Kayak for Business Hires Mary Ellen Hess to Lead Global Sales Push

Mary Ellen Hess, a sales leader whose teams booked more than $200 million in new business annually for six straight years, is now global head of sales at Kayak for Business. The hire signals that the metasearch giant (a search platform that compares fares across suppliers rather than selling directly) wants a bigger slice of managed corporate travel, particularly in the US and Europe's mid-market.

Hess arrives from Corporate Travel Management, where she was executive vice president of business development. Before that, she ran Tramada Systems as general manager and led global business development at American Express Global Business Travel.

Her longest stretch tells the sharpest story. Hess spent 17 years at BCD Travel as a founding partner and grew its West Division from $50 million to more than $1.3 billion in sales — a 26-fold expansion. She also founded Advito, BCD's consulting arm, which still advises corporate buyers on travel program strategy.

What does the hire signal commercially?

For travel sellers, the interesting part is the target. Kayak for Business has been strongest among smaller companies that book without a traditional travel management company (TMC, the intermediary that manages corporate bookings, policy and reporting). Hess's mandate — growth in the US and Europe plus a mid-market push — points straight at accounts that TMCs currently hold.

Eva Fouquet, senior vice president of Kayak for Business, framed the appointment in buyer terms. "Mary Ellen knows corporate travel inside and out," Fouquet said. "She brings strong commercial leadership, deep industry relationships and a real understanding of buyers, because she's spent her career working with them. She thrives on growth, and that's exactly where we are."

Hess, for her part, pitched the distribution argument directly. "Corporate travel buyers are looking for a better balance of choice, simplicity, flexibility and control, without compromising the traveler experience," she said. "Kayak for Business is uniquely positioned to deliver on those expectations by combining the power of KAYAK's technology and content with the capabilities businesses need to manage travel effectively."

That claim deserves scrutiny. The pitch is a familiar one — content breadth plus consumer-grade UX — and incumbents like Amex GBT, BCD and CTM have heard versions of it from every challenger with an app. What Kayak actually has is search-scale inventory and brand recognition among travelers. What it has historically lacked is the service layer mid-market buyers pay for.

Hess's job, in effect, is to close that gap.

Who is Mary Ellen Hess?

Her record in the trade is long enough to suggest Kayak is buying relationships, not just a résumé:

• GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) Allied Member of the Year, awarded August 2026
• WINiT by GBTA Top 40 Woman in Travel, 2019, and Top 50 Woman in Travel, 2022
• WINiT's Glass Breaker award
• Recognition as a Corporate Travel Innovator by Skift

"KAYAK for Business is challenging the traditional approach to corporate travel and I am excited to be a part of it," Hess said of the move.

The verdict, for now: a distribution player with consumer reach has hired a proven corporate-sales operator to sell against the incumbents she once helped build. The mid-market will decide whether that combination converts.