ATLANTA -- Thomson Consumer Electronics, the world's
fourth-largest consumer electronics supplier, will be the first
client of Maritz Travel Co. to install Worldspan's Trip Manager
software under a new agreement between the agency and the
computerized reservations system.
Thomson officials said the deal will help improve compliance
with corporate travel policies. "Trip Manager will provide our
travelers and travel arrangers with the ability to make their
reservations based on our corporate policies and negotiated
contracts," said Cindy Heston, travel manager at Thomson. "We
expect not only increased productivity from Maritz but a better
understanding and usage of our corporate agreements through the use
of this product."
Thomson, which employs 56,000 workers in 38 countries,
consolidated its global travel accounts with Maritz and has used
Worldspan TravelShopper for more than a year. Worldspan agreed to
provide Trip Manager and its Worldspan for Business Travel suite of
products to Maritz corporate clients. Worldspan for Business is a
line of programs designed to streamline corporate travel
management, from booking travel reservations on the desktop to
automating expense reporting.
Trip Manager enables travelers to book air, car and hotel
reservations 24 hours a day, any day of the week. Travelers can
specify preferred suppliers, view airline seat maps and make
changes or cancel reservations on line.
Sue Powers, vice president of sales and marketing for Worldspan,
said the CRS plans similar alliances with other travel
agencies.
Richard Spradling, vice president of information technology for
Maritz, said, "Trip Manager can substantially reduce reservations
processing, which translates into lower transaction costs for us
and our corporate clients. We're committed to delivering
bottom-line results for clients, and our agreement with Worldspan
will help us make good on that commitment."
St. Louis-based Maritz is a $1.8 billion travel company and the
largest provider of group incentive and business meetings in the
world.
Worldspan, of Atlanta, is jointly owned by affiliates of Delta
Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, TWA and Abacus Distribution Systems,
a Singapore-based CRS.