Q&A: Avenir’s global rollout by Direct Travel

For years, multinational travel managers have faced the same structural problem: global travel programs stitched together from a patchwork of regional providers. The result? Multiple booking tools, disconnected data sets, and inconsistent traveler experiences that vary by country, system, and service model. 

The technology existed to manage each piece, but not to manage all of them together.

Direct Travel launched Avenir Travel Edition to solve this problem. Powered by Spotnana’s cloud-native, single-instance platform, Avenir gives multinational companies one global platform, one service model, and one source of truth across their entire travel program. 

In 2026, the platform is rolling out across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East, backed by Direct Travel’s acquisition of ATPI, which provided the global operating footprint to deploy Avenir at scale.

We sat down with the Direct Travel team to discuss what the global rollout means for the industry, how Spotnana’s open architecture made it possible, and what travel managers can expect when they no longer have to stitch a global program together from regional components.

The global rollout of Avenir Travel Edition is a major milestone. What does this moment mean for Direct Travel?

This moment represents the arrival of a new option in global travel management.

For decades, multinational travel programs have had to choose between global reach and operational consistency. “Global” often meant using several regional systems, reconciling multiple data sets, and navigating different servicing models depending on where a traveler was located.

With Avenir deployed as a single global instance, companies no longer have to assemble a program country by country. They can operate on one global platform, powered by Spotnana, supported by one service model and one shared data foundation.

What that means in practice is simpler governance, on-demand visibility across markets, consistent traveler experience, and the ability to manage global programs as a single system rather than a collection of parts.

The acquisition of ATPI was a key accelerant here. How did that change what was possible for the global rollout?

ATPI has enabled us to activate a truly global corporate travel platform at scale.

The acquisition gave us immediate access to resources and capabilities across key international markets, including operational teams, supplier relationships, and in-country presence. 

Instead of expanding country by country over multiple years, we moved in parallel across markets. We were able to align an established global corporate network behind one platform and one service model, with operational readiness from day one.

Avenir is powered by Spotnana. How did Spotnana help you accelerate the integration of ATPI and get to market faster with a global offering?

Spotnana’s architecture was critical.

We avoided the need to integrate dozens of legacy systems across regions. Since Spotnana is a modern, cloud-native, single-instance platform, we were able to align teams and processes onto one shared foundation.

That dramatically reduced the complexity of integration. Instead of stitching technology together, we focused on harmonizing service models and governance, which is where the real value is created. Spotnana provided the infrastructure that allowed us to quickly operationalize Avenir globally.

How is Spotnana’s technology enabling Direct Travel to approach global servicing differently?

Historically, global servicing meant routing work to regional systems and hoping data reconciled afterward. With a single global instance, our teams see the same traveler profile, the same itinerary data, and the same policy logic, regardless of where the traveler is located.

That allows us to deliver true follow-the-sun servicing with consistency. It also enables centralized governance with localized execution, which is what global programs have been trying to achieve for years.

Even as we evolve our technology and global service model, the fundamentals of the service our customers rely on remain firmly in place. 

We will continue to maintain clear client ownership and accountability. Our commitment to service quality is unchanged and supported by ongoing training, strong performance management, and rigorous quality assurance. And, finally, we remain invested in strengthening our people, refining our processes, and deploying technology that continuously improves how we deliver service. 

This is why we consistently achieve a world‑class NPS score of 66 and uphold a strong service DNA built around reliability, responsiveness, and traveler‑first care.

How is Avenir different from Spotnana?

Spotnana is the infrastructure layer, a modern, cloud-native travel platform built for global travel programs and designed to work with any source of content.

Avenir is Direct Travel’s global platform built on top of that infrastructure.

It includes:

• Our global service model.
• Our governance framework.
• Our implementation methodology.
• Our data and reporting layer.
• Our supplier strategy.
• Our human care model.

Importantly, Spotnana’s open, API-first architecture allows us to build unique and differentiated capabilities.

We are actively developing proprietary components in-house to enhance experiences for both travelers and travel managers, from workflow enhancements to data services and program intelligence. Because the platform is open, we can extend and integrate without rebuilding the core.

Over time, that same openness will also allow capabilities developed by partners and third parties to plug into the ecosystem, creating a more dynamic and adaptable environment than legacy, closed systems have ever allowed.

Avenir is deployed as a single global instance. For a travel manager who’s been dealing with fragmented regional systems for years, what does that actually feel like day to day?

It feels simpler.

Instead of managing multiple regional contracts, tools, reports, and service standards, they manage one program. There’s one data set. One reporting environment. One policy framework. One escalation path.

Day to day, that means fewer reconciliation exercises, fewer workarounds, and fewer “that’s how it works in that country” conversations.

It moves global travel management from reactive coordination to proactive strategy.

You’ve described Avenir as delivering “one global platform, one global service model, and one source of truth.” Which has historically been the hardest to achieve?

Historically, the hardest has been one source of truth.

Technology fragmentation is visible; you can see multiple booking tools. Service fragmentation is operational; you feel it in the traveler experience. But data fragmentation is strategic. 

Fragmented data limits executive decision-making, cost control, and duty of care oversight. Without a unified data foundation, global governance becomes nearly impossible.

That’s why deploying Avenir as a single global instance matters. It creates structural alignment between booking, servicing, and reporting.

Sixty-three percent of travel managers want better integration between TMCs and booking platforms, according to GBTA research from 2025. How does Avenir address that?

Historically, the TMC’s tech stack and the booking tool were separate systems. With Avenir, the booking platform and servicing environment operate on the same infrastructure.

That eliminates latency between systems, reduces handoffs, and ensures that what a traveler books is exactly what an advisor sees in real time. It removes friction between digital and human touchpoints. And that’s where integration matters most.

Spotnana is open and API-first. How has that shaped what Direct Travel can offer?

Openness allows us to integrate expense, HR, risk, and supplier systems in a way legacy platforms simply can’t.

Also, as noted earlier, it allows us to evolve.

We’re not locked into closed ecosystems. We can layer in AI, data services, and third-party capabilities without rebuilding the core.

For multinational customers, that means future-proofing. Their program can adapt without replatforming every few years.

Looking ahead, what does success look like for Avenir by the end of 2026?

By the end of 2026, success means our customers feel the difference.

It means multinational travel managers can operate their global programs as a single system, rather than a collection of regional compromises. They will experience faster implementations, cleaner data, stronger policy control, and real-time visibility across markets. Finance and procurement leaders will be able to make global decisions based on unified, reliable data rather than stitched-together reports.

For travelers, success means having a consistent experience wherever they are in the world, with digital and human support working seamlessly together. 

More broadly, this rollout signals where managed travel is heading. The future is a unified global infrastructure where technology and service operate as one coordinated system, instead of regional patchworks supported by bolt-on integrations. Companies that embrace this model will move faster, operate with greater clarity, and adapt more easily to change.

That’s what Avenir is designed to deliver.