Supplier strategy for online travel

In the world of travel technology and B2B distribution, your supplier strategy can make or break your product offering, operational efficiency, and ultimately, your profitability. 

One of the most common strategic debates we face is this:

Q) Should we connect with many suppliers to maximize coverage, or focus on a handful to streamline operations and strengthen partnerships?

A) Both approaches have their merits, and risks. Here's a breakdown of what each path entails.

A procurement manager at an online travel agency is confused in decision about supplier strategy

🌍 Connecting with Many Suppliers

This strategy gives you broad content access, more destinations, better rates, exclusive offers, and higher availability. With multiple suppliers, you can benchmark in real time, switch between sources based on margins, and keep your offering competitive.

However, managing many suppliers isn’t easy. It requires more resources, larger financial commitments, and complex tech and operations. The pressure on fulfillment teams increases, especially when it comes to mapping, pricing validation, and customer service. Onboarding and maintaining dozens of supplier integrations is no small task, especially for small or growing teams.

🤝 Focusing on a Handful of Suppliers

On the flip side, a focused supplier approach allows for deeper, more strategic relationships. You become more relevant to your partners through volume consolidation, enjoy more consistent commercial terms, and reduce the operational noise. Tech teams, finance, and support can operate more smoothly with fewer points of integration and fewer exceptions to handle.

But this approach comes with dependency risks. Relying on a limited set of suppliers might reduce your pricing flexibility, limit your content competitiveness, and make it harder to respond to new trends or fill niche customer requests. It’s a trade-off between focus and flexibility.

⚖️ Finding the Balance

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Startups might benefit from a focused approach to stay lean and agile. Mature OTAs or aggregators, however, can unlock significant value by diversifying their supplier base, provided they have the right infrastructure in place.

At the end of the day, the goal is to align your supplier strategy with your business model, team capacity, and technology readiness.

💬 What's your take?

 Have you regretted connecting many suppliers previously? or did you stick to few and faced consequences? I’d love to hear how you’re approaching this balance in your travel business.