Just over three years after its arrival on the French market, TripSource is taking a major step forward by integrating a new function: hotel reservations. BCD Travel made the launch of this new option official on 16 November, available in seven countries Germany, the Benelux countries, France, Ireland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The North of Europe will then be involved: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden will follow in a second phase, assure the managers of the business travel agency.
Travellers can now book a room themselves at approved hotels, at rates negotiated by their company, from any device. BCD Travel has focused on the content of its platform - a key element if there ever was one - and claims " over a million booking options around the world ". To achieve this, TripSource's hotel booking function relies not only on the GDS contentbut also on numerous hotel aggregators. The agency even claims to offer " a wider choice of hotels than any other TMC "and this " with the same intuitive experience as the most popular consumer booking sites ". In short, BCD Travel has solved an equation that has long been insoluble in the business travel sector: combining user experience, hotel content and travel policy.
harmonise the requirements of travel managers and the preferences of travellers
" We know that around 50 % of hotel bookings are made outside travel policies. "says Chris Crowley, Senior Vice President EMEA at BCD Travel. " What's more, only 29 % of travellers book their hotel at the same time as their plane tickets, increasing the risk of travel policy fragmentation. Add to this the fact that 82 % of travellers under the age of 35 prefer to make their own reservations. TripSource is the ideal solution to harmonise the requirements of travel managers and the preferences of travellers: it enables travel managers to improve their duty of care while offering a practical and attractive tool, as well as a vast choice of hotels, to provide a better experience for the traveller. "says Chris Crowley.
