Paolo Bertola is?commercial & service delivery director at Italian travel management company ACI blueteam

A wave of recent TMC mergers and acquisitions is driving consolidation in the corporate travel sector, presenting both challenges and opportunities for competing agencies. Paolo Bertola, commercial & service delivery director at Italian travel management company ACI blueteam, shares his views on the evolving market and ¡°precarious balance¡± of maintaining profit margins amid?geopolitical and economic volatility.

BTN Europe: ACI blueteam reported ¡°outstanding¡± sales growth last year and is currently ranked among the top five TMCs in Italy in BTN Europe¡¯s Leading TMCs 2025 report. What fuelled this growth? And does it look set to continue?

Paolo Bertola: Yes, ACI blueteam experienced strong growth in 2023 and 2024, driven by our ability to maintain high-quality standards combined with proprietary technological innovation [BTTool] and reseller capabilities [Wondermiles] in line with major global players. This year started very well, although during the summer months we saw a slight slowdown in the corporate segment, while our MICE and leisure business units ¨C especially luxury leisure ¨C performed very well. Much will depend on factors related to tariffs, which are still being defined, and I believe they will provide greater stability for Italian industry decisions.

BTN Europe: You¡¯ve previously stated that Italian TMCs operate amid "an increasingly precarious balance¡± between lower transaction fees and high service costs. In 2024, ACI blueteam reported 800,000 transactions, but less than 25 per cent of bookings were made online. What impact does this have on your operations?

Paolo Bertola: Fortunately, we are still a company that operates on fees, and although the average price per transaction has slightly decreased, the number of transactions is growing significantly. This gives us important financial breathing room while ensuring transparency in service costs and high-quality standards for our clients. This is a model we have always implemented, and I believe it currently gives us an advantage over our competitors. Of course, we are analysing market strategies to implement alongside our current one, but for now, this remains our strategy.

BTN Europe: What would you say are the biggest challenges faced by Italian TMCs right now?

Paolo Bertola: The most complex aspects are identifying the socio-economic factors that will drive the coming months and years. Understanding whether the American market, both as a destination and economy, will remain the main driver, or if corporate traffic will shift primarily to Europe and the Middle/Far East. I believe that, beyond technological and service challenges, the game will largely be played on this front and on the ability to diversify the client portfolio so as not to be heavily impacted if socio-economic factors penalise a particular industry ¨C for example, tariffs and their impact on the automotive sector.

BTN Europe: The latest quarterly earnings reports from Europe¡¯s largest carriers highlight the region¡¯s aviation sector has, thus far, been shielded from market turmoil caused by US tariffs. Can the same be said of the business travel sector in Italy? Have you noticed any changes in clients¡¯ volume or spend in the last six months?

Paolo Bertola: Yes, since June we have noticed significant changes, with clients taking a very cautious approach and, above all, slowing travel spending to cover the extra costs caused by tariffs. We are confident that now, with tariffs being defined, this issue will be resolved.

BTN Europe: What¡¯s your take on the role of AI in managed travel? How do you expect AI will impact TMC operations and service? Where can it make the most difference?

Paolo Bertola: In my opinion, AI is not yet ready. It has not reached a satisfactory qualitative level when it comes to business travel bookings ¨C especially for complex itineraries. However, the day these bugs are fixed ¨C which I expect will happen by 2026 ¨C AI will become an extremely powerful tool to integrate, without a doubt, into all business travel tools, both client-facing and operational. Our IT division is constantly updating systems with a clear focus on AI.

BTN Europe: I¡¯d like to ask your thoughts on two major acquisitions that are set to shake up the business travel industry. The first is Lufthansa¡¯s recently acquired minority stake in Italy¡¯s ITA Airways. How do you expect this merger to affect fares and routes in and out of Italy moving forward?

Paolo Bertola: This was a long-awaited move, and I believe an initial indication of what was expected is already visible. Rome is becoming a strategic hub at the expense of Linate, which opens space for more low-cost carriers. I have some concerns about the strict regulation of the German carrier, but the industry (even beyond aviation) is increasingly moving towards large mergers to gain commercial leverage and optimise costs ¨C we cannot go against this trend.

BTN Europe: The second is, of course, Amex GBT¡¯s recently completed acquisition of rival CWT. With such a mega global player in the market, how do you expect TMC RFPs will change moving forward? And are you anticipating any changes in your client profile??

Paolo Bertola: RFPs have already been global for several years, and that is the inevitable direction the market is moving towards. It is important to have a global partner with a strong local identity because if, for example, you don¡¯t have rail services on your OBT in Italy, your offering is ¡°limited¡±. Corrections can be made, but it remains a tool in the hands of competitors. The same applies to the ability to resolve operational issues 24/7 in very local situations, where you must identify the right problem and the right people as quickly as possible.

BTN Europe: Let¡¯s talk distribution and technology. A recent study by Sabre found that content fragmentation is contributing to higher agency costs and strained customer experiences, with most TMCs juggling multiple booking tools and an increasing number of API connections. As travel buyers increasingly seek out multi-source content, can you shed any light on your distribution strategy?

Paolo Bertola: We apply a differentiated strategy, sourcing both direct content and content from aggregators, depending on the level of technological depth we want to achieve and the cost/revenue profile imposed by each business line. Differentiation also depends on the technology platform and the audience it targets. This approach is complex and resource-intensive, but we believe that in the long term, it is the most rewarding in terms of efficiency for content users.

BTN Europe: Earlier this year, ACI blueteam established a direct NDC connection with Emirates via the WonderMiles booking platform. Do you have any additional investments planned in this area?

Paolo Bertola: This is the future ¨C and although some post-sales issues with carriers are still unresolved ¨C we cannot stand still. We have completed NDC integration across all our online platforms and have also expanded to other ancillary services that we believe will form part of a ¡®Cloud Service¡¯ for travel, where all providers are integrated so users can access all services (flights, hotels, rail, car, visa, risk management,?post-trip complaints, parking, restaurants, etc.) in one place. We are nearly ready to integrate Expedia, update Sabre low-cost and Sabre NDC connectors, Amadeus NDC and we're also finalising an integration with [hotel booking platform] Hcorpo.