RateHawk, an online B2B platform for booking hotels, air tickets, and transfers, marks the 10th year of operations.
Over the past decade, the service has grown
into one of the largest, award-winning B2B travel tech companies with an
AI-driven backbone.
In its second decade, the company aims to
leverage its consolidation power and expand as an API supplier for major travel
players, while continuing to support travel professionals by launching new
products that help grow their businesses.
RateHawk provides access to 3.2 million
accommodation options sourced from over 250,000 directly contracted hotels and
350 global suppliers, along with flights from 400+ airlines, transfers in more
than 150 countries, railway tickets and car rentals.
In 2025, RateHawk’s annual net booking value
increased by 40% compared to 2024, while the number of bookings saw a 43%
growth on a global scale.
“We launched RateHawk in 2016 as an
experiment. At a time when the rise of individual bookings created uncertainty
about the future of travel agents, we believed that strong travel expertise
would remain in demand – but the industry needed better tools, smarter
technology, and a more intuitive user experience,” shares Felix Shpilman,
President and CEO of Emerging Travel Group, RateHawk’s parent company. “We took
a risk and applied our original B2C background to building a B2B platform with
robust technology, extensive supply, and excellent UX. That approach has proven
successful: today, more than 110,000 travel professionals across 120+ markets
use RateHawk, including major OTAs, travel tech platforms, tour operators, and
retail agencies. Their trust confirms that we are on the right path forward”.
For the next decade, RateHawk’s strategy will
leverage the synergy between retail and API streams, both supercharged by
extensive supply and in-house technology.
In 2025, the number of bookings per API
partner increased by 40% year over year, and the company aims to boost it
further.
To support API growth and build long-term
partnerships, the company is focused on expanding its supply and enhancing
technology to improve speed and stability.
As part of this strategy, it is also
allocating dedicated resources within local teams to support API development.
“As quality standards rise and workflows
become faster, many companies are re-evaluating the tools and supply chains
they use. They want higher efficiency, reliability, and a more accurate rate
matching. Thanks to advanced technology solutions and 250,000 direct contracts
and 350 suppliers, including over 100 DMCs, RateHawk’s API offers exactly what
industry stakeholders are looking for”, comments Astrid Kastberg, Managing
Director of RateHawk.
In the retail segment, the company has a
long-term roadmap for its multi-product platform, aimed at addressing travel
industry trends, including growing demand for more personalised options,
greater flexibility, automation, and a wider range of payment methods.
Kastberg adds: “WTTC predicts
the travel sector will generate over $16 trillion and make up nearly 12% of
global GDP by 2035. We believe travel professionals will largely contribute to
this growth, and we're committed to supporting them. We’ll keep expanding our
flexible approach, launching localised infrastructure, payment solutions, and
investing in local talent. We also plan to introduce new products, starting
with insurance, and continue developing features like our Quotes (Selection
Tools) that help partners increase booking conversions via an automated
offer-selling template”.
To make the booking process as smooth as
possible, the company is investing heavily in AI-driven technologies such as
smart search and a recommendation system.
In customer support, agentic AI tools now
classify and handle around 50% of routine requests, speeding up response times
and allowing the team to focus on more complex issues.
The company is also applying AI to other
areas, such as improving supply consolidation, localising content, and
identifying potential booking incidents.
These steps help reduce errors, improve efficiency, and bring new products and services to market faster. -TradeArabia News Service
