Egencia launches breakthrough platform updates that unlock previously untapped business travel value

• Egencia Hotel Conversations, a business travel industry first, enables direct two-way conversations between business travellers and hoteliers
• Egencia Air and Hotel packages, exclusive to Egencia, enhances travel programs when air and hotel are booked for the same trip
• Egencia Traveller Tracker now supports regional searches to help travel managers locate and support travellers during unforeseen situations

LONDON, Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Egencia®, business travel from Expedia Grouptm, announces at the Business Travel Show the addition of three ground breaking, customer-centric features on its global business travel platform, designed to enhance customer experiences, business value and employee care.

Egencia launches Hotel Conversations, an industry-first feature that enables seamless, two-way communication between business travellers and their hotel at the touch of a finger. Business travellers now have the flexibility to ask questions, confirm details, and share updated travel plans at any step of their journey through the Egencia app. For instance, a business traveller can now easily request a late check-in in real time when a flight is delayed or even specify pillow type to make their stay more comfortable. Hoteliers can proactively contact their guests, sending a warm welcome message or offer additional services such as treatments ahead of arrival, enabling them to enhance the customer experience before they have stepped into the lobby.

"Egencia Hotel Conversations will revolutionise the way hoteliers and business travellers interact with each other from the moment a booking is made," says Michael Gulmann, Chief Product Officer at Egencia. "We've seen conversations double over the last few months¹ clearly indicating that this was a previously untapped value proposition in business travel."

Advancing travel programs for both the business and the business traveller is Egencia Air and Hotel packages - another industry first made possible by the unique capabilities of Expedia Group and its relationship with hoteliers. By selecting a packaged air and hotel deal, companies benefit from a lower overall trip cost whilst business travellers unlock access to more top-rated hotels that may otherwise be out of policy. Once business travellers book their flight, they will see recommended special rate hotels available to book immediately or within 10 days.

With duty of care front of mind for all companies, travel managers already rely on Egencia Traveler Tracker to instantly see where their employees are in the world and support travellers during unforeseen situations. Now the latest update includes the option to search a larger geographic area through region search. With this new feature, travel managers can simply draw a circle or square over the online map to see if any of their employees are in an area showing a deep freeze or cold wave for example.

For more information, please visit Egencia.co.uk.

About Egencia
Egencia, corporate travel from Expedia Group, is reimagining business travel management to make business travellers happier and corporate travel programs more successful. Egencia offers more personalised experiences through curated access to the world's most relevant travel options. Putting our customers at the centre of everything we do, Egencia provides exceptional customer care and innovative travel manager tools to increase savings and compliance. Egencia serves businesses large and small in more than 60 countries. Connect with us on egencia.co.uk and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and see what we're reimagining next on our blog.

© 2019 Egencia LLC.  All rights reserved. Egencia, and the Egencia logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

¹ Data time period: October ? December 2018

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