More than 400 Hotel Properties Have Joined Concur TripLink Network
At the GBTA Conference this year, SAP Concur was excited to share new updates to TripLink and TripIt as it focuses on delivering optimal experiences for travelers and travel managers.
Today, SAP Concur announced that more than 400 hotel properties around the world have joined its Concur TripLink network through expanded integrations with major hotel groups Accor, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott. Its 8.9 million TripLink eligible users and more than 13,000 companies will be able to capture hotel bookings made outside of Concur Travel to gain immediate visibility into travel spend and ensure application of policy, while also offering greater flexibility to business travelers.
Capturing supplier-direct booking remains a priority for travel managers. In a recent poll conducted with GBTA Foundation, SAP Concur found 71 percent of travel buyers will own technology that captures direct bookings within the next year. TripLink, an industry solution that extends managed travel programs to outside bookings, continues to grow with more than 28 major partners worldwide representing airlines, hotels, ground transportation and rail providers.
With this expansion, the following hotel brands are now part of TripLink: Fairmont Hotels & Resorts; Raffles Hotels & Resorts; Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts; Thompson Hotels; Alila Hotels & Resorts; Joie de Vivre Hospitality; Kimpton Hotels; The Ritz-Carlton.
Because TripLink connects trips, travelers and itineraries across multiple channels, it also allows companies to ensure traveler safety by making it easier to quickly locate and communicate with employees in the event of an issue or emergency.
One of the most popular elements of the TripLink offering is access to TripIt Pro, which improves traveler satisfaction and brings itineraries back into SAP Concur. As the company continues to invest in the traveler experience, safety remains a priority across our innovations. Last year, the company announced TripIt Neighborhood Safety Scores powered by GeoSure™, which gives travelers real-time safety ratings of more than 40,000 neighborhoods worldwide so they can make more informed choices on the road. SAP Concur has received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from travelers, who find comfort in the information we provide and feel more prepared when exploring a new place.
With this, we’re excited to announce that new functionality for neighborhood safety scores will be available next month to help make safer decisions when traveling. Because neighborhoods can drastically change between day and night, travelers will soon have a new AM/PM view. This will help illustrate how time of day impacts the safety of each neighborhood.
Additionally, our LGBTQ safety score category helps users learn the likelihood of discrimination or harm an LGBTQ person may face in certain neighborhoods, directly within TripIt.
Over the last few months TripIt has also released integrations with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant smart speakers, which make travel details available via voice commands, and expanded features on the TripIt app for Apple Watch including complications for watch faces and a redesigned itinerary view to show more trip items.