Emerging Travel Group reports record $4.8 billion GTV via RateHawk expansion and agentic AI integration
Dubai, UAE – March 2, 2026 – UAE-headquartered Emerging Travel Group (ETG) announced record gross transaction value of $4.8 billion in 2025, up 30% from 2024, driven by expansion of its RateHawk B2B platform and integration of agentic AI tools. The milestone marks RateHawk’s 10th anniversary and underscores MENA’s growing travel tech leadership.
Overview
RateHawk achieved 40% net booking value growth and expanded its partner network 37% to over 110,000 travel professionals globally in 2025. API gross bookings rose 40%, with API partners increasing 33% to more than 1,400 companies. Accommodation inventory expanded 23%, with direct hotel partnerships doubling to 250,000 properties across 3.2 million total options.
In the GCC specifically, agents grew 12% to over 9,000, while net bookings surged 66%. The platform integrated predictive, generative, and agentic AI tools across product development, analytics, and customer support functions.
Announcement specifics
RateHawk achieved 40% net booking value growth and expanded its partner network 37% to over 110,000 travel professionals globally in 2025. API gross bookings rose 40%, with API partners increasing 33% to more than 1,400 companies. Accommodation inventory expanded 23%, with direct hotel partnerships doubling to 250,000 properties across 3.2 million total options.
In the GCC specifically, agents grew 12% to over 9,000, while net bookings surged 66%. The platform integrated predictive, generative, and agentic AI tools across product development, analytics, and customer support functions.
Stakeholder perspective
“Over the past decade, RateHawk has scaled rapidly. Thanks to our innovative and partner-centric approach, we’ve achieved strong market fit across key regions such as Europe and the Middle East, and we continue to expand our presence in new markets, including Asia, Latin America, and North America, with both our booking platform and API solutions.”
— Felix Shpilman, President and CEO at Emerging Travel Group
Why it matters: This positions RateHawk as a critical infrastructure provider for GCC travel agents capitalizing on the region’s tourism boom.
“With travel remaining a highly fragmented industry, we see AI as a game-changer for behind-the-scenes processes. Predictive, generative, and agentic AI tools are already integrated across our product, analytics and customer support teams, and we plan to expand their use further.”
— Felix Shpilman, President and CEO at Emerging Travel Group
Why it matters: Agentic AI automation addresses operational complexity in fragmented travel supply chains, delivering competitive advantage.
Industry context
Travel technology platforms are consolidating post-pandemic market share as global tourism rebounds. B2B platforms like RateHawk address persistent supply chain fragmentation by aggregating accommodation inventory and deploying AI for predictive analytics and automated booking processes.
ETG’s UAE headquarters and 66% GCC booking growth signal MENA’s emergence as a travel tech hub rivaling established European markets. The region benefits from competitive pricing infrastructure and expanding hotel partnerships supporting tourism sector diversification across Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Conclusion
ETG plans further AI deployment and supplier integration expansion to sustain growth momentum, potentially establishing new benchmarks for B2B travel distribution efficiency across MENA and emerging markets.
Sources: Zawya
