Hyper-personalized service, integrated technology and a continued focus on midmarket companies are all on the mind of Barbara Barnard, who will take on the role of World Travel Inc. CEO on Jan. 1.
Barbara Barnard
Barnard will succeed Liz Mandarino, who will continue serving as chair of World Travel Inc.'s board, the TMC announced in late November. Additionally, COO Pam Zager added president to her title.
WTI, an employee-owned company based in Exton, Pa., is No. 20 on Travel Weekly's Power List, recording $1.41 billion in 2024 sales.
"When you think about where the industry is headed, our plan has to be around continuing to create hyper-personalized service," Barnard said. "And that personalized service is always, for us, going to be both for the traveler and for the stakeholders who own the travel program."
That service includes modernizing travel policies and ensuring data is in order, especially for emerging AI technology to effectively utilize.
WTI is also working toward an integrated technology platform that will take a user from shopping through payment.
Barnard said the TMC remains flexible, though, not forcing clients to migrate technology providers if they don't want to, which speaks to the personalization goal.
She wants the TMC to stay firmly focused on working with midmarket corporations (those with annual travel spend up to $70 million, most in the $5 million to $30 million range).
It was one of the things that drew her to WTI when she joined in 2024 as executive vice president of business development and marketing. Prior to that, she'd spent nearly 20 years at CWT, working up to the post of managing director of the Americas customer group.
"Consolidation has created scale in this industry, but it's also created blind spots," she said. "When I talk about that midmarket segment, there's just a real need for companies like World Travel -- and under our One Global banner -- to deliver a very bespoke, highly relationship-driven level of product and service to these companies that otherwise are going to be jammed into a standardization."
One Global Travel is WTI's joint venture with Clarity Business Travel in the U.K. It's a partnership that enables WTI to service customers in 80-plus countries.
While WTI's main focus is corporate travel, it also has a robust leisure operation, Barnard said. The TMC even maintains a small number of storefront locations, with 20% of its leisure business from walk-in traffic.
"We have this incredible legacy that has to evolve," she said. "But that's exactly what we've done. We have struck this balance between what has kept us consistently regarded by all customers."