Travelport luring consultant customers
Travelport’s 275 active customers has swelled to 330 in recent months, partly due to consultants signing up. President David Falter told TravelMole:
“It wasn’t out intention to carve out that market, but it really fits our profile. Consultants travel a lot and they’re typically self-help. They also want to control costs for themselves and their customers.”
Travelport Corporate Solutions provides services and tools for the corporate travel market. Corporate clients save an estimated 32% using the complete Travelport system, according to Mr Falter.
Taken over by Cendant more than two years ago, Travelport claims to offer the first and only system in the industry to provide all services from one company, under one name and from a single source, according to Mr Falter.
“We hope the ownership of Cendant gives our customers a sense of stability and longevity. It gives us access to a top Fortune 500 company that is growing every year,” he said.
In the future, Mr Falter sees continued growth in business travel and more consolidation of travel service providers.
“Customers are getting smarter all the time, so we have to focus even more on providing a very high value service and product,” he said.
He thinks consumers will continue to use travel agents, but that they will have to recognize their role.
“People will always want the human touch. But if you’re going on a simple family trip, like flying the family the Florida, you don’t need an agent. Travel agents will become increasingly sophisticated as value added service providers,” he said.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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