South African online travel agency Ticketpro is expanding into the corporate market with the launch of Ticketpro Travel Solutions, a “challenger business travel company” underpinned by Spotnana’s tech stack.
Ticketpro, part of the Blue Label Telecoms group, says its new offering will take on “the legacy business travel market with the launch of a comprehensive, technology-first solution that puts the power back in the hands of the business traveller”.
A spokesperson for the company told BTN Europe that it “saw an opportunity to bring new innovation to a stagnant market that has been dominated by legacy players.”
Ticketpro Travel Solutions is utilising all of Spotnana’s core infrastructure – including its OBT, agent desktop, booking engine, system of record and content engine – enabling it to deliver approvals processes, traveller tracking, advanced policy compliance features, reporting and analytics.
The new TMC will charge for its services via a subscription fee model in which customers pay for a ‘bundle’ of transactions on a monthly basis. If those are all used customers will be able to ‘top up’ and, conversely, unused transaction credits will be carried over to the following month.
Asked whether the company would provide offline support for customers, the spokesperson said: “All bookings can be done online.... We are encouraging our customers to manage all facets of their travel programme themselves, however we are always here to support our customers irrespective of the channel they choose.”
They added that it can support all organisations “irrespective of size” but that customers are typically “ready to embrace travel technology in order to drive savings, sustainability and efficiency”.
Brandon Duffield, CEO of Ticketpro Travel Solutions, said: “This level of innovation is what the business market has needed for some time now. For too long we have hidden behind unseen fees and legacy systems. For the actual traveller this engenders a clear frustration for what should be the most seamless part of their journey.”
He continued: “By combining our expertise in travel management with Spotnana's advanced travel-as-a-service platform, we are offering businesses a powerful solution that simplifies the travel process, drives cost savings, and enhances the overall travel experience.”
Spotnana founder and CEO Sarosh Waghmar said in a blog post: “We’re delighted to add a TMC serving the South African market to our group of visionary TMC partners that are driving innovation forward around the world.
“As the founder of multiple TMCs in my more than 20 year career, I can say that gaining access to international content and servicing global travellers are some of the toughest challenges a new TMC must surmount to provide seamless experiences to its travellers.”
The partnership with Ticketpro, Waghmar added, “is yet another example of TMCs around the world prioritising change and unparalleled travel experiences over the status quo.”
In June this year global travel management company CWT signed a “strategic partnership” with Spotnana while March saw the launch of Solutions Travel in the US which, like Travelpro’s new offering, is built on the Spotnana tech stack.