EXPEDIA CORPORATE TRAVEL, expanding into Europe,
purchased Egencia, an online corporate agency headquartered in
Paris, for an undisclosed sum. The company, which was owned by the
Carlyle Group and a unit of Credit Lyonnais, has some 500 clients
and operations in France, Belgium and the U.K. Matt Hulett, ECT's
president, said the purchase not only enables ECT to jump-start its
European expansion, but also will allow its multinational clients
in the U.S. to implement Expedia's technology for offices in
European countries. "The acquisition gives us the ability to be the
first global online travel-management company," Hulett said.
[American Express, though, would argue that it already offers
online travel management services in Europe]. Expedia renamed
Egencia as Expedia Corporate Travel Europe. Egencia clients can
migrate to Expedia's technology platform, Hulett said.
EXPEDIA CORPORATE TRAVEL, meanwhile, also
launched a "50/50 Guarantee." ECT guarantees new clients that their
travelers will book 50% of all their travel transactions on ECT
within 50 days of implementing the service. If clients fall short
of 50% adoption, ECT will refund all qualifying transaction fees
collected during the 50-day period. Expedia said the promotion
"builds on the company's momentum in achieving more than 80% online
adoption among existing clients."
ORBITZ FOR BUSINESS implemented interactive
voice response technology, which enables travelers to confirm
travel itineraries over the phone without speaking to a human. If
travelers indicate that they want to speak with an agent to make a
change, travelers' profiles and trip details automatically appear
on the agent's computer screen.
IN OTHER ORBITZ FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS, the
Orbitz unit also launched a three-tier customer-service model.
Clients who want a dedicated team of counselors and high-touch
service will opt for the executive travel department. A
shared-agent service enables Orbitz clients to receive "specialized
assistance" from a pool of agents assigned to several accounts.
And, of course, the third option is the call-center model. Expedia
Corporate Travel has a similar tiered offering.
TRAVELPORT CORPORATE SOLUTIONS, Cendant's
corporate travel unit, named Richard Case general manager for
account development. Most recently, Case was senior service manager
for Microsoft's travel program. Microsoft is one of Travelport's
largest customers, implementing the Travelport self-booking tool in
2001. Travelport CEO Marka Jenkins also has a Microsoft connection:
She was an operations manager for the Microsoft account when
American Express was the company's corporate agency in the
mid-1990s.
TRAVELOCITY'S REDESIGNED WEB SITE--which
appeared on computer screens near you Thursday--now offers savvy
travelers an easier, more relaxed booking experience along with
great travel deals," Travelocity said. The Web-design professionals
over there revamped the site to look less "visually crowded," and
used "large blocks of color" to render " calm, soothing palette,"
the company said. Travelocity found that "too many offers and
features competing for their attention" confused consumers
Travelocity also scrapped its skyline logo and pasted in a logo
featuring three stars on a blue background.