One year ago, Direct Travel announced the acquisition of ATPI, bringing together two longtime partners with a shared vision for the future of travel management.
At the time, I wrote about the opportunity ahead of us: combining our complementary strengths, expanding our global reach, accelerating our innovation, and creating an organization capable of delivering exceptional service around the world.
A year later, we can see that vision coming to life. Today Direct Travel serves more than 7,000 customers, and teams that once worked alongside one another as partners are now working together. They are sharing knowledge, solving challenges, and creating new opportunities for our customers.
We have accomplished a great deal in a short time, and there is still much more ahead. This anniversary is a chance to celebrate that progress and look forward to the next chapter.
Greater Reach, Connected by Global Expertise
The combination of Direct Travel and ATPI opened the door to serving customers in new ways and in more places around the world.
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with colleagues across many of those markets. I’ve seen firsthand the knowledge our teams bring to their work, the relationships they have built with customers, and the value that comes from sharing those perspectives across borders.
That depth extends across the full range of travel we manage. Our corporate travel business continues to grow, while our specialized work across the energy, marine, mining, and sports sectors brings decades of experience to industries with distinct and often complex travel requirements.
We have also taken significant steps toward delivering a more consistent travel experience worldwide. Avenir has rolled out across regions in Europe, APAC, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America, and has expanded into our global specialty markets.
Together, these developments are helping us deliver on the vision we set out a year ago: connecting modern technology, deep industry knowledge, and human service for our customers around the world.
Progress Powered by People
Much of that progress has been made possible by our people.
Their expertise and collaboration are also helping Avenir continue to evolve, giving organizations more direct access to the content, trusted data, and service they need to manage travel. New capabilities such as Ask Avenir, expanded guest travel, and broader airline content and global points of sale are making it easier to find answers and make informed decisions.
Across the organization, we are continuing to invest in technology, data, AI, and service. And behind that innovation are the people making it possible. Direct Travel teams around the world have earned recognition from several of the industry’s leading awards programs for their work across service, operations, client partnerships, sales, and leadership. These achievements reflect the talent and dedication I see throughout our organization every day.
Over the past year, colleagues have learned from one another and found new ways to work across regions and teams. Watching those connections develop has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.
Building on Our Momentum
A year can go by quickly, but looking back at everything our teams have accomplished makes the significance of this milestone clear.
We have expanded the reach of our worldwide network, introduced Avenir across major regions and new markets, advanced the platform with new intelligent capabilities, built on our leadership in highly specialized sectors, and earned recognition for the people and teams delivering exceptional work around the world.
Now, we get to build on that momentum.
We will keep evolving Avenir, investing in our people and service, growing across the industries we serve, and finding better ways to support customers wherever their travel takes them.
As we enter the next chapter, we will keep expanding access and bringing our technology, expertise, and service together more consistently for customers around the world. One year in, the progress is clear, and the opportunity ahead is even greater.
