Michael Baker

New York

Executive Editor at Business Travel News

Travel industry writer, focused on airlines and with a long history covering the lodging industry. Any opinions expressed are my own. Pronouns are he/him/his.

Articles

PTC Hires Australia-Based Business Development Head

2 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Management Partnership Travel Consulting has hired Brian Gillott as its global head of business development, part of its strategy to boost the consultancy group's growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The Australia-based Gillott has worked with several large travel management companies over the past 30 years, including Corporate Travel Management, American Express Global Business Travel and CWT.
GlobalStar Adds Five Middle Eastern Countries to Dadabhai Agreement

2 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Global GlobalStar Travel Management has expanded its agreement with travel management company Dadabhai Travel to include five additional countries in the Middle East, the TMC network announced. Dadabhai, which manages both corporate and leisure travel as well as cargo and freight services,Â joined the GlobalStar network in 2009,Â covering its headquarters market of Bahrain.
Former Google Travel Mgr. Readies Guest Traveler Platform Launch

3 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Veteran travel buyer Greg Wilczek in the coming months will launch a new platform for managing non-profiled travelers, EmPath, tackling what he said was "the one use case that we could just not solve" in his years managing travel. EmPath is being designed as a "well-lit path" through which non-profiled travelers—job candidates, company-sponsored guests, contractors or employees' spouses, for example—can book, manage, pay for and be reimbursed for their travel, Wilczek said.
Thrust Carbon Launches AI Tool for Contextualizing Emissions

3 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Technology Thrust Carbon has developed an AI tool to communicate more clearly the carbon emissions impact of a flight and possible actions to mitigate it, the company announced. With Thrust Carbon's TripsAI tool, travelers can forward flight booking confirmations, and the tool will use AI to provide trip emissions calculations and sustainability recommendations instantly to their inbox.
Sabre/Serko Survey Shows High AI Adoption by Travel Buyers

3 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

A solid majority of U.S. travel managers are using AI tools in some form in their travel programs, and they largely are satisfied with the results, according to a survey of 300 travel managers conducted by Sabre and Serko. The survey, conducted in December and limited to travel managers representing companies with more than $50 million in revenue, showed 90 percent of travel managers are using AI or generative AI tools within their programs.
Aggregator PKFare to Access LCC Content from Kyte

3 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Distribution Low-cost carrier inventory provider Kyte will provide content to aggregator and distribution provider PKFare per a strategic partnership between the two companies, they announced. The agreement enables PKFare to integrate and distribute LCC content delivered through Kyte's API. The inventory provides "content from major low-cost airlines," including EasyJet and Ryanair,Â which partnered with Kyte last yearÂ to expand its offerings to corporate travelers.
Former Amex GBT Asia-Pac Leader Sully to Join CTM

3 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Management Former American Express Global Business Traveler executive Jo Sully next month will join Corporate Travel Management as CEO for Australia and New Zealand operations, succeeding Greg McCarthy in the role. McCarthy, who has led CTM in Australia and New Zealand for about seven years, is stepping down on June 30. Sully will join CTM on May 5, with the two working together in the interim period "to ensure a smooth transition," according to the travel management company.
Pana Founders' New Venture Juno Lands $2M Investment, TMC Partner

3 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Guest travel management platform Juno has secured $2 million in seed funding as well as its first travel management company partner, Altour, in advance of a June launch, the company announced. JunoÂ is being developed by the team behind former guest travel management app Pana, Devon Tivona and Sam Felsenthal, to automate the still largely manual process of booking and managing travel for such guests as recruits, trainees, contractors and speakers.
Reed & Mackay Adds Several Execs to Global Sales Team

3 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Travel management company Reed & Mackay announced a raft of new sales team leadership hires, including appointments aimed at continuing its growth in North America and Continental Europe. ForÂ its North American growth, the TMC has hired two new VPs of business development. Trevor Fleming, who most recently was an account director with Travelport, will focus on the TMC's sales across the U.S. Midwest and West Coast.
Outpayce Adds Payments Marketplace for Airlines

3 weeks ago | businesstravelnews.com | Michael Baker

Amadeus' payments business, Outpayce, has launched a "payments marketplace" to help airlines more easily connect to payment partners, the company announced. The marketplace includes a growing collection of hundreds of payment partners that airlines can search, according to Outpayce,Â a wholly owned business launched by Amadeus a few years ago.Â Airlines can see which countries, currencies and services each partner provides.