RateHawk and GlobalStar Announce Strategic Partnership

RateHawk, a B2B online system for booking hotels, air tickets, and transfers, has announced a strategic partnership with GlobalStar Travel Management, a worldwide travel management organisation to offer GlobalStar’s partners around the world access to RateHawk’s extensive inventory.

RateHawk’s all-in-one system will provide Global Star’s partners over 2.7 million accommodation options, alongside a number of supplementary supplier sources for car rentals, transfers and train tickets. To assist travel managers in efficiently navigating the wide array of options, the company’s AI-powered tools prioritise recommendations based on the most competitive rates available.

Ilya Kravtsov, Chief Commercial Officer at Emerging Travel Group, RateHawk’s parent company, said that their collaboration is designed to further empower GlobalStar partners, increasing their confidence in the daily booking routine.

Kravtsov said that they source our diverse range of accommodations from not only 320+ suppliers but also 130,000+ directly contracted properties enabling them to provide real-time availability status and facilitate faster amendments.

“Our ML-driven pre-book check procedure helps minimise the risk of possible issues, ensuring a smoother experience. Additionally, our dedicated support team is available in 32 languages to assist with any inquiries,” Krbtsov said.

Julian Russell, Executive Director, IT and Supplier Relations, at GlobalStar, said that partnering with a respected global booking system like RateHawk will complement their existing GDS-based hotel programme.

In particular, RateHawk’s ability to provide ‘pre-pay’ and ‘credit’ facilities closes a gap for GlobalStar in supporting GlobalStar’s partners in regions where this feature is a ‘must-have’ to manage hotel bookings.

“Alongside this, the additional flexibility of API integration provides our partners with an opportunity for deeper integration where required. Initial feedback from our partners has been positive, and I look forward to engaging closely with the Network in the coming months to share more information,” Russel added.

RateHawk’s Performance

RateHawk’s net booking value increased by 1.8 times in 2024 compared with the previous year, while the number of bookings saw a 67% growth on a global scale. Its parent company, the UAE-based Emerging Travel Group, has hit a new milestone of $3.7 billion gross transaction value in 2024, with RateHawk as a major growth driver.

In 2024, RateHawk continued to develop the variety of its inventory. The company successfully connected with more than 70 new global accommodation suppliers, exceeding 300 wholesalers worldwide, and established direct contracts with over 34,000 accommodations, counting up to 120,000 properties in total. As a result, the amount of accommodation options reached over 2.6 million.

The demand for RateHawk’s transportation booking services, including flight tickets and transfer bookings, doubled during 2024. The company also introduced train travel service across Europe which was welcomed with great enthusiasm by RateHawk partners. Within three months of its launch, over 25% of travel professionals who frequently book hotels on the platform have also utilized its railway services.

RateHawk’s partners increased by 50%, now over 93,000 travel professionals worldwide. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, the company tripled the number of travel agents connected to the platform, reaching over 8000 professionals.

According to RateHawk, the most popular outbound destinations booked by travel agents from the GCC region in 2024 were Turkey, Thailand, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Egypt, Georgia, and Switzerland. The top 5 domestic destinations were Dubai, Riyadh, Mecca, Doha, and Jeddah.

RateHawk has offices in London, Berlin, Lisbon, Warsaw, Dubai, Limassol, Singapore and Wilmington. RateHawk employs over 500 professionals in commercial roles globally.