CTM expands trip builder service for small groups and meetings

Corporate Travel Management (CTM) is enhancing its Lightning online booking tool to create destination recommendations and personalised itineraries for attendees of small groups and meetings.

Lightning’s door-to-door trip builder can already build a policy compliant trip using just the traveller’s preferred destination, including flights, hotels, ground transport, airport parking and lounge passes.

CTM is now expanding this functionality, which is known as Door-to-door+, to allow travel bookers and meetings co-ordinators to use a single set of meeting requirements to book suitable venues and individually tailored itineraries for groups ranging from two to eight travellers.

Brian Sheerin, CTM’s chief technology officer EMEA, said: “Business travel is about meeting face-to-face, so when we built the ability to connect an entire trip together into one itinerary, we knew there would be huge benefits to scaling that to handle groups.

“The technology scales excellently for small meetings and team offsites, providing a great selection of options but not overwhelming team leaders who just need to find the best location.”

Sheerin added that the AI-based technology was allowing Lightning users to book travel and meetings in “new and exciting ways that keep costs down while maximising choice and policy compliance”.

The door-to-door trip builder for small groups and meetings is currently in pilot phase with several CTM customers before being released generally in the UK throughout this summer.