Cendant and the Origin Story of Asset-Light Travel

The most consequential company in modern travel existed for under nine years, and what it built is still running.

Cendant Corporation was created in December 1997 and broken apart by mid-2006. In that span, it assembled the world’s largest hotel franchisor, the second-largest rental car company, a top-three global distribution system, a leading online travel agency, and the largest residential real estate brokerage in the United States — and then it dismantled all of it, spun or sold the pieces into four separate public companies, and renamed what was left Avis Budget Group. 

The whole cycle, from assembly to liquidation, took less time than most hotel management contracts run. Less time than it takes to depreciate a hotel renovation.

I have spent nearly 14 years covering this business, and in that time I have watched every major hotel company describe the asset-light franchise model as though it were gravity — a natural law. But there is no