Claiming that the "problem of capturing travel data and
managing real-time customer-service processes for trips purchased outside of a
corporation's standard booking channels" is "vexing and
growing," agency technology provider GDSX on Monday announced a solution
to import such bookings into travel management systems and reporting tools.
Called TripLink, the offering would "actively support the
traveler during a trip with itinerary changes and on-the-road problems while
ensuring the integrity of a corporation's duty-of-care programs to locate
travelers in case of emergency," GDSX announced.
TripLink can add to
traditional bookings new feeds coming from booking and expense tools, direct
connections and application programming interfaces, and itineraries or
confirmations emailed by travelers. These data sources
combine to build a single record in what GDSX calls its centralized trip
repository. Pricing was not disclosed.
GDSX studied travel management practices relating to off-channel
bookings in markets like Brazil and the United Kingdom, as well as the United
States, and found travel management companies relied on labor-intensive
processes to capture data, including the insertion of passive segments into GDS
passenger name records.
The company during a 20-month development process also consulted
with travel buyer Jennifer Steinke of US Foods, The Travel Team president and
CEO Jean Covelli, Canadian travel management company Uniglobe Beacon and consultant
Chicke Fitzgerald. GDSX noted the recent spate of similar announcements of
capabilities that import "pre-trip booking information and combine it with
post-trip expense-report data." Just last week, booking and expense tool
provider KDS launched its Maverick product for flagging and capturing bookings
through non-approved websites after announcing a partnership with Chicago-based
start-up ProcureApp.
But these previously announced offerings do not enable en-route
travel agent support on active bookings, according to GDSX.
Steinke, who is preparing a full implementation of the option in
August, teamed with Grasp Technologies to develop reports based on the GDSX
data that she said "allow me to look not just at travel spending, and
compare booked versus actual spend, but also to analyze spending by trips and
by destinations." Steinke joined US Foods in 2009 after nearly four years
at Grasp. "Armed with that knowledge, I can project future travel costs
more accurately. Equally important is the ability to remain traveler-centric
and open to the needs of my travelers and organization."
Covelli "led an ongoing and independent peer-review process to
test the importance and applicability" of the solution and The Travel Team now is entering the implementation phase, while Uniglobe Beacon went live in February, according to GDSX. Also corporate travel
administrator for Rich Products Corporation, Covelli called existing attempts
to solve the problem of off-channel bookings "costly" and
"becoming more unworkable."