Travel and Transport
Timely Data for Strategic Travel Program

With two second-hand desks and one typewriter, Lawrence Youngman, a city hall reporter for the Omaha World Herald changed careers to open the doors of Travel and Transport, a travel management company, in 1946. Today, the firm has etched a distinct stature as one of the leading companies that serves travelers throughout the world by continuously engaging in innovative developments for better customer service. “The challenges that most CIOs of travel companies encounter involve building applications which do not serve their core businesses,” expresses Mike Kubasik, Executive Vice President and CIO, Travel and Transport. Most of the corporate travel managers lack visibility into the whole picture of activity due to inefficient travel expertise and find it difficult to manage the endless sources of data associated. They seek a single point of entry with a customized user interface that provides access to dynamic content and travel tools.

“Analyzing these needs, Travel and Transport created an extremely valuable tool for the travel industry which is at a crucial big data crossroads,” says Kubasik. As travel management decisions depend on accurate and timely data from a variety of sources, Travel and Transport’s big data solution aggregates traditional travel industry sources and non-traditional data—which together form a complete picture of a travel program through all stages of the travel cycle.

The company’s big data solution is built around a series of visual dashboards that allow travel management professionals to see information about an entire travel program in an intuitive and easy to understand format. The solution aggregates raw data from multiple systems into a primary database engine—housed on a Microsoft SQL server platform. Partnering with Information Builders (InfoDiscovery and InfoAssist), the company consolidates and categorizes the data to visually analyze complex data sets and generate sophisticated data to help identify insights that may otherwise go undetected in traditional reports.

Travel and Transport’s big data solution aggregates traditional travel industry sources and non-traditional data

The Travel and Transport’s innovative data solutions and reporting tools also include web-based pre- and post-trip reporting functionality that enable professionals to drive beneficial travel behaviors within their organization.

Reacting to the changing customer needs, “Our investment in big data offers a streamlined and systematic approach in building core applications for their ongoing businesses and creates ROI for many leading companies,” asserts Brian Beard, General Manager, Strategic Initiatives, Travel and Transport. For instance, one of Travel and Transport’s largest clients lacked visibility around the amount of baggage fees that were being charged by corporate travelers. As a result, the client expended nearly $1 million in baggage fees over one year. Travel and Transport foresaw that their big data solution would significantly impact the client to have visibility and insight on their largest corporate expenses. Using their big data solution, Travel and Transport led the client to a better negotiating position with improved discounts and maximized revenue growth.

Technology coupled with a customer centric approach has helped Travel and Transport continue their geographical expansion with a focus on building a growing list of clientele. “With technology investment and innovation as our keys to success, we will continue to help companies realize the value of data, which will further generate intelligent business value and a strong ROI,” concludes Kubasik.