Aviation Today :: Expedia Corporate Travel Commits to Next Era of Innovation and Leadership With Egencia Brand

BELLEVUE, Wash., June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Expedia(R) Corporate Travel today announced that the company has updated its brand to clarify its promise to customers, business travelers, travel bookers, suppliers and partners. The company has become a strong, growing global business on a scale that warrants its own distinct brand. As part of this effort, Expedia Corporate Travel is changing its name to Egencia, an Expedia, Inc. Company.

The Egencia(TM) brand will serve as a platform to further define and differentiate how the company is pushing the industry forward and driving the next evolution for its customers. Whether arming travel managers with the most in-depth global reporting tools available in the marketplace or enhancing the business traveler experience through access to user-generated content, Egencia is dedicated to delivering results that matter to corporate travel clients. As the corporate travel brand within Expedia, Inc., the world's largest online travel marketplace, the company is paving the way for further growth and increased global competitiveness.

"We pride ourselves on our ability to adapt to our customers changing needs and deliver the services expected of a true business partner, and the Egencia brand reflects who we truly are as a company," said Jean-Pierre Remy, president of Egencia. "Having led innovation in the corporate travel industry, we see this as an opportunity to further define ourselves in the marketplace and set a foundation for further advancements in the years to come."

Egencia is also introducing new tools for business travelers, travel managers and travel bookers that truly transform the business of travel. As the fifth largest travel management company in the world, Egencia is known for taking great strides and delivering meaningful solutions that create true value for customers, suppliers and partners.

"Expedia Corporate Travel has had a huge impact on the corporate travel industry," said Dara Khosrowshahi, president and chief executive officer of Expedia, Inc. "As Egencia, the company has the platform to grow its position in the marketplace and further evolve to stay ahead of the competition. With Expedia, Inc.'s strength and support, this change elevates the company to a whole new level, a true win-win situation for Egencia, its customers and partners."

Improved Customer Experience

Egencia continues its strategy of smart and strategic innovation with today's announcement of new solutions and technologies that benefit travel bookers, business travelers and travel managers. In line with today's announcement, Egencia is introducing several tools:

-- SeatGuru(R) -- A color-coded interactive airplane seating charts that outline the pros and cons of different seats for over 275 airplanes and more than 40 airlines. Provided by a community of frequent business travelers, the integrated intelligence tool takes convenience and comfort factors -- such as legroom and ability to recline -- into account. This informative SeatGuru content is integrated within the seat selection process for travelers and their bookers to help make more informed decisions for flights.

-- Hotel Reviews -- Traveler feedback and commentary appears on the hotel search results page. A blend of leisure and business traveler feedback further enables Egencia customers to make better decisions by sorting choices by opinion rating and link to content from their My Itineraries page.

-- TripAdvisor(R) City Guides -- Gives Egencia business travelers access to detailed destination information from the largest travel community in the world.

"We led a paradigm shift within the industry five years ago when we launched our powerful self-booking platform, showing companies that they should expect more from their travel management company," said Remy. "That was just the beginning. With today's news, I want to send another loud and clear message: Egencia will continue driving innovation within the industry, not because of trends or the latest headlines, but through a focused and strategic approach. We never lose sight of the fact that we're in this business to deliver results that matter to our clients."

Maximizing Value

Egencia also remains focused on delivering outstanding value to corporations globally without compromising service. The introduction of several new tools devoted to this goal include:

-- Ticket Performance Report -- As part of Egencia's commitment to arming its customers with meaningful data to make real-time decisions, the company is adding an unused ticket performance report. This added functionality will help travel managers monitor their usage of unused ticket inventory, review tickets that are about to expire, evaluate lost credits and determine overall savings.

-- Customized Hotel Tools -- Powerful new tools that give travel managers the control they need at their fingertips to customize hotel policies. These tools allow them to easily configure how hotels are displayed based on preferred suppliers and deliver personalized messages to travelers.

-- Global Customer Service Support -- Egencia continues to invest in delivering strong, globally consistent customer service. By measuring the performance of its travel consultants down to the individual level, the company brings additional accountability and oversight to a travel program, ensuring that travelers receive the same quality experience time after time, wherever they travel with Egencia.

-- Egencia(TM) Preferred Program -- Egencia is dedicated to negotiating unique rates and services on behalf of its customers that would not otherwise be available. As part of this effort to pass savings on to business travelers and corporations globally, the Egencia Preferred Program is expanding beyond hotel rates to include air and car rates.

"Expedia Corporate Travel has been a key partner for Continental in reaching additional business travelers around the world, allowing us the opportunity to promote our quality service and products to ECT's very valuable client base," said Dave Hilfman, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, Continental Airlines. "As Egencia, the company will continue to be an integral part of our long-term distribution strategy, particularly in light of their strong management team, superior technology and ability to provide true value to our mutual customers."

Expanding Global Footprint

Egencia integrates the components of business travel so that companies can maintain a global edge. A global view combined with a deep knowledge of local markets ensures that our customers have the support they need where it matters. To this aim, Egencia Canada has entered into an agreement regarding the acquisition of Mississauga, Ontario-based Synergi Global Travel Management, a leading Canadian corporate travel management, meetings and incentives company.

The acquisition builds upon Egencia's existing presence in Canada and expands on its current strong service and product offering to Canadian business travelers and companies who do business on a local and global scale. It will enhance Egencia's existing team with additional experienced corporate travel professionals and expand its customer base with key clients.

About Egencia, an Expedia, Inc. Company

Egencia is the fifth largest travel management company in the world. As part of Expedia, Inc., (Nasdaq: EXPE), the world's largest travel marketplace, Egencia helps business get ahead by offering the only truly integrated corporate travel service. Egencia's industry expertise and the partnerships the company has built help drive results that matter, delivering meaningful advancements that have a real impact. By combining a powerful offline and online service, Egencia delivers a complete corporate travel offering supported by global market expertise and a best-in-class technology platform.

For more information, go to Egencia.com.

Expedia, Expedia.com, Expedia Corporate Travel and Egencia are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. TripAdvisor and SeatGuru are either registered trademarks or trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.