The Advantage Travel Partnership and Hickory Global Partners Join Forces to Create Market Leading Global Accommodation Network

Global Stays – The Accommodation Network is set to launch in 2025

Delray Beach, Fla. (May 16, 2024) — Hickory Global Partners and The Advantage Travel Partnership announced today at the Advantage Travel Partnership Conference taking place in Costa Mujeres that the two have established a strategic joint venture for their accommodation programs to create Global Stays – The Accommodation Network. This partnership will become effective in 2025 and offer more than 60,000 properties worldwide and over 1 million serviced apartments.

The combined accommodation network will be available to over 1,900 Travel Management Companies (TMCs), Corporate Travel Departments (CTDs) and Corporate Direct in 158 countries worldwide, with a total accommodation spend of $2.9 billion.

The Global Stays Network will significantly enhance opportunities for the collective members of both organizations and broaden their combined accommodation offerings. It will also offer suppliers more reach through combined marketing resources and aligned operational efficiencies, focusing on delivering more value to the end customer.

The Advantage Global Hotel Program (GAP) is a market-leading global accommodation proposition available for all Advantage members to book via the Global Distribution System (GDS). The program currently offers over 42,000 properties, ranging from global chain hotels to independent properties and serviced apartments.

The Hickory Global Partners Hotel Program currently provides access to 43,000 hotel properties in 1,500 member locations. These include TMCs, CTDs and corporations in 71 countries and 1,081 cities. Hickory also delivers access to airline and ground transportation supplier solutions across its full spectrum of members through strategic supplier relationships.

“We have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial partnership with Hickory for many years, and through our many collaborations, have become the voice of independent TMCs globally,” said John Hobbs Hurrell, Head of Advantage Global Network. “This joint venture brings us even closer together and further strengthens our relationship, providing a perfect platform to deliver significantly more hotels for our collective membership, as well as provide more opportunities for our hotel and serviced apartment suppliers.”

Global Stays will combine Advantage’s dominant presence in the U.K. and the global reach of the Advantage Global Network with Hickory’s market-leading membership in North America. Its global reach and broad supplier verticals will create a truly global and robust accommodation program with a vastly increased scale. It will also greatly enhance the number of hotels offered to the combined memberships and create further revenue and marketing opportunities for hotel and supplier partners.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the deepening of the relationship between Advantage and Hickory. Expanding our aligned business efforts will bring much more value to the TMC and MICE member networks and a larger audience to our air, hotel, and ground suppliers,” said Chris Dane, President of Hickory Global Partners. “In addition, we see this deeper relationship between our companies as leading the way in the ever-changing travel marketplace. The Global Stays program will feature all four rate codes (WYN, WYZ for Advantage and HFH/EZR for Hickory).”

About The Advantage Travel Partnership
The Advantage Travel Partnership is the U.K.’s pre-eminent business network representing travel agents and travel management companies. Its members are all independently owned travel business who operates across 750 locations throughout the U.K., representing a large proportion of the U.K.’s travel agency landscape. In addition, Advantage’s global network footprint continues to expand with representations in 83 countries across 96 network partners who work together in servicing corporate accounts.

Collectively, as a global network its members generate over £15.6 billion in global sales annually – with £7.6 billion from travel sales from its U.K. membership – and cater for many millions of holidaymakers and business travelers by assisting them with their travel arrangements.

About Hickory Global Partners
Founded over 40 years ago, Hickory Global Partners is an industry-leading global alliance for corporate travel agencies, corporate travel departments and corporations that delivers unparalleled negotiated discounts and commissions, resources, support, and value that significantly benefits its members, and ultimately, their clients. Hickory Global Partners bridges the gap between members and suppliers and raises the bar on what being a global corporate travel alliance is all about.

Its visionary hotel program, robust air program, one-of-a-kind ground transportation program, comprehensive ancillary portfolio and cutting-edge technology and tools, make Hickory Global Partners an important strategic partner in the corporate travel industry. For more information, visit www.hickoryglobalpartners.com.