The Lufthansa City Center (LCC) network is aiming to grow its portfolio
of international business travel members in 2026 and has identified a number of
markets in which it wishes to establish – or strengthen – its presence.

Business travel expansion is one of several strategic
pillars for the organisation in the year ahead as outlined by Lufthansa City Center
International’s managing director Heiko Brix – who joined the organisation last year – at the network’s 21st
general assembly taking place in Malta this weekend.

Following a “targeted
expansion” of its global supplier portfolio and DMC membership in recent years,
its next steps include “controlled growth in core markets,” expanding its
global partner network and fostering a new generation of entrepreneurial
businesses.

“Lufthansa
City Center is more than just a travel agency chain – it is a vibrant,
entrepreneurial network with a global spirit and local backbone,” said Brix.

In Europe, it is pursuing new travel management company members in Spain, Portugal and Poland,
while in Asia-Pacific the organisation is targeting growth in India, South Korea, China,
Indonesia and Australia.

LCC is looking to add mid-sized agencies that are not
already aligned to a local network and are “innovative, ambitious and aiming
for growth,” explained Brix. “Our corporate travel [membership] is already strong
but we need to bring in further competencies for the international network.”

Brix believes India offers a “massive opportunity” for
expansion and also views Poland, with one of Europe’s fastest-growing
economies, as a market in which LCC International needs to expand, despite already counting
eTravel – “the strongest BSP producer in Poland” – among its members.

LCC, which comprises around 600 travel agencies
and destination management companies across 110 countries, reported combined
turnover of €7.6 billion in 2024, up significantly from €5.98 billion in 2023.

THE GROWTH JOURNEY

Its acceleration has been driven by both organic growth and
the addition of several new partners including Gant Travel in the US last year,
which alone added around €1 billion in turnover, and this year, the addition of
Beyond Business Travel in Northern Ireland and Vermari in Brazil.

In total, it added 35 new agencies last year, five of which
were granted LCC’s business travel license, taking its international corporate
travel network to 55 members globally, in addition to 60 travel management
companies in Germany.

The group
has seen only “moderate” growth in 2025, with year-to-date revenue flat and
booking volumes down slightly, but Brix believes LCC’s SME customers tend to shake
off the impact of geopolitical tensions and economic challenges more easily
than their larger counterparts.

“The German
SME market in particular… those companies are more resilient than some major
corporations. Larger companies are often hit harder and sooner, but it depends
on the segment, of course,” said Brix, highlighting the impact of US tariffs on
Germany’s automotive sector. 

SME customers need personal service and the new platform TMCs are now learning that

While Brix
and LCC’s managing director in Germany, Markus Orth, view American Express Global
Business Travel’s acquisition of CWT as an “advantage” for LCC and its members,
the organisation’s tech-first competitors “are getting stronger,” said Orth. Nevertheless,
LCC is the third largest travel management organisation in Germany, behind only
Amex GBT and BCD Travel, he noted.

But pointing
to the likes of Navan, Perk (previously known as TravelPerk) and Lanes & Planes, which is ranked the ninth largest TMC in Germany, Orth said: “They were parked during Covid when you needed [personal]
service but now they are strong competition.”

Brix said
that although its members had lost some business to such competitors, two-thirds
return to LCC because “they miss the service component – that’s where we win;
we are so strong on service.”

Orth added: “SMEs
need service and the new platforms are now learning that. It’s especially [the
case] when you have NDC content [to manage post-booking] and when there’s disruption
– that’s the moment of truth.”

ADAPTING TO CHANGE

Brix said
that 19.8 per cent of the LCC network’s bookings for Lufthansa are now made through NDC
channels – some 9 per cent more than the industry average. Among its German
members, that figure stands at 30 per cent.

“That is driven by a few
very strong partners – some
are on 80 or even 90 per cent – but we are currently spreading those best practices into the rest of the international LCC world to
show how it can be done and how that share can be increased,” said Brix.

Some agencies remain reluctant to adopt NDC, he added, but “we explain
that content is going to be taken away from the GDS [EDIFACT] channels, so they need to move over.”

LCC’s franchise
members in Germany can access NDC content via its BridgeIT platform, while
international members now have access to a range of aggregators including
Travelfusion and TPConnects.

Similarly,
while the network’s members in Germany largely use a unified mid-office and
tech suite and benefit from centralised purchasing and marketing, LCC
International has partnered with a range of tech and service providers in 2025 to offer choice to its members.

These include
tech stack provider TripStax, booking platform Thomalex, out-of-hours service
provider All7, unused ticket tracker Travel Metrics, and spend management
specialist Neylux. “We’re working with known names that create value for our
partners,” said Brix.

Around 500
delegates from 78 countries attended LCC’s general assembly in Malta where conference
content was delivered across three streams: the geopolitical environment, next
generation travellers, and the deployment of artificial intelligence – the
latter two subjects also forming part of LCC’s development strategy in 2026.

The
organisation has rolled out a number of internal AI initiatives in 2025, said
Brix, while its members are sharing their own experiences with peers. “Some of our
larger agencies are showing others how to get the best from it,” said Brix,
pointing to the automation of simple tasks and the scanning and processing of
emails.

“AI is an enormous challenge and an incredible opportunity.
Let’s embrace it. The only way forward is to make is to make the most of it and
claim a competitive advantage.”