022. The company will enter a new era next month when Stephan Baars will succeed President and CEO John Snyder, who spent three decades with the company.
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5. CWT
CWT continues to rank as the fifth most powerful travel agency with 2022 sales of $13.6 billion. The privately held company is owned through funds managed by global financial institutions such as Barings, MacKay Shields and Monarch Alternative Capital and sells travel products directly to customers.
6. Flight Centre
With sales totaling $11.7 billion last year, Flight Centre climbed one spot on the Power List to sixth after placing seventh last year. Of its hefty sales total last year, $313 million was completed by hosted agents. Flight Centre is eyeing growth with the acquisition of U.K.-based Scott Dunn Travel and the expansion of its New York office to serve as a center for Corporate Traveler.
7. American Express Travel
(photo courtesy of American Express Travel)
American Express Travel, a full-service and lifestyle services provider for American Express cardholders, did not submit a Power List survey but produced an estimated $9.2 billion in sales in last year, placing it ninth on the 2023 Power List.
8. Chase Travel Group
The Chase Travel Group was unranked a year ago but places eighth in 2023 with reported sales of $8.5 billion in 2022, including $644 million completed by hosted agents. The privately held company works with 800 independent contractors and last year acquired Frosch, which finished No. 14 in Travel Weekly's 2022 rankings.
9. Hopper
Hopper, which announced a distribution deal with JetBlue last year, climbed two places to ninth this year, totaling 2022 sales of $6 billion. The company is clearly on the right path as last year's sales tripled over 2021.
10. CTM
Corporate Travel Management experienced a bit of a slip in 2023, falling from eighth to 10th with sales totaling $5.1 billion last year. A Virtuoso member, CTM notes that early 2023 activity shows rapid recovery in many global markets.
11. Internova
Internova also dropped two spots from last year, ranking 11th with 2022 sales reaching $5 billion. Host agency completed $2.8 billion of those sales. Moving forward, Internova plans to double down on the luxury category and invest in ESG strategy, with employee travel becoming carbon neutral by year's end.
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12. Direct Travel
(photo courtesy of Direct Travel)
Virtuoso member and Creative Group owner Direct Travel saw 2022 sales reach $3.6 billion, a vast majority of which was the result of business travel. As it looks to grow business, Direct Travel is enhancing its AI offering by deploying a multilingual virtual assistant and is transitioning more tasks to automation to allow travel advisors to spend more time on critical support interactions.
13. Fareportal
Fareportal falls three spots on this year's Power List. The privately held company, which operates brands throughout the world, selling air tickets, hotels, cars and vacation packages, reported 2022 sales of $3.3 billion last year.
14. AAA Travel
(photo courtesy of AAA)
AAA Travel's 2022 included the digitizing of AAA Tour Books, the launch of the Inspected Clean Program and Trip Canvass as well as $3.2 billion in total sales. Looking ahead, is seeing pent-up demand for cruises, tours and European destinations as well as strong domestic travel growth, according to the Power List.
15. World Travel Holdings
World Travel Holdings' 2022 sales climbed to $1.6 billion. The privately held company works with more than 4,000 independent contractors and boasts a portfolio that includes nearly 40 brands distributing cruises, villas, resort vacations, car rentals, resort day passes and luxury travel services.
16. Navigatr Group
After being unranked last year, Navigatr Group checks in at 16th on the Power List this year with sales reaching $1.4 billion in 2022. The travel entity recently acquired Ensemble and rebuilt the consortium to maximize profitability for members. Unsurprisingly, Navigatr Group has big plans to expand in the months and years to come.
17. ATG
(photo courtesy of ATG)
ATG, which specializes in business travel management, is expanding its reach into the Middle East with two franchise offices in Qatar and Kuwait after reporting sales of $1.2 billion last year. One of the company's big 2022 developments included partnering with Squake to bring emissions visibility into the booking and decision-making process.
18. Arrivia
2022 was a busy year for Scottsdale, Arizona-based Arrivia, which saw sales total $1 billion. The privately held company acquired lodging platform RedWeek, rolled out a Next Generation technology platform and streamlined all aspects of its core business, among other things.
19. World Travel
With 2022 sales reaching $951 million, World Travel is up one spot from last year after its business development team achieved 234 percent of its goal for new sales in 2022. Looking ahead, the company is trending at 120 percent of 2019 revenue and is anticipating seeing a continued meaningful recovery in corporate travel.
Cruise Planners. (Photo Credit: Cruise Planners)
20. Cruise Planners
Cruise Planners is down just two spots from last year. The Signature Travel Network member, which works with 2,500 independent contractors booking strictly leisure travel, reported 2022 sales of $845 million. Like so many of the agencies on this list, the future appears bright for Cruise Planners, which has already surpassed 2019 sales by 22 percent and 2022 sales by 13 percent in 2023.
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