Travel

Ed Adams

Chief Executive Officer

Ed Adams is Chief Executive Officer of Direct Travel, Inc. a leading corporate Travel Management Company (TMC) that provides solutions and innovations in business travel to its clients.

An acclaimed industry veteran, Adams began his career in the travel industry in 1979. In 1983, he founded Professional Travel Corporation, growing the company to the largest regional corporate TMC in the Rocky Mountain Region, with offices nationwide.

Identifying a need to consolidate the corporate travel market, Adams utilized Professional Travel as a platform company to create Navigant International in 1998, a publicly traded company. Highly successful, Navigant grew through approximately 60 acquisitions and totaled $4 billion in sales when sold to Carlson Wagonlit Travel in 2006.

With a desire to recreate the rollup concept that built Navigant, Adams engineered investments by private equity firm Silver Oak Services Partners in 2011 to create Direct Travel. With nine acquisitions to date, Direct Travel continues to seek complementary add-on investment opportunities in the corporate travel management sector.

A keen observer of business travel, Adams possesses a unique skillset that has allowed him to navigate through multiple changes in the industry including the introduction of a no-commission landscape, and the expansion of online agencies. His business strategy is simple surround yourself with strong people, engage self-starters, and remain focused on servicing your clients.

Adams received a Bachelor of Arts, as well as a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado. Among a variety of awards and distinctions, Adams was named as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Business Travel Executives by Business Travel News in 2011 and 2014, and regional award winner of the Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1991 and 2015 respectively.

Adams devotes time to numerous charitable organizations including the American Cancer Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Federation, and the Adoption Exchange, one of his most cherished philanthropies. He is located in our executive offices in Denver, CO.