Egencia continues its global platform investment with new personalised search technology

-- Egencia demonstrates 'adaptive search' technology, a unique approach to search that optimises for traveller efficiency, effectiveness and relevance

LONDON, July 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Egencia® will unveil a new approach to travel search at the GBTA Convention in Los Angeles on July 28-30, 2014. The new Egencia adaptive search technology leverages insights from travellers to deliver proactive, personalised flight search options. The technology enables a faster, more streamlined booking experience for travellers, while ensuring compliance with corporate travel policy.  

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Even with recent advances in travel technology, searching and booking a trip is still a complex and long process.  Expedia® user research shows that travellers can run up to 48 search queries before booking.

At GBTA, Egencia is demonstrating its innovative, adaptive search technology which rapidly guides business travellers and arrangers to a set of options that are tailored to their preferences and company policy.  It will initially be available for air search on Egencia® TripNavigator mobile products, followed by the online booking and travel consultant tools.

"The booking process for business travel can be a real pain point as business travellers strive to combine demanding agendas, personal preferences and corporate requirements," says Sophie Krishnan, vice president of global marketing and product at Egencia. "Based on insights from our business travellers and extensive research with Expedia, our adaptive search technology should make the booking experience faster and more productive."

Personalised shopping recommendations

The Egencia adaptive search technology is designed to learn how travellers shop by analysing data from sources such as their search preferences, most common keystrokes and past bookings. The search process is built to be adaptive so that when the traveller uses Egencia websites or mobile apps, subsequent searches require fewer inputs to reach the desired results. For travellers who frequently book similar trips, the technology pre-configures common search options in the first step of the search process.

"This is a great feature that will make sure that the personalisation built into the apps allows travellers to find the content they want, while the policy tags are easy to interpret. We want our travellers to have lots of options that fit their personal criteria, while guiding them to make a choice that balances their needs with our budget," says Jennie Robertson, travel manager with Tableau Software, an Egencia customer.

More tailored choices; not just more options

In addition to learning the travellers' behaviour, the search functionality also enables users to narrow the results by choosing what they like about a particular flight and tap to find further comparable results. For example, a traveller or arranger can simply ask for results with similar arrival time, airline or duration, and get tailored answers. Visual guides to travel policy swiftly narrow the options further to those that are compliant.

Egencia will be showcasing its new offerings with live demos at the GBTA Convention in Los Angeles from July 28-30. Visit booth #2625 to find out more and see the latest Egencia innovations.

In keeping with the convention theme, "Business in Motion," and the dynamic spirit of Egencia innovation, the TMC invites press, customers, prospects and partners to celebrate "Art in Motion" on the rooftop at The Standard hotel on July 29, 7 – 11 pm.

About Egencia

Egencia is a leading full-service travel management company delivering innovative business travel technology and expert local service to more than 10,000 clients in 64 countries around the world.  As part of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), one of the world's largest travel companies, Egencia provides forward-looking companies with the ability to drive compliance and cost savings in their travel programmes, while meeting the needs and requirements of the modern business traveller. For more information please visit us at www.egencia.co.uk or connect with us on Twitter @Egencia_UK.

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