Traveltek, a global leader in travel technology solutions, today announces a significant leadership transition as Tracy Sharpe, the company’s Global Director of Revenue, departs after five years of dedicated service. Sharpe's contributions have been instrumental in shaping Traveltek’s success, fostering strong relationships with partners, and playing a key role in helping Traveltek become a market leader in Cruise technology. The company extends its deepest gratitude to Sharpe for her outstanding dedication and achievements.   Stepping into a newly created role, Hayley West will take over as Head of Supplier Relationships. In her new role, West will focus on strengthening existing partnerships and creating exciting new marketing opportunities to drive growth. She will also lead efforts to expand Traveltek’s supplier relationships, enhancing the company’s ability to offer the most comprehensive Cruise API on the market. This API connects users and suppliers seamlessly, offering real-time access to cruise inventory, pricing, and content, enabling travel agencies and operators to efficiently search, book, and manage cruise experiences for their customers.   Cressida Sergeant, Chief Commercial Officer of Traveltek, commented on the transition:   "It's an exciting time for Traveltek as we recognise the power we create in connecting our customers and suppliers in the Traveltek ecosystem. We see this as the next step in our evolution to expand our marketing opportunities for suppliers. This is a challenging opportunity for Hayley and I’m sure she will excel. We thank Tracy for all her efforts in the last 5 years, her dedication has been immense and we wish her well for the future”   As Traveltek expands into new markets and solidifies its leadership in the travel technology sector, these strategic changes will enhance the value it delivers to partners, driving even greater innovation and efficiency. With a continued focus on growth and cutting-edge solutions, Traveltek is committed to empowering travel agencies, operators, and suppliers worldwide by providing world-class services and tools that redefine the travel technology landscape.

  Traveltek is proud to announce that DidaTravel, a tech-driven global travel wholesaler is now available to book on the Traveltek platform. DidaTravel specialises in the Far East and is a leading player in the APAC market, which continues to experience steady sales growth.   With over 25 years of delivering cutting-edge travel technology solutions, Traveltek continues to expand its global reach through one of the industry's most extensive travel technology networks.  The partnership with DidaTravel will offer Traveltek’s global customer base unparalleled access to the fastest-growing source markets, enabling clients to meet ever-evolving customer expectations.   DidaTravel boasts a portfolio of over 75,000 competitively sourced direct hotel contracts, as well as 1 million hotel products provided by 600+ global suppliers, covering more than 200 countries/regions. Additionally, the company offers over 20,000 tours and activities products and connects with 500+ airlines flying to more than 20,000 destinations worldwide.   Traveltek’s Global Director of Revenue & Supply, Tracy Sharp commented “It’s my pleasure to welcome DidaTravel to our platform via our partnership with Travelgate, giving access to an impressive range of hotel products for our global customers. Success is a blend of technology and people; it was great to receive feedback from our Project Manager Francesca Welham on how super-efficient DidaTravel was during the integration.  I look forward to seeing how our partnership thrives as we onboard customers.”   Frank Woller, VP of Business Development for EMEA at DidaTravel added: “We are thrilled to partner with Traveltek to offer its customers easy access to a wealth of competitively sourced, travel accommodation products globally, supported by a best-in-class customer service team. Through this partnership, we are looking forward to delivering a valuable worldwide portfolio to new segments and prospects”.

  Renowned river cruise company, Avalon Waterways, is the latest major industry player to become part of the extensive Traveltek network. Users of Traveltek’s market-leading reservation platform and cruise booking system now have access to cruise content and itineraries, and flat file pricing for Avalon Waterways’ extensive selection of river cruises.   Avalon Waterways, known for prioritising its agents and expanding its routes, offers exceptional river cruises with unique features like the Open-Air Balcony® and Comfort Collection Beds℠ that face panoramic views. Avalon Waterways’ commitment to customer preferences includes increased health-focused itineraries, sustainability efforts, and solo traveller deals, earning them the prestigious ServiceMark accreditation in a first for the British travel industry. Avalon Waterways sails across the world including Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America.   Integration of Avalon Waterways into Traveltek’s platform will provide clients with a wider array of luxurious, immersive travel options, complete with exceptional service and unique cruising experiences.   Traveltek’s Global Director of Revenue & Supply, Tracy Sharp commented “I’m thrilled we are partnering with Avalon Waterways, another heavyweight in the river cruise industry, as Traveltek continues to focus on adding further cruise lines on our platform. This shows our commitment in offering a truly global range of cruise partners for our clients in all markets.”   Phil Shipman, UK Sales Director for Avalon Waterways agrees, “We are over the moon to be partnering up with Traveltek. This is a great opportunity to further expand the wide range of Avalon cruises and destinations to clients across the world. Working with Traveltek is a key objective as we continue to prioritise working with the travel trade and I’m excited to see the results.”

  Traveltek, a leading travel technology provider, is proud to announce its latest partnership with VIVA Cruises, a European river cruise company.   With the addition of VIVA Cruises to Traveltek’s partnership network, agents will now have access to flat file pricing, itineraries, and ship content for the cruise line’s 9 ships operating on 7 rivers.   VIVA Cruises has a strong maritime heritage as their parent company is Scylla, one of the biggest family owned river cruise companies, and offers year-round premium all-inclusive cruises to some of Europe’s most popular destinations. VIVA Cruises boasts a nine-ship fleet including VIVA ONE and VIVA TWO – their two very own build ships; with the third one, VIVA ENJOY, in the pipeline. VIVA Cruises has also recently announced new Douro itineraries on board new built ship, PORTO MIRANTE, from May 2025.   This new partnership is a strong testament to Traveltek’s mission to provide travel companies the most comprehensive cruise supplier network. Traveltek currently offers access to over 300 suppliers encompassing air travel, hotels, cruise lines, payment services, and ancillaries. Through this extensive network of suppliers, Traveltek is able to offer travel companies the access they need to cater to the unique preferences of customers and enhance their overall travel experience.   Speaking of the latest partnership, Tracy Sharp, Global Director of Revenue and Supply at Traveltek commented “I am delighted to announce that VIVA Cruises has chosen to partner with Traveltek as an important addition to our cruise product offering and part of our river cruise portfolio expansion. This partnership will benefit our customers who are responding to the surge in demand in European river cruises.”   Patrick Ell, Director Marketing & Digital for VIVA Cruises, commented: “We are very excited about our collaboration with Traveltek. By adding our river cruise itineraries into the Traveltek platform, VIVA Cruises is expanding its reach and providing travel agents with a new premium river cruise experience for their customers, who will appreciate the relaxed atmosphere and the varied itineraries on offer.”

  Traveltek, a global leader in travel technology, proudly announces the latest upgrade to its award winning iSell Platform with the integration of Duffel.   By combining the strengths of Traveltek's iSell Platform and Duffel's innovative technology, this integration allows for travel companies to effortlessly connect to hundreds of airlines and a variety of content through a singular API, simplifying access to New Distribution Capability (NDC), Global Distribution System (GDS), and direct Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) offerings.   Duffel’s Links product, powered by their Flights API, introduces customers to an intuitive and stylish user interface for seamless flight search and booking. Users can easily add these flights to their iSell basket along with other products, creating a streamlined and customisable booking experience.   Duffel's integration with Traveltek's iSell Platform marks a significant milestone in streamlining the process for agents to offer a diverse range of flights and services and the platform’s growing list of capabilities.   With this integration, travel agents are empowered to monetise flight extras (such as additional baggage and preferred seating) and have the flexibility to manage booking changes and cancellations efficiently with just a few clicks. It also brings direct access to an impressive line-up of top airlines, including Air Canada, American Airlines, British Airways, Emirates, United Airlines, along with access to 300+ other carriers.   Mal Barrit, CEO of Traveltek commented: “Embracing innovation is at the core of our mission, and integrating the Duffel air product into our renowned platform marks a significant step forward. Duffel's disruptive approach to air distribution aligns seamlessly with our commitment to excellence. We are excited to deepen our partnership and continue delivering exceptional product capabilities to our customers.”   Steve Domin, CEO of Duffel commented: “We are thrilled to embark on this partnership with Traveltek, bringing Duffel's cutting-edge technology to their flagship iSell product. At Duffel, we believe that technology has a fundamental role to play in reshaping the travel industry, making it more accessible, effortless and rewarding for all. From the beginning, we realised that Traveltek shared similar beliefs and our commitment to innovation. This integration represents a leap forward in our shared vision of simplifying travel booking for agents and improving the end-to-end experience for travellers worldwide.

Travel technology specialist Traveltek has announced the appointment of Christian Sansom as new Head of the Asia Pacific region. Sansom joins as Traveltek celebrates its 25th anniversary with a year of record growth and scales up the business across international markets. Based in Australia, Sansom will report to Chief Commercial Officer, Cressida Sergeant. In this role, he will be responsible for driving further growth in the Asia Pacific travel market and building relationships with key clients throughout the region. Sansom brings in-depth knowledge of the travel market. He spent the last eight years working for HBX Group (Hotelbeds), most recently focusing on the B2B distribution of HBX’s Mobility and Experiences products across APAC and China. Sanson said: “I am delighted to be taking on this new role and look forward to contributing to the company's success and collaborating with a talented team.” “I am really excited to build upon the existing relationships across APAC that I have.” Cressida Sergeant, chief commercial officer, said: “Christian will be a huge asset to our team.  I’m confident that his expertise and experience will bring a wealth of benefits.”   

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  Travel technology specialist Traveltek is delighted to announce the appointment of Rebecca Somes as their Head of Digital Marketing.   Somes joins at an exciting time for Traveltek, following a second year of record-breaking growth for the global technology specialist.   Somes will report to Chief Commercial Officer, Cressida Sergeant and be responsible for working closely with the Traveltek sales team to drive international growth. A key part of her role will be to maintain brand awareness in mature markets for Traveltek and raise the profile of Traveltek in North America. Rebecca is also tasked with continuing to further automate processes and imbed AI tools to aid the sales team in their productivity.   Somes brings over a decade of valuable expertise gained in the North American, Middle Eastern, and European markets. After a successful tenure abroad, she returned to the UK in 2021. Her experience ranges from steering the marketing operations of a prominent US start up to crafting and executing dynamic marketing strategies for diverse public and private sector companies.   Somes said: “I am delighted to join Traveltek as Head of Digital Marketing, as it presents an exciting opportunity to merge my cross-regional experiences with my passion for the travel sector. I look forward to working with the team to create more innovative and engaging marketing campaigns and to turn Traveltek into one of the most well known names in travel technology.”   Cressida Sergeant, Chief Commercial Officer, said: “I’m excited to welcome Rebecca to Traveltek to help us on our quest to make Traveltek famous. Rebecca will work closely with sales to help us drive growth, but it is also important we educate the travel industry on how technology is essential for scalability and growth. We have some exciting plans for 2024 and Rebecca’s diverse background and excellent experience will be a key ingredient for our success this year.”  

  Traveltek is delighted to announce their partnership with Cruise Planners following the announcement of Sabre exiting the cruise market in October 2023.   Cruise Planners, a longstanding Sabre customer, has signed a partnership agreement with Traveltek to power their cruise solution for their agents across the USA.   Cruise Planners is the nation’s premiere travel franchise network, with over 2500+ franchise owners in all 50 states and has been operating since 1994. Cruise Planners franchise owners own and operate their own travel agency business and earn money helping clients plan amazing travel experiences such as cruises, land tours, and all-inclusive resort vacations.   Over the last 25 years, Traveltek has developed technology which enables leisure travel companies to package together an extensive range of hotels, flights, cruises, and ancillary travel services in one seamless transaction globally.   Cruise Planners franchises will benefit from access to over 30,000 integrated itineraries across all major ocean and river cruise lines and exclusive deals from thirty cruise lines around the world in a single aggregated Cruise API.   “When we were looking at partners to work with, Traveltek was the clear choice. Their years of experience and commitment to delivering a world-class product, made our decision easy.” said Brian Shultz, Chief Information Officer of Cruise Planners.   “We are delighted to partner with Cruise Planners. I first met with the team in Coral Springs in February 2023, and it was great meeting a team who are clearly passionate about driving innovation and efficiency to their agents. I am really looking forward to collaborating with the team closer as we commence our partnership” - Rebecca Esterhuizen SVP - North America Traveltek

  Traveltek’s Cruise API and agent desktop solution iSell, will enable Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) agents globally to drive their ambitious Cruise growth plans through Traveltek’s award winning and market leading technology. This product will drive growth across all the major ocean and river cruise lines for Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) globally as part of a newly signed agreement.   Traveltek and FCTG have partnered in the APAC region for over 14 years and recently signed an extended Global contract which will now see Traveltek power Cruise globally for the company’s leisure businesses in North America, Canada the UK and South Africa as well as continuing to support the leisure businesses in Australia and New Zealand.  Flight Centre’s cruise agents will benefit from access to exclusive deals from 30 cruise lines around the world in a single aggregated Cruise API and utilise iSell. FCTG agents will also be able to access Traveltek’s new Agent Connect product coming to the market next month for US based agents who chose this option.   Signed in August 2023, Traveltek’s Cruise solution will help FCTG take advantage of the immense potential in the Global Cruise market for further growth. FCTG will also benefit from the enhanced product investments that Traveltek are currently making and will utilise the new Connect suite of products as they become available across Global markets.   Traveltek’s, Chief Commercial Officer, Cressida Sergeant commented: “We are thrilled to be a part of the next significant growth chapter for FCTG’s Cruise division and look forward to working closely with them to deliver against their ambitious targets and tap into the new to Cruise market which clearly exists. It has been a pleasure to work with the team in Australia and NZ for the last 14 years and we look forward to supporting Flight Centre grow its Cruise business in other markets, especially North America, where we have seen real demand for Cruise technology. We continue to heavily invest in our Cruise technology and look forward to further success with our Flight Centre partnership”

 

Traveltek are set for a record-breaking year in 2023 as they launch Cruise Connect and invest heavily in the US market with a new country leader

  Traveltek, the Cruise connectivity and travel software experts are delighted to announce the appointment of Rebecca Esterhuizen to Senior Vice President North America. Having served with the business for 6 years and previously spearheaded growth for APAC, before relocating to Toronto in November.   Esterhuizen started her career at Flight Centre in the finance team, before moving to Traveltek and has progressed through the ranks to run the APAC region for the last 3 years, being instrumental in managing key partnerships including the Global flight Centre relationship and overseeing significant growth with the innovative business Ignite and other major players in the APAC market.   Traveltek is gearing up for a solid year of growth and innovation after an extremely successful 2022. In 2022 Traveltek won ‘Best Technology provider’ at the prestigious Travel Weekly Globe Awards in London and ‘Best Technology Team’ at the Travolution awards in London, 9 months later. Traveltek announced their rebrand at World Travel market before jetting to Phocuswright a week later to announce a new partnership with Sabre. Traveltek will power Sabre’s cruise solution when Sabre exits the Cruise market in October 2023. This product will be Traveltek’s new look Cruise Connect, a Graph QL Cruise API and Agent Connect product, a cruise desktop solution.   Commented on the recent successes and her new role, Esterhuizen said  “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to spearhead Traveltek’s growth in the largest global Cruise market. I’m excited to work with all our existing partners in the North America region and to continue our close relationship with Sabre. With our new products coming to the market in 2023, its certainly set to be an exciting year”   Over the last 20 years, Traveltek has developed technology which enables leisure travel companies to package together an extensive range of hotels, flights, cruises and ancillary travel services in one seamless transaction globally. Traveltek over the last 5 years has dominated the UK sector working with a large number of consortia and leading retail brands and they are now keen to continue that success in North America.  “We have seen significant success in the US market in the last 3 years through our partnerships with Jetblue, Hotelbeds, Incruises, and passport online to name a few. We are excited to partner with Sabre and having Rebecca in region to manage this growth is incredible for our customers with her experience and knowledge, I’m sure she will excel in this new role” commented Cressida Sergeant, Chief Commercial Officer at Traveltek.

  We are excited to announce that Virgin Voyages will be available for bookings on Traveltek’s iSell platform.   In this partnership, Traveltek customers using the iSell system will be able to access and book Virgin Voyages ‘Elegant Design + A Touch of Luxury’ - Offering a superyacht aesthetic with award-winning spaces.   Over the last 20 years, Traveltek has developed technology which enables leisure travel companies to package together an extensive range of hotels, flights, cruises, and ancillary travel services in one seamless transaction globally. Traveltek over the last 5 years has dominated the UK sector working with a large number of consortia and leading retail brands who are moving into selling cruise to new-to-cruise and those looking for a boutique hotel at sea. This latest development will also help customers in all global markets including the US market where Traveltek has seen significant success in the last 3 years with growth.

 

iSell customers will now be able to source their own rates from hotels & channel managers directly through this new relationship

  Fastpayhotels, the B2B accommodation supplier, announced today the launch of a new partnership with Traveltek. In this partnership, Traveltek customers using the iSell system will be able to access Fastpayhotels´ 40,000 direct dynamic rate accommodation contracts around the world.   Additionally, after much demand from existing customers, Traveltek and Fastpayhotels have also developed a way for iSell customers to negotiate, sign and manage their own rates and deals with hotels around the world using the Fastpayhotels - TravelTek connection called By Invitation Only (BIO).   ¨Having shed our focus on non-refundable rates over 3 years ago now, the business has been busy delivering a Next Generation tech platform so that travel agents can access dynamic rates in our hotels and vacation rentals in over 120 countries.¨ said Alex Gisbert, CEO of Fastpayhotels , ¨We are excited now also to be partnering with Traveltek to allow travel agents to use our By Invitation Only (BIO) business model to also sign their own deals with hotels with dynamic or static rates.”   Over the last 20 years, Traveltek has developed technology which enables leisure travel companies to package together an extensive range of hotels, flights, cruises and ancillary travel services in one seamless transaction globally. Traveltek over the last 5 years has dominated the UK sector working with a large number of consortia and leading retail brands who are all now asking for more choice with their hotel supply. This latest development will also help customers in all global markets including the US market where Traveltek has seen significant success in the last 3 years with growth.   ¨Traveltek has a solid history of tech innovation in the UK and more recently across the globe. This partnership with Fastpayhotels enables our customers to be able connect to most hotel chains in the world, with an cost effective business model often cheaper than doing it themselves. ¨ Said Mal Barritt, CEO of Traveltek. ¨Fastpayhotels has demonstrated the technical agility to bring global chains, channel managers, vacation rentals, content APIs and hotel confirmation numbers into one platform. This will be an exciting time for iSell customers as they look to ramp up their supply of dynamic rates and improve lates availability directly using By Invitation¨   This unique partnership will immediately bring connections such as Derbysoft, Dingus or Siteminder to iSell customers as well as allowing any iSell customers to be able to offer Fastpayhotels´ 40,000 own stock hotels including flexible, promotional and package rates.