Business Travel Direct is targeting an increase in the number of clients using its online booking systems.
Speaking to ABTN at the Business Travel and Meetings Show in London, the independent travel management company said online adoption was a key part of its strategy to make the cost of travel more efficient for customers.
Chief executive Peter Reglar estimated that up to 8% of the company’s total transactions were made online in the last 12 months.
The TMC has its own technology portal powered by the Sabre global distribution system, which includes the Concur Cliqbook interface.
The company’s recently appointed group managing director, Frank Rejwan, said the business would continue to focus on providing customers with the services they want, but insisted there were benefits to improved online adoption.
“The cost of the online transaction is substantially lower than offline. Companies booking high volumes of simple point-to-point journeys plus a hotel booking could make significant savings by booking online.
“Of course there will always be a need for travel experts to book complex multi-sector itineraries.”
Both Rejwan and Reglar said they were optimistic about the future of the business travel sector, despite the economic slowdown in the forth quarter of 2010 that alarmed some analysts.
“Our clients retention has been strong, we’ve picked up some significant business in the last year and our pipeline prospects have never been better.
“We’re confident that people will keep travelling and the TMC will be there to keep businesses moving efficiently.”
www.businesstraveldirect.com