TAG Taps Tzell's Holyoke To Head New Corporate Division
Travel Acquisitions Group yesterday announced the formation of a 220-employee, $1 billion consolidated corporate travel division with former Tzell Travel Group vice president of sales and business development David Holyoke as its president.
Holyoke said the management realignment, corporate account migration and construction of a dedicated corporate travel sales force and account management team has taken place in the past 45 days.
The new division, Travel Leaders Corporate, houses all TAG wholly owned corporate travel operations including those of New York-based Tzell Travel Group, which merged with TAG in August 2008. In addition, it provides some resources for corporate travel business derived from TAG's The Travel Franchise Group.
Holyoke plans by April to have a standardized technology portfolio rolled out across the division's eight U.S. offices. Travel Leaders is working with Cornerstone Information Systems for some customized technology products and is in "very advanced discussions with Rearden Commerce" on an online booking tool agreement, Holyoke said. Sabre is the company's primary global distribution system with Travelport's Worldpsan GDS also being used, similar to Tzell's GDS relationships.
The consolidated corporate travel unit processed more than $800 million in ARC volume in 2008, according to Holyoke. Accounts primarily range from $1 million to $50 million in total travel volume. Including business travel from franchises and other TAG divisions, the division managed about $2.3 billion.
While Holyoke said the company plans to increase its market presence, he added that the first priority is U.S. growth, before it follows an international ownership path. Holyoke said the company currently is consolidating corporate business in 20 countries and soon will announce a partnership with a global travel management company network, which he would not disclose. Tzell is a member of Radius.
One of TAG chairman Mike Batt's primary goals when he led the January 2008 management buyout of the Carlson Leisure Group was to build a business travel power player, while aligning the company's varied businesses appropriately.
In March 2008, the company acquired Coral Gables, Fla.-based TraveLeaders. In August 2008, it rebranded some operations and merged with Tzell Travel Group, a super-regional travel management company with more than $530 million in 2007 ARC sales and multiple offices including a presence in the United Kingdom, giving the company a solid corporate travel platform on which to build. As TAG essentially has become a holding company, it has separated its leisure and business travel components under CEO Barry Liben, with Batt remaining as chairman.
Accompanying Holyoke on the unit's leadership team is former TraveLeaders senior vice president Mark Elias, now executive vice president of business development; former ProQuest Travel Group executive Karen Blauw, who now is senior vice president of operations; and former Stevens Travel Management president Stephen Thomas-Schulere as senior vice president of client relations.