Travelocity Business is opening its first service center in the United Kingdom to act as the base for its European operations, a move aimed to help attract new U.K. customers while improving data and service offerings for existing multinational customers, the company announced today.
The full-service facility will be in Amersham, U.K., and will replace Travelocity's outsourced facility. For now, the facility will support travel in the United Kingdom, including new local customers, and Travelocity will move all its U.S. customers who use its service in the United Kingdom to that center in July. In the fall, it will be expanded to support corporate travel needs of customers who have offices in other European countries, according to Travelocity.
"We are creating a stronger entity that will ultimately offer a wider portfolio of products and services to our existing and new customer base," Jason Stockwood, managing director of Travelocity's U.K. corporate offerings, said in a prepared statement.
Travelocity acquired Lastminute.com in 2005 and has since rebranded its two U.K.-based corporate travel offerings, Travelstore and First Option, as its own. Travelocity has reported a strong performance since then. Near the end of last year, parent company Sabre Holdings reported a 76 percent increase in global gross travel booked and a 98 increase in global revenue
(BTNonline, Nov. 3, 2005). Travelstore now will serve as Travelocity's local fulfillment center.
Travelocity will deploy localized versions of its technology and process in the new center. The company said this will give U.K. companies access to the same efficiencies and cost savings available to American customers, as well as provide consolidated travel data across the United States and the United Kingdom for multinational customers.