New products help corporate travel buyers cope with downturn
By Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 4/30/2009 2:00:00 AM
While travel buyers were meeting at the Association for Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) Global Conference in Washington, D.C. last month, suppliers (many of whom were on hand at the show) were introducing new products to help buyers cope with the economic downturn. Among them:
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GetThere which introduced its demand management suite, a collection of technologies and proven best travel management practices. GetThere guarantees a corporate customer will save double the program cost in the first year after implementation or it will refund the cost. The suite addresses such key elements of travel booking as planning, shopping and booking, ticketing and expense reporting.
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StarCite which launched its version of a stimulus plan, a free offering of its meeting management software for qualified new customers through June 2009. It features every module including planning, budgeting, buying, attendee management, payment and results measurement as well as access to competitive bidding process through the StarCite marketplace and ongoing customer support and online on-demand training system.
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American Express Business Travel which unveiled a new Web portal called eXplore that provides a single point of entry interface to travel products, services and information. The new product "is aimed at reinventing the way business travelers make purchases and access information," says Lisa Durocher, senior vice president, global marketing for the company. It also added the Small Meetings eXpert online marketplace to its line-up.
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Egencia which introduced a five-step customized implementation process to help businesses implement a travel management tool. The five steps are: orientation and assessment, project plan, customization (fit the program to specific needs), integrated launch and ongoing support and management. The travel management company provides dedicated resources and 24-hour experienced corporate travel consultant support.
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From her experience, Suzanne Neufang, vice president of corporate market strategy and solutions for GetThere in Southlake, Texas, says that travel buyers are being asked to make better use of T&E dollars. "Maybe the travel budget doesn't have to be cut, although there is plenty of that going on in 2009, it may be that companies want to travel smarter and have travelers make the best choices available...Demand management is a tool to look at those costs."
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