With TripActions latest funding round
of $250 million in late June – at a massive $4 billion valuation - the company announced plans
“to solve the antiquated product,
service and experience of the corporate travel management industry” and today
it is unveiling its first step in that direction.
The company is expanding its suite of
enterprise solutions with the launch of TripActions Consulting, combining the
automation capabilities of its technology with dedicated consultants to provide
hands-on assistance for its large corporate clients.
TripActions vice president of booking experience
and supplier strategy Danny Finkel says this launch formalizes services the
company has been offering on an ad-hoc basis and, in tandem with the existing
offerings of TripActions VIP Luxe and TripActions Meetings and Events, creates
deep capabilities for global enterprises.
“TripActions
Consulting will set the bar for what modern travel management partners should
provide to better service business traveler needs, while taking into account
the financial imperatives of the corporation and the market realities for
suppliers,” Finkel says.
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Finkel says unlike traditional managed travel
programs that prioritize price, TripActions' strategy will be more dynamic and traveler-centric,
using the capabilities of IATA’s New Distribution Capability standard and
ATPCO’s Next Generation Storefront to provide a booking experience more closely
aligned with leisure travel.
“So what are the amenities we can
throw into these negotiated programs, what are the different ancillaries that
can make programs more appealing,” Finkel says.
“Which is a win for the corporation
because they’re actually looking at the holistic spend, not just the base
price, so they are better able to monitor the spend across the organization and
potentially realize much better cost savings by having that insight. And it’s a
better experience for the traveler because we’re taking into account all of the
things the travelers want and need and are booking anyways.
“And it’s quite frankly a win for
the suppliers because we are going to be thinking through how it’s not just a
price-led marketplace but that it is a truly a value-led marketplace.”
For its larger clients, TripActions
consultants will provide ongoing assistance to optimize their travel programs and
develop new inventory sourcing processes as needed.
“A lot of our clients are growing really fast. It
doesn’t make sense to put a stake in the ground once a year and then have that
be your program, so we want a much more evolving approach to this,” Finkel
says.
“Which I also think the supply side is really going
to appreciate because they can better tailor their offerings and they can in
real-time make adjustments that make more sense to the clients that are using
their supply.”
TripActions
Consulting is rolling out initially to a small group of its customers and will
be available to all in upcoming months.
The company says
it has had 5x year-over-year growth and now manages more than $1.1 billion in
annual travel budgets for more than 2,000 customers around the world, including
WeWork, Lyft, SurveyMonkey, Complex Networks and others.