Cloud based, mobile self-booking tool saves time, helps drive new revenue growth for TMCs
Boston and Atlanta July 14, 2016 – Groupize and Travelport, a leading Travel Commerce Platform, have today jointly announced the launch of a new online hotel booking solution for travel management companies (TMC) that addresses the growing demand for a self-service, centralized solution to source, book, track and manage small group meetings of under 25 hotel rooms or less than 50 participants.
The partnership between Groupize and Travelport further enhances Travelport’s industry leadership position in hospitality distribution, featuring more than 650,000 unique properties available in Travelport’s system. Integrated with the Travelport Travel Commerce Platform, Groupize’s cloud-based and mobile solution offers TMCs quick and hassle-free access to a dedicated groups and meetings portal, preferred hotels, negotiated rates, competing bids, approval tracking, a communication engine and online bookings with PNRs (passenger name records), reducing procurement time to minutes instead of days for corporate travel managers.
Groupize’s mobile and cloud-based tool also can be custom-branded as an agency solution or as a self-booking tool for a corporation. The addition of Groupize’s tool, along with solutions offered by Travelport’s recent acquisition of Mobile Travel Technology (MTT), further strengthens Travelport’s industry leadership in mobile commerce.
Tracie Carillo, Travelport’s Global Head of Hospitality Sales, said: “Automating small group bookings has been a top request from the travel agency community. We are excited to partner with Groupize, as a key provider of multi-room bookings and small groups to our travel management partners, to now make this available. The ability to easily integrate group bookings into the workflow will dramatically increase revenue, with minimal effort. Today’s announcement further strengthens Travelport’s hospitality offering and helps achieve growth in the important corporate travel space.”
Charles de Gaspe Beaubien, Groupize Chief Executive Officer, added: “Up to 80-percent of small groups and meetings are bypassing managed travel programs, regardless of policies or procedures. Most companies do not have visibility into the frequency or costs associated with this category of travel. Groupize’s solution simplifies the entire multi-room booking process from start to finish, maximizing efficiencies, savings, data and compliance. Instead of looking at small groups and meetings as insignificant, it becomes a way to generate new business for TMCs while adding value to their clients.”
