TravelPerk has opened its tech platform in a bid to enable clients and supplier partners to build custom integrations and applications using TravelPerk application programming interfaces. The move signifies a new strategy for the Europe-based booking and travel management provider, which now is positioning itself as a platform upon which client travel buyers and partner suppliers can build out bespoke services.
Available as of today, the open API platform initially will focus on HR and expense management functionality, with more services to be added. TravelPerk's corporate clients can use the APIs to integrate TravelPerk services directly into their workflows, while partners can use the platform to build new integrations and subsequently list those services on the TravelPerk marketplace. Launch partners include BambooHR, PayHawk and MobileXpense, TravelPerk said.
While Covid-19 has led to a widespread re-evaluation of service models in the managed travel sector, TravelPerk's decision to open its platform was set into motion before the onset of the pandemic, according to chief product officer Ross McNairn.
"As it stands, the travel industry is operating in an incredibly siloed ecosystem when it comes to integrating Software-as-a-Service tools, with travel providers preferring to build in-house versions of offerings in areas like expense management or HR themselves, so they can then control the whole process," said McNairn. "This might be great for them, but it limits the options for customers and forces them to make do with tools that aren't the right fit for their business.
"We want to do better, and we're not afraid to open up our platform to enable the level of innovation and collaboration necessary to [do so]. The ongoing Covid-19 crisis merely accelerated these plans for us," McNairn continued.
For TravelPerk clients, the cost to access and integrate APIs varies depending on their service plan. Suppliers can access the platform APIs for free to build applications; once those services are listed on the TravelPerk marketplace, pricing models and revenue sharing is negotiated with TravelPerk's partnership team.
"We really want to emphasize that we want to be partners, not competitors, with these other SaaS providers," McNairn said.
The open API initiative has been in pilot for the past several months with more than 20 developer partners and customers.
"During the beta test, one company used the open APIs to automate their monthly procure-to-pay and accounting processes in Netsuite, saving them two to three days of monthly reconciliation process done manually," McNairn observed. Another consulting company automated their cost allocation and billing process to clients that used TravelPerk via Salesforce, he added.
"We're looking at extending the platform to a huge amount of additional functionality as time goes on," McNairn said. "Many TravelPerk clients are tech companies full of developers, so if we give them the tools, we expect them to build some really exciting new products."