ETW Staff– Mumbai
Thomas Cook (India), has partnered with ExpenseAnywhere, provider of web–based solutions for Corporate spend management, with a focus on enhancing customer experience and technology. Thomas Cook India‘s internal customer research had revealed that travel costs continue to climb in the current environment particularly in the Indian corporate travel space. Additionally, with the unbundling of services and introduction of various ancillary components, organisations find it cumbersome and time consuming to align the various cost components associated with one trip; more so in a price sensitive Indian market where there is a need to look at both the direct and indirect costs associated with travel and entertainment.
Typically, it costs businesses upwards of 25 per cent in indirect costs to manage direct spend on travel related expenses. Hence, in a focused initiative to leverage the growing potential of automated solutions, Thomas Cook India has partnered with ExpenseAnywhere to offer an integrated solution that will standardise processes, reduce manual errors, gain tighter policy controls and enhance reporting capabilities while driving out the cost inefficiencies and limitations inherent to a manual environment.
Commenting on the partnership, Indiver Rastogi, chief operating officer and head – corporate travel, Thomas Cook (India) said, “We are delighted to be partners with ExpenseAnywhere- a leading global player in the T&E management domain. This will be a first of its kind association in India and of strong benefit to our customers in organising their corporate travel expenses. Our aim has always been to help customers at every step of their travel journey and this is yet another significant delivery. It is truly a meeting of the minds: Thomas Cook India with innovation in its DNA and ExpenseAnywhere, synonymous with tech innovation, collaborating to offer Indian consumers an extremely credible end-to-end offering.”
The Partnership between both the companies is a first in the India travel space, offering corporates several benefits, including fully integrated end-to-end travel and expense management automation solutions for businesses to manage their travel spend and control their costs. Also, customised options to suit the high touch environment for travel in India and seamlessly automate the entire travel and spend cycle.
Dr. Ashok Dhar, CEO, ExpenseAnywhere, said, “We are extremely excited to partner with Thomas Cook (India). We spent considerable time and effort in understanding the needs of corporate India, and created the ExpenseAnywhere solution that integrates with an online booking system with various disparate travel providers into a single ExpenseAnywhere Eco-system to deliver a superb user experience and the most robust travel and expense management solution for use by businesses in India.”