Emerging Travel Group, a global travel company operating the RateHawk, ZenHotels, and Roundtrip brands, has made a senior-level appointment to its direct supply development team. Simone Large joins the company as the Head of Direct Supply. 

In her new role, Simone will be responsible for the company's hotel and lodging strategy development, consolidating a team of over 50 professionals. Based in Alicante, Simone will leverage her expertise to forge hotel partnerships globally.

In her travel industry career spanning over two decades, Simone has held senior positions in destination management, business development and partnership building in companies including Dnata Travel Group and W2M.

Felix Shpilman, CEO of Emerging Travel Group, commented: “Aiming to provide our customers with the broadest supply choice possible, our longstanding strategy focused on consolidating numerous wholesalers and contracting hotels directly. While we have mastered working with suppliers unlike anyone else in the market, we strategically shifted towards developing direct connections in the European and Middle Eastern regions. In 2023 these efforts led to a remarkable 32% growth in directly contracted accommodations, reaching a total of 90,000 properties. Simone’s strong travel industry background, deep industry knowledge and extensive experience that she brings to the company will undoubtedly accelerate our growth further.”

Commenting on her new role, Simone Large said: “I am excited to join the ambitious team of Emerging Travel Group during this pivotal time and to lead the Direct Supply division. We are fostering collaboration with hoteliers willing to access tailor-made distribution across the Group’s multiple platforms. I look forward to applying my expertise to drive the company's growth and long-term value.”

Emerging Travel Group (ETG) consolidates a total inventory of over 2.5 million options, with 90,000 of them being connected directly through the company’s proprietary extranet system. By connecting to the ETG’s extranet, hoteliers and property owners can leverage the distribution channels across all ETG’s brands, including platforms designed for individual travelers (ZenHotels), travel agents and industry professionals (RateHawk), and business travelers (Roundtrip). The Group’s platforms are used by over 10 million B2C consumers and 100,000 B2B customers. To provide greater visibility among target audiences, the company offers the Top Stays program for directly contracted properties. Additionally, the Group collaborates with the majority of channel managers in the market, empowering property owners to manage their distribution seamlessly.

In 2023, Emerging Travel Group achieved a gross transaction value of $2.6 billion. The company employs more than 2,800 people in 80 countries. The company has offices in Wilmington, London, Berlin, Milan, Lisbon, Warsaw, Dubai and Limassol.

About Emerging Travel Group

Emerging Travel is a UAE-based online travel group founded in 2010 that operates travel brands for individual travelers, B2B travel professionals, and corporate customers in over 190 source markets.

Our products help clients book all types of travel services: more than 2.5 million hotels from over 90,000 properties contracted directly and 230 wholesalers, flight tickets of 400 airlines, transfers in over 150 countries, car rental, and other travel-related services.

Emerging Travel Group employs more than 2,800 people across the USA, Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, and South Africa in roles ranging from product and business development to specialized multilingual customer support for all our customers, whether they are trade partners, corporate travelers, or individuals simply booking their hotels online.

Press Contact
Anita Gusich,
Press Secretary
pr@emergingtravel.com