With American Express Global Business Travel and CWT looking to merge, independent TMCs may well be thinking that they need to scale to be able to compete, particularly for larger corporate clients.

While some TMCs have chosen to go on the acquisition trail, others have decided that joining one of the TMC networks or consortia is the way to achieve global reach without having to commit large sums to expansion, particularly in an inflationary world. The financial muscle of being able to leverage large volumes of travel is paying off with access to preferential rates from suppliers and access to partnership agreements with key suppliers, particularly in the technology space.

This year we have expanded the network list to include a number of other players in the European market. Luxembourg-based rtk continues to make waves. After acquiring Belgium¡¯s Avitour (also new to the listing) in 2019, it has now taken a 34 per cent stake in France¡¯s TourCom as part of a further international expansion.

*Estimated sales figures

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Also new to this year's list is Virtuoso. The network is largely focused on luxury travel rather than business travel as such but a number of important travel management companies are members because of the work they have done with clients in the entertainment sector or for their work with C-suite executives.

Another newcomer is One Global Travel, the network created by Clarity Travel Management and long-standing US partner World Travel Inc in October 2022 and whose members now exceed 20 travel management companies worldwide.

One name has disappeared from our rankings ¨C ITP. The International Travel Partnership was established in 1986 as a consortium of independent, locally owned and managed travel management companies collaborating on the Hickory Worldwide Hotel Directory. The company was renamed as ITP in 2006. In April 2025, Uniglobe announced that it had acquired the contracts of ITP members.

¡°The ITP members that are now part of Uniglobe Travel will benefit from expanded technology and supplier offerings, a much larger global network of partner agencies and more robust support from the Uniglobe Travel head office in Vancouver and regional office in London,¡± Uniglobe said at the time. ITP¡¯s Hans Rudbeck Dahl and Kristel Ruinet joined Uniglobe's regional office in London.

With individual travel management companies growing sales during 2024, it comes as no surprise that networks are doing the same. The Advantage Travel Partnership increased its global sales from €18.5 billion in 2023 to €20.2 billion in 2024. The network now represents more than two thirds of the UK¡¯s leading TMCs.

Upon publication of this year's UK rankings, Andrea Caulfield-Smith, the network¡¯s managing director, global business travel, said: ¡°We¡¯re absolutely delighted that 39 out of 55 of the leading TMCs [in the UK] are members of Advantage, and our heartfelt congratulations go to all those members who have made the list.

¡°As the trusted partner to 71 per cent of the leading UK TMCs and 28 per cent of Europe¡¯s Leading TMCs, our success is built on deep relationships, understanding and delivering real commercial value for our members. Our team takes a genuinely consultative approach, working hand-in-hand with members to design solutions for our rapidly evolving industry landscape. We firmly reject the one-size-fits-all mentality, instead crafting flexible, bespoke solutions tailored to each member¡¯s unique needs.¡±

Like many TMC networks, Caulfield-Smith noted that its strong supplier partnerships empowers independent TMCs to compete effectively in today's challenging market. As many smaller TMCs will attest, there's strength in numbers when it comes to network membership.