David Hilfman Joins nuTravel
Former United SVP of worldwide sales Dave Hilfman has joined NuTravel's board of directors.
Airlines Reporting Corp. has acquired a majority stake in booking application developer NuTravel, the latest step in ARC's push to build out its omnichannel distribution services, following investments in off-channel data capture specialist Traxo and blockchain-based booking and transaction management supplier BlockSkye.
ARC president Mike Premo described the NuTravel investment as complementary to those deals, bringing NuTravel's Universal Connect direct air booking platform under ARC's umbrella as another service to manage bookings outside of global distribution systems. Universal Connect integrates within airlines' direct booking sites and mobile apps, overlaying corporate travel policy, rates and payment methods, while enabling travel managers to track and manage those direct bookings.
"The line between direct and indirect distribution, in the mind of the customer, is blurring," said Premo. "And there's a lot of gravity pulling travelers to airline websites, so this is one more piece of the puzzle for us in developing an omnichannel solution that helps agencies, airlines and travelers."
Premo said the deal was for "substantially more than 51 percent" of NuTravel, which will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of ARC. He declined to reveal financial details of the transaction.
In the longer term, the company sees the potential for combining NuTravel's services with those of Traxo and BlockSkye. But for now, Premo said "task one" is to align strategy and develop a roadmap. From there, "we'll integrate them into a more unified solution that customers can understand and implement seamlessly," he said.