TravelPerk Acquires AmTrav As US Business Travel Rebounds

TravelPerk is expanding into the U.S. by acquiring fellow business travel platform, Chicago-based AmTrav.

“Both platforms will capitalize on proprietary tech, AI capabilities, and expanded resources to further expand in the US — a market valued at $329 billion in business travel spend in 2023, according to the GBTA,” Spain-based TravelPerk said in a news release Tuesday (June 18).

“The acquisition will see TravelPerk double its revenue in the US, following 65% year-over-year growth in the market in 2023,” the company added. “TravelPerk’s US-based headcount and footprint expands to now include offices in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami. AmTrav will operate under the same brand, and the entire team will continue with the business going forward.”

The company also announced it had raised a new credit facility of up to $135 million led by alternative asset managers Blackstone Credit & Insurance and Blue Owl Credit.

This followed the $104 million investment, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, that TravelPerk announced in January.

The acquisition is happening at a time when business travel is rebounding, for both the small- to medium-sized business (SMB) and corporate sectors alike.

A report earlier this month by Reuters examined industry talk from the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, where hotel CEOs said that corporations are prioritizing domestic business travel over international, while SMBs are driving more repeat business as they convene more often and closer to home.

The CEOs also say that trade associations are booking events as many as seven years in advance to get the dates and locations they want, paying prices that are higher than they were before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) reported last month that it saw an increase in travel from its global multinational customers during the first quarter, exceeding the growth in SMBs’ business travel for the first time in the post-pandemic era.

“In global multinational, we’ve seen very positive same-store sales growth across several sectors, particularly technology, up approximately 30% in the first quarter,” Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott said on the company’s quarterly earnings call. “We also saw double-digit growth in professional services, pharma, mining, energy and utilities.”

And in April, American Airlines reported a steady rise in business travel, aligning with the resurgence seen in the leisure travel sector in the past three years. The airline achieved record first-quarter revenue in April, with business travel showing robust growth, especially among smaller businesses.