Travel management company
CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) is a travel management company that manages business travel, meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions, and handles event management.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company reported US$23 billion in total transaction volume in 2018.[1] It is ranked 5th on the list of top earning travel companies published by Travel Weekly.[2]
History
CWT has existed in its present form since 1994, the result of a 50%/50% merger of two large travel agencies: the Ask Mr. Foster Travel Agency chain, later called Carlson Travel Network, and the travel agency of Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (literally sleeping car), founded by Georges Nagelmackers in 1872 in Belgium and later acquired by Accor.[3]
On April 27, 2006, Accor announced the sale of its 50% interest in CWT: 5% to Carlson and 45% to One Equity Partners, an affiliate of JP Morgan Chase.[4]
On June 22, 2014, Carlson, which owned a 55% stake in CWT, agreed to acquire the 45% interest in CWT held by JPMorgan Chase.[5][6][7]
In July 2017, the company launched RoomIt by CWT, dedicated to hotel distribution.[8][9]
On February 18, 2019, the company announced that it was rebranding as CWT.[10]
On July 31, 2020, the Register reported that CWT was the victim of a ransomware incident a week earlier, in which they paid US$4.5 million.[11]
In 2022, CWT had a capital injection which resulted in Carlson becoming a minority shareholder.[12]
On march 25th 2024 rival AMEX GBT announced it is to buy CWT.[13]
