Short's Travel Management

What Short's Travel Management does

Short's Travel Management is a privately held, family-owned travel management company founded in 1946 in Waterloo, Iowa, that has evolved into a specialized provider of athletic travel services. The company primarily serves collegiate athletic departments across NCAA and NAIA programs, professional sports organizations including NASCAR, and supporting clients such as UNCW Athletics. Since entering the collegiate athletics vertical in 2003, Short's has scaled to support 1,600+ teams, manage nearly 20,000 games/meets/tournaments annually, and coordinate over 3 million miles of travel per year.

The company's product architecture combines a proprietary online travel portal (Short's Travel Portal) with three dedicated sub-brands: STM Charters (air charter, 2,500+ legs annually), STM Driven (collegiate bus charter, ~150 programs annually), and STM Stay (group hotel contracting, 1,200 contracts annually achieving 25% client savings). Short's owns, develops, and integrates its technology stack internally, providing booking solutions, agency efficiency tools, and client system integrations as a vertically integrated platform for athletic travel logistics.

Short's generates revenue through a mix of recurring travel management service fees, transaction-based charter commissions (air and bus), and managed-services fees for group hotel contract negotiation. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting athletic directors and travel coordinators at universities and sports organizations, supported by direct website inquiry, dedicated sub-brand websites, and content marketing via a monthly "In The Know" newsletter. The company is family owned and majority women owned, employs 170+ people, and maintains no disclosed institutional investor backing.

Name

Short's Travel Management

Legal name

Short's Travel Management

Website

https://shortstravel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Short's Travel Management is a privately held, family-owned athletic travel management company founded in 1946 that serves collegiate athletic departments (NCAA, NAIA) and professional sports organizations with air, bus, and group hotel services managed through a proprietary portal and three sub-brands (STM Charters, STM Driven, STM Stay).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Athletic Travel Management Services

NAICS

Travel Agencies (56151), Other Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services (56159), Charter Bus Industry (48551), Nonscheduled Air Transportation (48121)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Meetings & Group Travel Management (Corporate Groups) (THAKAMAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Supplier Sourcing, Negotiation & Contract Management (THAKAMAG), Online/Hybrid Corporate Travel Agencies (Self-Booking + Support) (THAKACAB)

Keywords

• Athletic travel management
• Corporate travel services
• Charter air services
• Charter bus services
• Group hotel booking

Headquarters

HQ city

Overland Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Travel Management Services: Comprehensive athletic travel management including planning, booking, and logistics coordination for teams. Revenue is generated through service fees associated with managing travel programs for collegiate athletic departments and sports organizations.
2. Air Charter Services (STM Charters): Air travel services through stmcharters.com, providing charter flights with competitive pricing, subleased aircraft capacity access, and dedicated charter specialist management. Handles 2,500+ charter legs annually.
3. Bus Charter Services (STM Driven): Collegiate charter bus transportation services through stmdriven.com, working with approximately 150 different athletic programs each year.
4. Group Hotel Services (STM Stay): Hotel search, contract negotiation, and support services. Conducted 1,200 group hotel contracts last year achieving 25% savings for clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Short's Travel Management is a B2B athletic travel management company that plans, books, and coordinates team travel for collegiate athletic departments and sports organizations. Service lines include comprehensive travel management plus three specialized sub-brands: STM Charters (air charter, 2,500+ legs annually), STM Driven (collegiate bus charter, ~150 programs annually), and STM Stay (group hotel contracting, 1,200+ contracts/year with 25% savings). Operations are supported by a proprietary online travel portal with automated booking tools and integration capabilities developed in-house.

Product overview

Short's Travel Management offers a unified platform-plus-sub-brands architecture for athletic travel management. The core offering centers on the Short's Travel Portal, an online platform with integrated dashboards and automated booking tools that serves as the central interface for travelers and arrangers. This platform is supported by three specialized sub-brands: STM Charters handles air travel (2,500+ charter legs annually), STM Driven manages bus transportation (~150 programs annually), and STM Stay manages group hotel contracting (1,200+ contracts with 25% savings). All components share the proprietary technology stack, with the portal serving as the unified front-end while charter and hotel services operate as specialized back-end capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• STM Charters: Air charter services providing athletics-focused air travel with 2,500+ charter legs annually.
• STM Driven
• STM Stay

Products and services

• Travel Management Comprehensive athletic travel management services covering regular season and postseason logistics for collegiate and professional sports teams, including air, bus, and hotel accommodations. Customers include NCAA, NAIA, NASCAR, and UNCW Athletics.
• Air Charters (STM Charters) Athletics-focused air charter service providing reliable air travel with competitive pricing, subleased aircraft capacity access, and dedicated charter specialists. Manages over 2,500 charter legs annually.
• Bus Charters (STM Driven) Collegiate charter bus transportation service partnering with approximately 150 different athletic programs each year for ground transportation needs.
• Group Hotel (STM Stay) Hotel search, contract negotiation, and management service for athletic groups, including negotiating concessions. Achieved 25% savings among its 1,200 group hotel contracts last year.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25% savings on group hotel contracts
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• UNCW AthleticscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShort's Travel Management announced a partnership with UNCW Athletics to manage their team travel. This represents a direct service relationship where Short's provides comprehensive athletic travel management including logistics, coordination, and travel planning services for the university athletic department.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Christopherson Business Travel: Mid-sized US corporate TMC focused on SMB and mid-market clients; comparable business model (TMC with proprietary tech), smaller scale than Short's and without collegiate specialization.
• Altour: Corporate travel management company with leisure and meetings divisions; comparable in full-service TMC model and supplier negotiation, with similar mid-market positioning.
• Roadtrips: Luxury sports travel company arranging Super Bowl, Final Four, and championship trips; comparable in sports-specific group travel but focused on premium fan/consumer experiences rather than team logistics.

Broad incumbents

• BCD Travel: Global corporate travel management company that increasingly services sports and entertainment clients; comparable in TMC business model and technology stack but operates at much broader scale.
• Corporate Travel Management (CTM): Publicly listed TMC with strong North American presence serving corporate, government, and sports/entertainment clients; overlaps with Short's on group and event travel logistics at much larger scale.
• Travel Leaders Group: Large traditional travel agency network with corporate and leisure divisions; comparable in travel distribution and supplier relationships, less specialized in collegiate athletics.
• CWT (Carlson Wagonlit Travel): One of the largest global TMCs serving corporate, government, and entertainment clients; comparable in travel management services and supplier negotiation but not specialized in collegiate athletics.
• Direct Travel: US-headquartered corporate travel management company with full-service TMC offerings including meetings and group travel; comparable TMC operating model, broader in vertical exposure.
• American Express Global Business Travel: Large global TMC with broad corporate client base and proprietary booking technology; overlaps with Short's on group travel and meetings logistics but serves a much wider set of verticals.

Direct peers

• Anthony Travel: Long-standing collegiate and sports-specialized travel management agency serving NCAA athletic departments with charter, hotel, and team logistics; closest direct competitor to Short's in collegiate athletic travel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/shortstravel
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCNAN1EpSLxAWr4uxO-a8SUw
• Facebookfacebook.com/Shorts.Travel.Management
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/short
• Instagraminstagram.com/shortstravel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A2 records

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Short's Travel Management