GetThere’s New Travel Arranger Portal Raises Usability Bar for Executive Assistants

Interface Puts More Relevant Information on Multiple Travelers on One Concise Screen
NBTA Booth # 831

GetThere(R), the world’s leading online business travel procurement solution, today announced the development of an enhanced portal dedicated to the needs of travel arrangers at corporations. The new portal, on target for worldwide rollout on all global distribution systems in August, gives travel arrangers a wide range of information and tools immediately upon login, increasing their efficiency and arming them with timely data.

GetThere will demonstrate the new travel arranger portal for attendees at next week’s National Business Travel Association event in Los Angeles, Calif., at booth number 831.

GetThere estimates that approximately one-third of its bookings, nearly four million transactions annually, are made by travel arrangers. Nearly 4,000 companies worldwide use GetThere, including more than half of the Fortune 200 that use an online booking solution. GetThere, a Sabre Travel Network business, facilitated the booking of $9.4 billion in travel in 2007.

MESSAGING CAPABILITIES FOR ARRANGERS HIGHLIGHTS ARRAY OF ENHANCEMENTS

Working in conjunction with its roster of multi-national corporate clients, GetThere focused its resources to deliver an array of enhancements that enable faster access to relevant information. One particularly innovative component for travel procurement professionals is the ability for managers to author unique messaging for the travel arranger community within their organization, giving managers an avenue to quickly update policy and drive bookings to preferred suppliers.

“In an era where negotiated volume commitments must be met to drive maximum value for corporations, the ability to influence this group of “power users” at the point of sale adds immense flexibility for travel managers,” said Suzanne Neufang, vice president of product marketing and user experience for GetThere. “The ability to target arrangers – who in many cases book business class air and four-star and above hotels for executives – helps procurement managers shift share at a moment’s notice, aiding companies in meeting their volume goals across their entire spectrum of supplier relationships.”

Other highlights of the portal, refined after multiple rounds of usability testing with travel arrangers, include:
Instant access to all travelers under the arranger’s purview, with at-a-glance viewing of trips and other information for the arranger’s 10 most frequent and/or most important travelers upon login;
Roll-over icons alerting arrangers to the need to update a traveler’s profile, visa information, etc.; and
Ability to easily access and build both traveler and arranger-authored trip templates.

Travel procurement professionals and media seeking more information and visuals on the new portal can visit http://www.getthere.com/travelarranger for more information.

WORLDWIDE TRANSITION TARGETED FOR AUGUST FOR ALL GETTHERE USERS

There are hundreds of thousands of corporate employees worldwide using GetThere today identified as travel arrangers. Once the transition to the portal goes live, arrangers will have access to the enhanced collection of tools immediately upon login. To help corporations and agency resellers prepare for the enhancement, GetThere developed a detailed student guide, empowering arrangers with step-by-step instruction so they can quickly take advantage of new functionality. GetThere’s global team of customer success managers and agency partner success managers are actively communicating with clients with information on training and transition timing.

The new portal will go live on all GDSs. All corporations using GetThere, either through a direct relationship or via their travel management company, will be transitioned to the new portal. All client sites across the globe are targeted for the upgrade to the enhanced technology in August.

“The enhanced travel arranger portal acknowledges both the challenges faced by and influence of travel arrangers, giving this group a more efficient toolkit to do their jobs while simultaneously helping travel procurement teams to meet their goals,” said Neufang. “What’s more, by enabling better tracking of bookings by the arranger segment, travel managers can refine their efforts with this community to achieve long-term alignment with strategic business plans.”

About GetThere

GetThere is the world’s leading global online business travel procurement solution, surpassing $9 billion in bookings in 2007. GetThere’s proven technology and unparalleled global service infrastructure helps corporations collectively save millions in air and hotel costs. Through its unique relationship with Travelocity(R), GetThere provides a familiar online booking experience for travelers of nearly 4,000 companies, including a majority of multi-national Fortune 200 firms that deploy online booking. GetThere works with all major global distribution systems (GDS). Companies using GetThere and the Sabre GDS together can optimize efficiency and cost savings across the entire travel procurement process. More information is available at http://www.getthere.com.

Sabre Holdings connects people with the world’s greatest travel possibilities by retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. More information is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com.

Contacts

VOLLMER Public Relations
Mary Kate Smither, 972-488-4790
marykate {at} vollmerpr(.)com
or
GetThere
Michael Brophy, 214-356-4326
michael.brophy {at} getthere(.)com