To qualify for the 2023 Power List, a company had to have a minimum of $100 million in travel sales in 2022. For purposes of this survey, sales are defined as gross sales of travel products worldwide, whether to consumers or to corporate travelers; the company must be the agent of record on the transaction from a supplier's perspective. At least 15% of the sales volume must have been generated in the U.S.
The questionnaire was sent in February to companies that had appeared on the list in previous years; had contacted Travel Weekly believing they qualified; or had been in the news because of acquisitions or had grown for other reasons.
As has been the case for years, Travel Weekly requested that gross sales volume be certified by a company's owner, CEO or CFO. In a small number of cases, certification was made by an executive at the vice president level but with financial oversight.
Some companies chose not to participate. For Booking Holdings and Expedia Group we obtained sales data from public filings, and in the case of American Express Travel, Travel Weekly editors estimated its sales and position based on previous rankings and public statements in published articles.
While all cooperating listees did certify sales (or made them public), it must be kept in mind that even those numbers are difficult to verify because the great majority of travel sellers are privately held and under no obligation to disclose financial data. Also, there is no commonly accepted standard for calculating sales volume, and there is no clearinghouse in the U.S. that tracks nonairline sales, as ARC does for airline sales.
The survey on which these rankings were based included questions involving travel-related subsidiaries, percentage of sales from business and leisure, corporate structure and more.
There were several open-ended questions about recent and planned developments to which companies could reply in any way they felt appropriate. Responses determined the length of the profiles that accompany each agency.
There might be companies that should be on the list but escaped our attention. Representatives of such companies should email powerlist@travelweekly.com so we can send them a questionnaire for next year's Power List.
A change to the 2023 Power List
After the Power List was published, we were notified by Gant Travel that the numbers it had submitted were based on a figure that was not in full alignment with the required criteria, which ask that total global sales be those for which the agency is the agent of record in the eyes of suppliers. To ensure the list remains an apples-to-apples comparison, we have allowed Gant to recerify its sales figure, which moves it to No. 30 on the list. However, since the error was on Gant Travel's, we elected not to adjust the rankings of any other Power List companies that might otherwise be affected by the move.