RateHawk, an online system for booking hotels, air tickets, and transfers for travel professionals, reports record performance for the full year of 2023. RateHawk’s net booking value doubled from the prior year, while the number of bookings saw an 85% growth. RateHawk, along with its parent company, Emerging Travel Group, has achieved a gross transaction value of $2.6 billion in 2023.
The demand for RateHawk’s additional services, including flight ticket and transfer bookings, showed a steady rise throughout 2023. Booked flights doubled in number, while transfer orders experienced a 67% increase compared to the prior year.
RateHawk’s number of partners now counts over 62,000 travel professionals worldwide, a remarkable 61% increase from the previous year. Of these, over 3000 are travel agents from the UK and Ireland.
In 2023, RateHawk experienced significant growth in its inventory. The company successfully connected more than 60 new global wholesalers and established direct contracts with over 20,000 accommodations. This expansion resulted in a total of 2.5 million accommodation options, marking a substantial 40% increase year-over-year.
Felix Shpilman, CEO of Emerging Travel Group, RateHawk’s parent company, commented: “In its eighth year, RateHawk continues to deliver solid double-digit growth, hitting all-time highs in bookings and revenue. Our partners worldwide recognize the added value that our unparalleled accommodation inventory and deep technological expertise bring to the table and want to benefit from it. Looking ahead to 2024, we’re optimistic, aligning with the UNWTO’s projections that international tourism is set to rebound to pre-pandemic levels fully. This means agents will face even greater traveller demand. Our platform equips travel professionals with everything they need to meet this growing demand – from extensive supply with competitive rates from over 230 suppliers to a comprehensive tool kit of travel services in a single, user-friendly platform, complemented by top-notch customer care.”
In 2023, RateHawk introduced an innovative hotel selection tool, aimed at assisting travel agencies to optimise customer interactions and streamline workflows.” Around 40% of RateHawk’s travel partners have already started using the selection tool and have come to appreciate its benefits,” said Felix Shpilman.
According to RateHawk, the most popular outbound destinations booked by UK travel agents in 2023 were the USA, the UAE, Spain, Italy, France, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Turkey, Germany, and Portugal.
“In RateHawk’s UK business, we had a solid fourth quarter which outperformed the previous record of Q3 2023 in net booking value. Given the current dynamics of Q1 2024, we are on a good track to overachieve that level,” said Julita Grzycka, Regional Director of Northwestern Europe. “Over the last year, our local commercial team doubled in size, now comprising 17 professionals, with further expansion anticipated in 2024. Our ambition for 2024 is to make RateHawk the preferred travel tool for most local travel professionals, and we are well-positioned to achieve it.”
In 2023, RateHawk expanded its UK presence by opening an office in London Paddington, adding to its existing offices in Berlin, Milan, Lisbon, Warsaw, Dubai, Limassol, and Wilmington. RateHawk employs over 500 professionals in commercial roles globally.
