Corporate Travel Planners

What Corporate Travel Planners does

Corporate Travel Planners (CTP), operating under the legacy brand Collegiate Travel Planners, is a privately held US travel management company specializing exclusively in the higher education vertical. Founded in 1991 by Christy Prescott in San Antonio, Texas, CTP provides end-to-end corporate travel services — including faculty/staff travel, athletics, study abroad, health science centers, and recreational sports — to over 185 universities and colleges across the United States. In December 2019, CTP was acquired by Corporate Travel Management (CTM) Group (ASX: CTD), an Australian-listed global travel company, and now operates as a higher-education-specialized business unit within CTM's North American portfolio.

CTP's product is a cloud-based, portal-centric travel management platform organized around the CTP Portal (single-sign-on hub) with specialized modules: the Lightning online booking tool (NDC/GDS/API-aggregated content with policy compliance), CTP Approve (multi-tier pre-trip approval), SMART Data (visual reporting and predictive forecasting), Traveler Tracker + GeoRisk (real-time risk and health intelligence integrating Riskline and Sherpa data), Fare Forecasting (21-day airfare visualization), CTP Banx (proprietary automated unused ticket management that recovers ~2% of total air cost), CTP Mobile (iOS/Android companion with Uber integration), and NDC Integration for direct airline content. The technology stack leverages GDS, NDC, and proprietary APIs within CTM's Content Factory for content aggregation. CTP also integrates with Concur (third-party OBT), Conferma (pre-payment), and Uber (ground transport).

CTP generates revenue primarily through transaction fees on airline, hotel, and car bookings plus subscription-style service fees negotiated per institution on an annual contract basis; pricing is customized per client and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is exclusively direct enterprise field sales, augmented by E&I Cooperative Services contracted-supplier status (since 2019) which gives pipeline access to 5,500+ education members and lets public institutions bypass federal RFP processes. The sales motion is long-cycle (90-day custom implementation, 3-10 presentations per account), and retention is reinforced by deep policy, approval, and funding-source customization at each institution.

Name

Corporate Travel Planners

Legal name

Corporate Travel Management Limited

Website

https://ctp-travel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Corporate Travel Planners (CTP) is a privately held higher education travel management company serving 150-185+ US universities and colleges with proprietary booking, approval, risk management, and reporting technology. Founded in 1991, it operates as a North American subsidiary of Australia's CTM Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Travel Management Services

NAICS

Travel Agencies (56151)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Managed Corporate Travel Programs (End-to-End TMC Services) (THAKAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Online Booking Tools (OBT) & Corporate Booking UX (THALAGAD)

Keywords

• Corporate travel management
• Higher education travel
• University travel services
• Online booking tool
• Travel risk management

Headquarters

HQ city

San Antonio

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Travel Management Services: CTP provides end-to-end travel management services to universities and colleges, managing airline bookings, hotel reservations, car rentals, and other travel arrangements. Revenue is generated through service fees and transaction fees on bookings, with typical savings of 12% to 20% over industry averages for clients.
2. Technology Platform Services: Proprietary technology solutions including CTP Portal, Lightning OBT, and reporting tools are provided as part of the travel management service offering, enhancing client retention and competitive differentiation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Corporate Travel Planners (CTP) provides end-to-end travel management services to universities and colleges across the United States, managing airline bookings, hotel reservations, car rentals, group travel, and study abroad programs. The service is delivered through a proprietary technology stack including the CTP Portal hub, Lightning online booking tool, CTP Approve pre-trip approval, CTP Banx unused ticket management, and Traveler Tracker + GeoRisk duty-of-care tools, typically saving institutions 12-20% versus industry averages.

Product overview

Corporate Travel Planners offers a platform-plus-modules architecture built around the CTP Portal as the central hub, with specialized tools for travel managers (CTP Approve, SMART Data, Risk Alerts), travel arrangers (Lightning, Fare Forecasting), and university travelers (CTP Mobile, Traveler Tracker + GeoRisk). Additional modules include CTP Banx for unused ticket management, COVID Hub for travel restrictions, and NDC Integration for enhanced airline content access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CTP Portal: Centralized travel hub for booking, planning, reporting, risk management, and profile management travel tools.
• Lightning
• CTP Approve
• CTP Banx
• CTP Travel Forecaster
• SMART Data
• Traveler Tracker + GeoRisk

Products and services

• Higher Education Travel Management Services End-to-end travel management program for universities and colleges covering faculty/staff travel, athletics, study abroad, health science centers, and recreational sports, with custom implementation per institution.
• CTP Portal Centralized travel hub with single-sign-on access to all travel management tools, including booking, planning, reporting, risk management, and profile management for university travel managers, arrangers, and travelers.
• Lightning Online Booking Tool Award-winning proprietary online booking tool for university travel programs that aggregates NDC, GDS, and API content via Content Factory, enabling booking in as few as 5 clicks with built-in approval against institutional policy.
• CTP Approve Pre-trip approval solution with multi-tier approval hierarchies, configurable approval roles and reminders, variable question types, and mobile-optimized interface to drive compliance and budget control.
• CTP Mobile App Mobile travel companion app enabling travelers to book, manage, and organize travel on the go with access to itineraries, trip notifications, destination advice, Uber integration, and risk management tools.
• Traveler Tracker + GeoRisk Real-time traveler tracking via itinerary mapping combined with country-level COVID-19 travel restrictions, quarantine requirements, health insights, and destination risk information integrated from Riskline and Sherpa.
• SMART Data Reporting Travel reporting and analytics platform providing visual dashboards, customizable reports, predictive forecasting, and travel trend analysis for institutional program optimization.
• CTP Banx Proprietary automated unused ticket tracking software that captures, monitors, and reuses airline tickets to maximize asset recovery, including post-departure refund opportunities and tax recovery, saving an average of 2% of total air cost.
• Fare Forecasting Airfare forecasting technology providing a visual 21-day price prediction for specified routes, enabling better-informed booking decisions and cost savings without multiple searches.
• Risk Alerts Risk management dispatch solution delivering configurable travel risk notifications via text or email to affected travelers based on geographic location and predetermined risk ratings.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12% to 20% cost savings vs industry averages
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• CTM Group (Corporate Travel Management)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2019CTP was acquired by Corporate Travel Management (CTM) Group in December 2019. CTM is a global travel leader providing local service solutions to customers around the world. When clients work with CTP, they receive high-touch university-focused service backed by CTM's resources and global scale. CTP is part of CTM's group of global travel businesses spanning Australia/New Zealand, UK/Europe, North America, and Asia.
• E&I Cooperative ServicescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2019CTP has been a contracted supplier of E&I Cooperative Services since 2019. E&I is the only sourcing cooperative exclusively focused on serving the education community with over 5,500 member institutions. This partnership allows E&I member institutions to bypass federally required contracting processes including research, RFP development, and contract management. The National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) has validated the E&I RFP process.
• IATA (International Air Transport Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTP and CTM Group have worked collaboratively with IATA, airlines, and industry partners throughout the NDC (New Distribution Capability) evolution. CTP's booking technology is NDC-ready and already delivering NDC content to customers. CTP has influenced the NDC's evolution to deliver value to customers first.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Direct Travel: Direct Travel is a US-focused corporate travel management company serving mid-market and enterprise clients across multiple verticals, including higher education and athletics. It is comparable to CTP in offering dedicated account teams, custom policy implementation, and managed end-to-end TMC services to institutional clients of similar size and complexity.
• Adelman Travel Group: Adelman Travel Group is a US corporate travel management company that operates dedicated higher education and athletics travel practices, including group tour and charter services for universities. It competes with CTP for faculty/staff, athletic, and study abroad travel programs at US colleges and universities.
• Short's Travel Management: Short's Travel Management is a US travel management company with a long-standing dedicated higher education practice, directly competing with CTP for university, college, and athletic travel programs. Like CTP, it combines group/athletic travel expertise with corporate-style booking and policy tools, making it the closest head-to-head competitor in the US higher ed TMC space.
• World Travel Inc. World Travel Inc. is a US-based corporate travel management company serving a mix of corporate and institutional clients, including higher education accounts. It is comparable to CTP as a mid-sized US TMC competing for university travel management contracts with similar booking tools and consulting-led service models.
• Travel and Transport: Travel and Transport is a US corporate travel management company with dedicated higher education and athletics practices serving universities, conferences, and group travel. It is comparable to CTP in customer base (US higher ed institutions), service model (managed corporate travel), and group/athletic travel specialization.

Broad incumbents

• CWT: CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) is a major global TMC providing corporate travel, meetings, and expense services to multinational clients including institutional and education accounts. It is comparable to CTP in delivering managed end-to-end travel services but competes from a much broader, global platform rather than a vertical-specialized position.
• SAP Concur: SAP Concur is the leading travel, expense, and invoice management platform that powers online booking tools used by universities and TMCs alike — CTP itself supports Concur as an OBT option. It is comparable because it competes for the same end-user booking workflow that CTP's proprietary Lightning OBT addresses, though Concur does so as a horizontal platform across all verticals.
• BCD Travel: BCD Travel is one of the largest global corporate travel management companies, with a dedicated higher education and athletics practice competing against CTP for large university accounts. It is comparable in target customer and end-to-end TMC service model but operates at materially larger scale and broader geographic reach than CTP's US-only footprint.
• American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT): Amex GBT is a leading global corporate travel management company serving large multinational and institutional clients, including higher education accounts. It is comparable as a full-service TMC competing for university travel programs, though it offers a much broader portfolio and deeper global resources than CTP.

Emerging players

• Navan (formerly TripActions): Navan is a tech-led corporate travel and expense platform offering a consumer-grade booking experience, integrated payments, and AI-driven policy controls to corporate and institutional clients. It is comparable to CTP in targeting the managed business-travel use case but competes with a software-first, vertically agnostic model that could pressure traditional TMCs in higher ed over time.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ctp_travel

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Corporate Travel Planners