New Technologies pave the way for cost-savings in corporate travel

GlobalStar Travel Management, a leader in corporate travel management that operates in a virtual community spanning more than 50 countries, introduced three new proprietary technologies that aim to help corporations consolidate and manage their business travel better. These new technology platforms are FareStar; ProfileStar; and DataStar.

“These technologies form a major part of our integrated technology platform and offer travel managers unprecedented benefits,” said Martin P. Metzler, GlobalStar’s President and Managing Director.

“The single most unique technology I’d like to mention is our FareStar system, as most corporate customers are concerned about getting the best fares from their travel management companies (TMCs). Because many markets offer the opportunities for TMCs to negotiate better fares for their customers, FareStar makes these private fares available through all GlobalStar partners worldwide, resulting in airfare savings generally exceeding 30 per cent. This makes FareStar a very powerful tool.”

FareStar, which had its global launch in Singapore today, is a groundbreaking technology developed as a proprietary tool for GlobalStar by TelMe Farebase, a global leader in travel technology and airfare manipulation. FareStar will allow GlobalStar representatives to search fare databases in any country, and on every Global Distribution System (GDS), allowing its clients to benefit from the different IATA rules around the world, as well as any discrepancies between the different GDS.

GlobalStar members can also search ‘GDS special’* fares from each of the four major GDS in anticipation of further GDS deregulation around the world. In a single search, clients can access the nearly one million private fares from any of their GlobalStar partners in addition to GDS and Internet content.

ProfileStar, which was also launched in Singapore today for the Asian markets, has been built to accommodate hundreds of thousands of travelers’ profiles. This technology will allow GlobalStar clients to enter and amend their travel profile 24 hours a day, and from anywhere in the world.

ProfileStar will automatically update any of the four major GDS as well as integrated online booking tools, thus saving the travel agents time-re-keying the information, improving accuracy and removing any time delays for travelers. GlobalStar plans to use this tool to ensure seamless service across the globe regardless of the members’ GDS or other technology platforms.

The profile itself has over 100 variables and is widely considered to be one of the most comprehensive in the industry. Every aspect of personal preference can be managed, from meal and seat preferences to mileage points for flights, cars and hotels.

ProfileStar has been developed in association with Ultramar Travel, GlobalStar’s partner in New York, USA, and is based on their successful TravelSync product.

Peter Klebanow, President, Ultramar Travel Management and Chairman, GlobalStar Travel Management, said, “Innovation is the outgrowth of entrepreneurship combined with market needs. Not surprisingly therefore, two of the most powerful travel technologies are being released today by GlobalStar, a global travel management company with true entrepreneurial spirit, cultural sensitivity, and now with a unique ability for corporate users to conquer two of the industry’s greatest challenges – global sourcing and worldwide traveler profile integration.” 

Peter Muller, Managing Director of TelMe said, “The technology we have developed for GlobalStar will differentiate it from other global TMCs. FareStar in particular has proved to be very complex, but will deliver considerable benefits over the long term and is a ‘world first’ in terms of global connectivity of the four major GDS and multiple country searches.” 

DataStar, a technology that was launched in the North American market earlier this year, is a packaged global data consolidation and on-line travel management reporting solution for global corporate customers. It was developed for GlobalStar by Hi-Mark Software, a provider of data consolidation.

DataStar gives the GlobalStar organization of more than 50 travel management companies around the world a centralized global travel data warehouse hosted at Hi-Mark’s data center in Atlanta, Georgia. Hi-Mark’s data consolidation technology will be deployed to securely collect, consolidate and normalize currency to provide comprehensive travel financial data from all of GlobalStar’s international locations.

A package of travel reports and analyses are included to provide a consummate solution for GlobalStar’s corporate clients to manage all aspects of their travel and address areas regarding policy enforcement, contract management and compliance, vendor relationships, international security and travel financial management.

Reports, analyses and data will be delivered 24/7/365 and in multiple formats including the traditional PDF and Excel spreadsheets.

The system has the flexibility to define and customise a travel manager’s own requirements, such as most frequented travel sectors or most used airlines and hotels. This consolidated global data will give the travel manager the edge in negotiating pricing based on economies of scale.

Another advantage is that at any one time the DataStar technology enables a company to track the exact location of their executives travelling on company business. This information is particularly meaningful in times of unexpected disasters or in high risk locations.

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