The Advantage Travel Partnership has announced that Pelin Dede has joined the company in the newly created role of Head of Accommodation for the group’s Global Accommodation Programme.

In this new role she will be responsible for leading the transition as Advantage and Hickory Global Partners launch Global Stays, a strategic joint venture for their GDS accommodation programmes in 2025, announced at the group’s annual conference in May.  She will also be tasked with helping to drive the strategy for the group’s global accommodation proposition, as well as growing the group’s overall global accommodation content, and handling supplier contracts and negotiations.  

In addition, Pelin will be responsible for overseeing the corporate GDS accommodation programme of over 60,000 properties - Global Stays - and managing commercial partnerships with serviced apartment providers and aggregator partners, which will all fall under the Global Accommodation Programme proposition in 2025, whilst ensuring continuous innovation and growth through strategic marketing programmes.

Pelin began her career in 2006 at Orbitz Worldwide in Chicago, USA and then moved to London, joining the Expedia Group where she worked across a variety of roles for six years. She joined CWT in 2018 as a senior manager within their Global Suppliers team and was responsible for looking after their top chain hotel suppliers and third-party aggregator partners.

Andrea Caulfield-Smith, Managing Director, Global Business Travel at The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “We are thrilled Pelin has joined the team to spearhead our Global Accommodation Programme (GAP) at a time of transition for us as we look to build on the strength of the programme and pursue our ambitious global strategy to enhance this fantastic member benefit. This market-leading global accommodation proposition will soon be strengthened through our relationship with US based Hickory Global Partners with the launch of Global Stays. Global Stays will deliver significantly more properties for our collective membership as well as provide more opportunities for our hotel and serviced apartment suppliers.

“The accommodation sector is of significant strategic importance to our overall offering and an area in which we will look to leverage our size and scale further to deliver greater growth and continued member benefit. Pelin has already established herself within Advantage and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the hotel industry. I have every confidence she will take our programme to new heights as we further drive our one-stop-business-hub approach for our members.”

Commenting on her appointment, Pelin said: “In my first few weeks, I have been meeting existing and prospective partners to discuss the potential of our Global Accommodation Programme. I have already hit the ground running spending time with Andrea and the team to support plans to contribute to helping shape Advantage’s global accommodation strategy, whilst working on our product offering to take it to the next level to ensure our members further benefit from the programme and its content in the best way possible. The strength of Advantage’s proposition is what attracted me to the role, and we welcome the introduction of new partners to the programme, so I invite accommodation providers to please get in touch with me.”

Global Stays will become effective for the 2025 programme and will offer more than 60,000 properties worldwide and over one million serviced apartments, bookable via the GDS. The combined accommodation network will be available to 1,900+ travel management companies, TMC’s, Corporate Travel Departments and Corporate Direct, across 158 countries around the world, with a total accommodation spend of $2.9 Billion. Currently, The Advantage Global Accommodation Programme (GAP) is a market-leading proposition available for all Advantage members to book via the GDS. The programme offers 42,000+ properties that offers accommodation options from global chain hotels to independent properties and serviced apartments.