BCD Travel introduces corporate travel development hub
The global travel management company has officially launched its SolutionSource Developer Hub, a suite of APIs and developer tools that can be used to create tailored corporate travel solutions
The launch of the developer hub is part of a new phase of BCD Travel’s SolutionSource platform, which it launched in February last year in order to enable clients to access its technology solutions – and those of third parties – and use them in service of corporate clients.
“By investing in application programming interfaces and providing open access to our platform, we eliminate the [biggest] challenge faced by travel technology developers,” commented BCD Travel’s Senior Director of SolutionSource Irina Matz. “Giving developers access to modern tools and technology allows them to build and deliver solutions catered to the specific needs of our customers.”
Via the platform, developers will be able to access various functionalities including shopping and booking, itinerary development and traveller identity information. With BCD’s platform – including its booking repository, policy rules engine and so on – as a basis, users can thus build their own solution on top, creating specialised solutions that are compatible with both client systems and BCD’s processes. In this way, costs can be reduced, traveller experiences hopefully improved, and duty of care responsibilities recognised. The four main pillars addressed, according to BCD, are a focus on the digital traveller experience, simplification of distribution, innovation driven by efficient use of data, and delivery of a genuinely global platform.
“As the corporate travel industry evolves, the technology that supports it also needs to change,” said Yannis Karmis, BCD’s Senior Vice-President of Product Planning and Development. “The same APIs we use to power our own core solutions – traveller itineraries, shopping and booking, traveller engagement [and so on] – are the ones we are making available to external consumers, through the Developer Hub.”
As well as the Hub, BCD Travel also recently launched digital engagement platform Connect, which was created to drive collaboration between peers through easy access to training materials and key industry information.