International SOS and iJet International upgraded their mobile apps this year while a new Healix app features distress signals with photos and audio. A “panic button” may not beat a phone call in an emergency, but apps can offer translation, destination training and document storage. Providers now also are exploring client customization and third-party integration. Customizing an app can be…
For corporations and individuals looking to reduce their carbon footprints, business travel is a troublesome contributor. Chasing sales opportunities and growing revenue often requires travel. For some companies, business travel is the single biggest source of carbon emissions. In the middle of the last decade, green travel initiatives seemed to have momentum. But then the global economic recession pushed many…
Marriott’s plan to offer free Wi-Fi on direct bookings by loyalty members will cause channel conflict for many in business travel. Yet, it’s an oddity as the recent trend points to greater rather than reduced hotel content access for managed travel programs. As of 2010, each of the three major global distribution systems listed between 80,000 and 90,000 hotel properties. Including all the big…
Starwood Hotels & Resorts appears poised to drop Wi-Fi fees for loyalty program members booking through its apps, websites and call centers. A similar plan at Marriott International announced last month and due to take effect Jan. 15 is upsetting many travel management professionals. This is collateral damage for Marriott, which is aiming to build…
Atlantic City — No one in the fragmented and diverse ground transportation industry underestimates Uber anymore. For chauffeured car execs meeting here last week at a Chauffeur Driven magazine conference, “Uber” was the four-letter word everyone could not help but say. The rhetoric was dire, with operators described as being at “war” and destined to suffer many “casualties.” Tristar Worldwide…
Car hailing app Uber offers a new kind of customer convenience that hits you on the first try. Now it’s often better to tap at your device than do the driving yourself or call a taxi. No need to step outside until a driver you superficially already know has arrived. Uber and the like are winning over consumers and, more…
[UPDATE, April 8, 2016: We published new information related to this article here.] Corporate obligations on business travel safety are taxing the already hideous hotel request for proposals process. While some companies rely on brand reputations or assume travelers won’t stay somewhere unsafe, others ask hoteliers to answer hundreds of questions about each property’s lighting, first aid, surveillance and fire…
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