P&OBusiness Travel is test Sabre’s reservations and management system, Sabre Business Travel Solutions – the the first European travel agent to do so.
The product, being launched in the UK at Business Travel ’99 this week, allows corporate travellers to book travel on-line, have access to management information and reconcile travel and entertainment.
P&OBusiness Travel sales and marketing director Keith Haynes said:”Reconciliation of travel and expenses is the biggest nightmare for travel managers. As far as I know, this is the only system on the market that does this. There has been a lot of frustration among travel managers that this type of product did not exist.”
He denied self-booking products would threaten the future of travel agents. “There is still a role for the agent – giving advice, account management and managing the use of the Sabre system.”
Tests are being done internally with the agency’s parent P&OGroup, which is one of its clients. But P&OBusiness Travel is also looking for a third party client for the pilot programme. Sabre Business Travel Solutions, which is already used in the US, is divided into four modules. Travel Planner is the on-line booking software while Policy Manager makes sure the booking adheres to the company’s travel policy, by showing only preferred suppliers and containing individual traveller profiles.
Vantage Point is the information and reporting engine and allows clients to access their own management information, instead of having to rely on the travel agent to compile this detail.
Expense Connection is the module which integrates the Travel Planning and Vantage Point modules.