Batt: Travel Leaders Has No Role in Amex-Certares Biz Travel Deal

There is no link between Travel Leaders and a proposed joint venture between American Express Global Business Travel and an investor group led by the Certares investment banking firm, according to Michael Batt, founder and co-chairman of Travel Leaders Group.

The question arose at The Beat Live, a business travel conference in Miami, because Batt’s co-chairman at Travel Leaders Group is Greg O’Hara, who also heads Certares.

American Express announced last week that it plans to sell off 50% of its Global Business Travel division to a group led by Certares. The investor group would invest between $700 million and $1 billion in the deal, which is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2014.

‘Not linked’
Despite the connection between Travel Leaders Group and Certares, the American Express deal “is not associated with us at all,” Batt said. “The businesses are not linked.”

To underscore his point, Batt said that “I have no idea what the management structure will be” after the American Express-Certares deal is finalized – or what role O’Hara will play.

Batt described O’Hara as “an industry expert when it comes to finance and raising money.  He’s a fund manager with investments in travel.”

If a conflict of interest were to develop, O’Hara would be the first to address it, Batt said.

Traditional agency is thriving
Batt also addressed the oft-predicted demise of the traditional travel agency, a topic that continues to rear its ugly head.

“We’re a large traditional travel agency. We are different from Expedia,” he said, noting that Travel Leaders has grown from a $2 billion to an $18 billion company.

Some of that growth has occurred because of the tremendous wealth that is being amassed by potential customers.

Serving people who have money
“We have 500 agents on Madison Avenue servicing some of the richest, most demanding customers in the world,” he said.

“The sign of people who have money is that they have people who do things for them,” he said. “We see fantastic opportunities in serving other people.”

No matter how far the Internet has come in making information accessible, the human touch is still in demand, he said.

“If you were spending $20,000 on a vacation, would you research it on Google?” Batt asked. “I would never book a cruise without talking to someone who knows that ship.”