Over the past decade, the spotlight in the online travel industry has largely focused on consumer-facing OTAs.
Yet behind these platforms lies an even larger network—the B2B travel distribution ecosystem. This system connects millions of hotels, hundreds of thousands of travel agencies, and a growing leisure and corporate travel demand, forming the “supply chain” that keeps global travel running.
One of the fastest-growing players in this network is RateHawk, headquartered in the UAE.
As a B2B booking platform under the Emerging Travel Group (ETG), RateHawk serves travel professionals in over 120 countries, offering more than 3.2 million accommodation options, flights from 400+ airlines, and ground transportation in 150+ countries.
Even more impressively, over the past year, the company’s partner network in Asia has grown by over 50%, with Asia-Pacific business surging by more than 110% in net booking value year-on-year. In today’s increasingly competitive global travel tech market, RateHawk is attempting to redefine distribution efficiency through technology, inventory, and localized capabilities.
Ilya Kravtsov, Chief Commercial Officer at ETG, told TravelDaily CEO Charlie Li that the platform is building a new global travel distribution network along three dimensions: AI, supply chain integration, and localized operations.
Ilya Kravtsov
From B2C to B2B: a strategic pivot
Few know that the Emerging Travel Group, the company behind RateHawk, began as a purely B2C platform.
Thirteen years ago, the company mainly provided hotel bookings for individual consumers. As market competition intensified, the team quickly realized that the real opportunity lay not in the consumer market, but in providing foundational infrastructure for travel agencies and corporate travel.
This insight led to a strategic transformation.
Today, roughly 90% of ETG’s business is B2B, with three core brands:
●RateHawk: a B2B booking platform for travel agencies worldwide
●Roundtrip: a corporate travel management (CTM) platform
●ZenHotels: a consumer-facing hotel booking platform
Within this system, RateHawk serves as the core B2B platform.
Unlike traditional hotel distribution platforms, RateHawk doesn’t just provide hotel inventory—it integrates flights, train tickets, transfers, and car rentals, allowing travel agencies to build complete itineraries within a single system.
Ilya Kravtsov explains that this “one-stop distribution” model significantly reduces operational complexity for travel agencies:“Agencies no longer need to switch between multiple systems or contact different suppliers. Everything can be planned and booked through one platform.” He adds: “Our accommodation supply aggregates offerings from over 350 global wholesalers, OTAs, regional DMCs as well as over 250,000 directly connected accommodations – ranging from world-famous hotel chains to boutique hotels and short-term rentals. This broad supply enables us to cover most destinations worldwide that are popular with Asian travellers.”
Traditional agency systems are often criticized for complex interfaces, cumbersome workflows, and redundant data.
One of RateHawk’s key strategies has been to bring B2C design experience into the B2B realm. Having started as a consumer platform, the team placed strong emphasis on user experience when designing the B2B system.
For example: simplified hotel comparison interfaces, optimized search logic, and the elimination of irrelevant price data.
Ilya Kravtsov notes:“Agencies don’t want to face hundreds of nearly identical quotes. The system should help them filter out the truly valuable options.”
AI is transforming distribution efficiency
AI has become a core operational tool at RateHawk.
The platform has implemented automation and predictive models across several areas:
1、Customer Service Automation
About 50% of hotel-related communications are now handled by AI agents, including order modifications, inventory inquiries, and booking confirmations.
These automated processes shorten response times and allow human teams to focus on more complex issues.
2、Supplier Quality Assessment
AI models continuously analyze supplier performance, customer reviews, and service stability.
High-risk suppliers or potential problem orders are flagged for early intervention.
3、Price Optimization and Rate Mixing
The platform automatically calculates optimal rates from multiple sources using smart comparison and rate aggregation algorithms.
Ilya Kravtsov emphasizes:“AI doesn’t replace people—it makes the entire distribution system faster and more reliable.”
Local payments: a key to Asia-Pacific growth
Many global travel tech platforms struggle in Asia, not due to products, but due to insufficient localization.
RateHawk treats “last-mile localization” as a core strategy.
●Local operations teams in APAC
●Multilingual customer support (including Chinese)
●Integration with local payment methods
Currently, the company supports digital wallet payments in China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Ilya Kravtsov points out:“If a platform cannot support local payment methods, it’s almost impossible to truly enter the market.”
In addition to payments, RateHawk collaborates with local major platforms:
●In China: technology integration with super-apps like Ctrip and Meituan
●In India: partnerships with MakeMyTrip and others
These collaborations allow RateHawk to quickly reach a broader user base.
110% business growth, Asia-Pacific as the engine
Asia-Pacific has become RateHawk’s fastest-growing region.
●Over the past year, the region’s business grew by more than 110%.
●The local team now exceeds 50 people, with plans to expand further.
●Key markets: China, India, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand,
In China, RateHawk collaborates not only with travel agents, but also with big OTAs, tour operators and other companies through API connection.
Ilya Kravtsov explains: “Many large enterprises are building their own booking systems, and our API can integrate directly with these platforms and provide them with our accommodation supply.”
In travel tech, APIs are now critical infrastructure.
●In 2024, RateHawk doubled its API partnerships, adding 500+ new partners, including major OTAs like Ctrip and corporate travel platforms.
●APIs enable: automated booking flows, expanded distribution channels, embedding inventory into third-party ecosystems
For instance, some CTM platforms can call RateHawk’s inventory via API for instant booking.
The company plans to further enhance API speed, success rate, and functionality, allowing more travel tech firms to build services on top of its infrastructure.
The hidden giant of global travel
As RateHawk scales rapidly, speculation about an ETG IPO has emerged. The company hasn’t ruled it out but remains cautious. Ilya Kravtsov notes:“Going public is always an option, but we will decide at the right time.”
In the short term, the company is focused on:
●expanding direct hotel contracts
●strengthening AI and automation
●deepening APAC market presence
To the general public, the travel industry may appear to revolve around OTA competition.
Yet real efficiency is determined by the underlying distribution system. A network connecting platforms, agencies, corporate travel companies, hotels, and airlines efficiently is essential. RateHawk is aiming to become one of the core infrastructure players in global travel distribution.
As more agencies, corporate platforms, and tech firms connect to the same inventory network via APIs, the power structure of global travel distribution is quietly shifting.
Within this vast infrastructure, a new “hidden giant” may be emerging.
