Navan has launched Navan Events, a new meetings and events offering that combines venue sourcing, attendee registration and travel and expense management into a “unified platform”, coupled with service support by a team of meetings and events consultants.
The solution includes an integration with AI-powered event planning start-up BoomPop, which was first announced in February and is now “natively embedded” within the Navan platform, according to Navan Events SVP and GM Galen Grady. It also combines the high-touch service expertise of UK-based TMC Reed & Mackay, which the company acquired in 2021 and recently integrated under the Navan brand, as well as Navan’s existing group and guest travel booking features.
“With Navan Events, we’re bringing technology and services together, all under one roof,” Grady told BTN Europe during an interview this week at the Business Travel Show Europe in London.
“If I take a step back, Navan – and we put this in a lot of decks – wants to become the Amazon of travel. Amazon's the everything store. And to become the everything store for travel, you have to address one of the biggest reasons people travel, which is for meetings and events,” he explained.
“We're going to harmonise where the services play in with the technology,” he added. “So, it'll be harder to see where the platform ends and the service begins. And it all gets tied a lot closer together.”
The Boompop integration will enable room block bookings and “some” AI search capabilities, Grady said. The platform also includes an AI-powered planning assistant that guides users through hotel sourcing and negotiations – “so, you can democratise the tool to any user”. Hotel and venue inventory is sourced from both Navan’s and Reed & Mackay’s existing inventory. While this is currently concentrated on event space within hotels, Grady shared that the “vision” is to gradually add boutique venues, food and beverage options, event speakers and off-site activities.
Navan Events is now live and accessible to all Navan clients globally, according to Grady.