Company Type: TMC
Regions Served: Global, North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific
Target Market Segment: SMEs, Large national companies, Multinational companies, Sector-specific (eg. nonprofit, sports, marine)
Selected Corporate Users: Can't disclose without client consent, but work with government & public sector around the world, banking & financial services, resources, mining, energy, construction, engineering, infrastructure and many other entities in various industry verticals
Users / Seats: Not disclosed
Annual Bookings: Not disclosed
Annual Transaction Volume: A$9.8 billion+ (US$6.8 billion)
Set-Up / Implementation Fees: Not disclosed
Ongoing Fixed Charges: Not disclosed
Transaction Charges: Not disclosed
Update Frequency: Monthly release cycle
EXECUTIVE TEAM
- Ana Pedersen, Managing Director and Group CEO
Eleanor Noonan, Global Chief Operating Officer - Chris Montgomery, Chief Finance Officer
- Brian Sheerin, Chief Technology Officer
- Stuart Birkin, General Manager, London and Glasgow
- Julian Mills, SVP Sales EMEA
- Penny Munn, Chief Partnerships Officer
- Natasha Baynes, Global Head of Field and Partner Marketing
- Heba Soliman, Head of Legal
WHAT THE COMPANY SAYS
To deliver a consumer-like, lightning-fast travel booking experience that drives high policy compliance, automated cost savings and actionable sustainability through its proprietary technology ecosystem. Use data and AI to make engagement intelligent and deliver a personalized experience.
Air Content Strategy: Better choice for our customers and to drive better travel program outcomes for our clients
NDC Strategy: GDS, direct connects with suppliers (American Airlines, Singapore, Lufthansa, British Airways, etc.)
Hotel Content Strategy: Provide quality content and choice to our customers, stop program leakage
Hotel Content: GDS, direct connects, hotel aggregators (DerbySoft, Siteminder, RMS, DHISCO/RateGain and more)
Technology & Innovation Road Map
CTM’s technology and innovation roadmap is centered on CTM One, its unified global travel platform—building one connected global travel experience and using data and AI to make it increasingly intelligent. The focus is on embedding intelligence directly into workflows, connecting quality global content and relevant add-ons, and delivering a modern seamless user experience that can integrate more deeply into client business processes and help travelers, travel managers and travel consultants make better decisions.
Approach to AI
CTM’s approach is to infuse AI into the products and services customers already use rather than bolt on a separate AI experience. The aim is for CTM One (which includes the flagship product Lightning) to become increasingly intelligent across the end-to-end travel journey—anticipating needs, simplifying decisions, automating routine tasks, surfacing relevant content and insights and helping travelers, travel managers and consultants act faster. AI should strengthen rather than replace the human element. Routine interactions can be automated while the moments that matter most like disruption, complex servicing, exceptions, high-value decisions and situations where judgement or empathy is needed should bring in the right human support seamlessly. That combination of intelligent automation and human expertise is central to how CTM sees the future of managed travel.
Key Technology Differentiators
CTM says its biggest differentiator is that Lightning is designed to operate within the client’s environment not as a standalone OBT. We meet clients where their people already work i.e. integrating with workforce management platforms, corporate tools such as Microsoft Teams and increasingly the AI tools they use. Combined with integration into their policies, approval processes, traveler profiles and servicing model, this allows the travel experience to become part of the client’s day-to-day operating environment rather than another separate system users need to navigate.
Personalization & Policy Features
Lightning personalizes the experience around the traveler, the client’s program and the context of each trip. Traveler profiles, role, location, policy, preferences and historical behavior can be used to tailor what is shown and how the experience works. Policy is embedded directly into the booking and servicing journey, so users clearly see what is in or out of policy, understand approval requirements and be guided toward compliant choices rather than relying on static rules outside the booking flow. The platform can also support different policy, approval and permission models across traveler groups, business units and client configurations, while still maintaining a consistent global experience. Over time, we are also using AI and data to make that personalization more intelligent, so the platform can better anticipate needs, surface more relevant content and provide more contextual guidance throughout the journey.
WHAT CONSULTANTS SAY
CTM Lightning “works well for many mid-market programs” and is strongest in CTM legacy markets such as Australia, New Zealand and APAC, but has “a solid U.S. mid-market book.” It shows up on tenders when CTM is in the mix as a TMC but never on its own.
The user interface is “clean enough,” said one consultant, but does not have “many raving fans for the interface alone.”
The attention to service is what usually sells this tool, says one consultant, “It comes off the list when a program needs heavy multinational policy configuration,” they added.
WHAT BUYERS SAY
Buyers who use CTM Lightning like the fact that they are getting a one-stop shop.
One buyer said, “We utilized our previous OBT for nearly 15 years but found it cumbersome to report issues, open a ticket, wait for a response from the OBT which would often say it’s a GDS or TMC issue, only to have the TMC say it was an OBT issue. We felt like we were getting bounced back and forth.”
Buyers also rate it a cost-effective solutions and appreciate the ability to customize Lightning compared to other OBTs.
One buyer at a company with 10,000+ employees said they were worried about adoption following the recent OBT switch; however, the program had no issues in the end:
“We were [even] able to add some travelers in remote areas into the system that didn’t have access previously. With a change like this, you’d naturally assume there would be a period where travelers struggle with the change or have negative feedback. There’s been none of that through the implementation of Lightning and we’ve increased the online adoption,” the company’s travel manager said.
Corporate travel managers also rate Lightning for its sustainability reporting. “Lightning has sustainability icons and reporting capabilities which are important to us and helps to give travelers detailed CO2 information on flight options and car rentals. We are really able to pull any data set that is needed, regardless if it’s an online or agent booking.”
Another buyer said that the company is currently moving to a single global platform.
“Previously each region had its own travel portal to access Lightning. We had one platform for the U.S., one for Canada, one for the UK and one for Australia. CTM is moving to one global platform in Q4 2026 and thus program administrators will have one platform with access to all bookings and all traveler profiles across all regions—ideally … [this] will be a game changer for our program.”