The InteleTravel group has bought US-headquartered events agency McVeigh Global Meetings & Events (MGME).
The acquisition follows the announcement a year ago when InteleTravel acquired business travel alliance Hickory Global Partners.
InteleTravel said the move is “another step in the company’s strategy to leverage its leisure travel success…while innovating in blended travel by crossing traditional lines separating leisure and business travel”.
The MGME integration will enable Hickory member corporate agencies and travel departments to offer their clients event production, meeting planning, conference logistical services and creative development.
MGME will continue operating as an independent brand but as a wholly owned unit of InteleTravel, as Hickory does.
InteleTravel said in a statement: “MGME and its clients will benefit from InteleTravel’s resources and scale, as the three companies join in business development, purchasing power, cross-utilising capabilities, and finding economies and efficiencies.
“Examples of this include: InteleTravel’s booking technology and automation will add value for MGME and its clients; Hickory will provide air fulfillment for MGME events through its Hickory Solutions365 launched last year; the three companies will consolidate some supply partner contracts for hotel (MGME books over 100,000 room nights annually), air, car and even cruise – where InteleTravel’s expertise in charter and market-leading relationships with cruise lines will help develop MGME event-at-sea offerings.”
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A new educational programme is planned to train agents to generate qualified leads for MGME services, offering a new source of commission – and a new source of business for MGME.
Furthermore, MGME will help with the logistics of InteleTravel’s calendar of more than 40 large-scale events each year.
MGME produces more than 1,000 events and conferences annually – in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats – in more than 70 countries, with a value of travel and hospitality spend of more than $500 million each year.
In its 30-plus year history, the company has catered to more than one million guests and 30,000 events for clients such as Iata, Anheuser-Busch and GlaxoSmithKline.
The company is based in New York and Canada, and in London in partnership with Marble LDN.
James Ferrara (pictured), president and co-founder of InteleTravel, said: “The corporate and business travel market has rebounded fully, and the meetings, conferences and events industry (Mice) has been a particularly strong area of growth with analysts projecting the rising importance of business networking opportunities, knowledge sharing and employee motivation and engagement, along with the expansion of tourism in general and the advancement of meeting technologies.
“The Mice market is predicted to double to over a trillion dollars by the end of the decade.”