TRAVELSTART is going
for round two, with
the launch of its new
corporate booking tool –
Travelstart for Business.
This is the OTA’s second
venture in the corporate
space. It launched
Travelstart.Biz in 2017,
which promised to offer
corporate travellers key
benefits such as “budget
and policy management,
profile management, realtime BI, travel insurance,
duty of care, expense
management and bleisure
options” (see TNW
‘Travelstart eyes corporates’,
September 6, 2017).
The tool has now been
discontinued.
The company has
changed strategy after
many long discussions
with its customers, who
advised that access to
good corporate fares and a
user-friendly interface were
more important to them
than other business travel
management features, says
Travelstart ceo, Stephan
Ekbergh.
“We rebuilt Travelstart
for Business in our current
platform with the end user
front of mind. We plan to
add in further business
management tools as the
product matures in time,”
he said.
Asked how the corporate
platform differs from the
OTA’s leisure offering,
Stephan says business
travellers will now have
access to exclusive
corporate travel promotions
in addition to the OTA’s
existing negotiated fares
and promotions.
Approximately half of
the company’s existing
bookings are for business
travellers, says Pia Spratley¸
Travelstart’s head of
product.
“The site is a secure
dashboard where corporate
clients, after signing up,
can add travellers to one
account; store company
credit cards for payment;
and view all upcoming, past
and pending business trips.”
The tool only offers flights
and travel insurance at
this stage but Travelstart’s
dedicated call centre can
assist corporates with
hotel, transfer and car
hire bookings, she says.
“Upcoming functionality
includes reporting,
corporate invoicing, travel
policies and travel approvals
and roles.”
