The two online giants that have dominated Power List for the past few years,
Expedia and
Priceline, ranked 1 and 2 again -- separated by fractions of a million dollars, the equivalent of a nose in a horse race. And both leapfrogged from $39 billion to top $50 billion each, without stopping in the $40 billion range, fueled by acquisitions and a stronger economy.
No other company was even close. Third-ranked American Express registered just under $30 billion in sales (for more, see "Industry Focus"). This year, a record 21 companies achieved sales of $1 billion or more.
Other highlights of this year's Power List:
• Consolidation and more consolidation to come: Peak Travel, long on the Power List, was acquired by Direct Travel (15). US Travel Alaska, another regular listee, was acquired by Australia-based Corporate Travel Management (14). A first-time listee, Teplis Travel (55), was acquired by Frosch Travel (19) on Jan. 1, 2015. Similarly, Orbitz (7) was acquired by Expedia and, depending on whether it is operated independently (and clears regulatory hurdles), might not appear on the list next year.
• Despite the consolidation, there are more listees this year, partly because of new entrants. Corporate Travel Management itself is a new listee. Aside from Teplis, the other new listees are Vision Travel Solutions (26), a Toronto-based company; and OutsideAgents.com (60).
• There were several returnees to the list. JTB Americas Group (16), Travizon (25) and Adtrav (42) had not participated in the Power List for a year or more but chose to do so this year.
• Almost all listees reported sales gains in 2014, and a few saw dramatic increases through organic growth and acquisition. One was Direct Travel, which has seen tremendous growth in the past few years, climbing from $768 million in 2013 to $1.2 billion last year. Christopherson Andavo Travel (28) soared from $384 million to $510 million.
• Listees were again asked about their business models. Most said they sell directly to consumers, although there are a number of B2B operators. And there continue to be more listees every year that combine centralized agency and hosted structures. Several agencies that serve exclusively or almost exclusively as host agencies appear on the list. They include Avoya (35), Travel Experts (37) and OutsideAgents.com.
• A decade ago, corporate agencies dominated the top of the list. Today, it's not only the two top listees that specialize in leisure travel. A number of agencies that are leisure-dominant continue to thrive, as consumers turn to agents to help them deal with a surfeit of information. Leisure specialists include FC USA (8), Fareportal/Travelong (9), Loyalty Travel (17), World Travel Holdings (22), I.C.E. (24), Travel Experts, Cruise Planners (40), Global Travel International (54), CruCon Cruise Outlet (57) and OutsideAgents.com.
• The answers to "open questions" about developments in 2014 and in the future were, as has been the case for years, dominated by technology. Companies are rushing to adopt in-house solutions as well as partnering with companies like Concur to make the travel experience seamless and cost effective.
• One interesting development was what seemed to be a surge in companies developing their own travel schools. Among them were Travel Leaders Group (11), Travel and Transport (12) and Ovation Travel Group (21). This trend appears to be a reaction to the need to recruit young professionals into the growing fields of travel sales and corporate travel management.
That trend toward education is a vivid demonstration of how optimistic the travel management industry is. The assertion that millennials will not use travel agents is already being proven untrue -- and it is those same millennials to whom travel companies are looking as the next generation of travel professionals.