Direct Travel has acquired U.K.-based travel management company ATPI, boosting its global reach and together forming one of the world's largest TMCs with a reported $6 billion in annual total travel volume, the companies announced.
The acquisition, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, brings together two TMCs that already have been working in close partnership for nearly a decade. The two formed Direct ATPI in 2017 as a joint company to serve their international clients, and the acquisition is a way to "create fusion in infrastructure that already exists, rather than going in and making radical changes," Direct Travel CEO Christal Bemont said. Clients will be able to work with the companies under a single contract and with a single point of contact, making "a deep-seated relationship super frictionless and seamless for customers," she said.
Direct Travel—which last year was acquired by a group of investors led by corporate industry entrepreneur and Concur co-founder Steve Singh—currently reports to be the sixth-largest TMC in North America with 4,500 clients around the world. ATPI is the eighth-largest TMC in Europe, according to BTN Europe's Leading TMCs list for 2025, with €1 billion in gross sales in 2024.
Bemont said there are no plans for now to make any changes to the TMCs' branding or leadership. She said they fit together well with Direct Travel's largely corporate travel focus and ATPI's focus on specialty markets with a global footprint.
"This is where you get the benefit of seven to eight years-plus of teams working together," Bemont said. "We're not having to spend the time to get to know one another, what roles you have, how do we work together. This becomes complementary."
The acquisition also will bolster Direct Travel's growth of its Avenir Travel Edition, which is built on Spotnana's infrastructure. Direct ATPI announced its own rollout of the platform in June. With the combined company, Avenir will be a better proposition for companies that were interested in the technology stack but needed it at a global scale, according to Bemont.
"Bringing our two organizations together will enable us to better serve clients collectively, through the combination of our specialized services, innovative technologies, and highly skilled customer teams," ATPI CEO Ian Sinderson said in a statement. "By bolstering our already strong position in travel technology and highly specialized travel support, we will combine to provide a compelling alternative to mega-agencies for global travel throughout our range of extensive geographic markets and business lines."
Even with the new size and global reach, Bemont said pure scale was not the aim.
"We never set out to be the largest TMC," she said. "That's not our goal. It's to be the one with the service and innovation that surpasses anyone else in the market."