In an industry first, Agiito have formed a partnership with API developer, TravelTime, to empower meeting bookers with travel time information during the venue selection process.
With an established portfolio in the property and recruitment sectors, TravelTime are now entering the business travel sector in partnership with Agiito.
The partnership will see Agiito’s meeting bookers presented with venue options ranked by travel time, delivering a more realistic range of venue options that avoid the need to guess travel times or calculate them via third party websites. By considering the actual time travelled, it builds an accurate picture for bookers to make a decision and gives them confidence that the venue is suitable for them.
Industry-first in providing accurate travel time information for venue bookings
“Venue-finding tools typically use straight-line distance to define the proximity of venues, a metric which assumes we travel in straight lines, which of course we don’t. The reality is we must navigate the transport network around us, meaning the actual distances are often much further than displayed in venue listings. We were finding that bookers could book a venue they believed to be a short distance away based on a radius search, when the real travel time actually takes twice as long as they were expecting,” explained Charlie Davies, CEO for TravelTime.
“Meeting bookers shouldn’t have to rely on inaccurate data to make important location decisions; they should be presented with accurate information that enables them to make the right location-based decision. What they really value is how long it will take their attendees to travel to the venue, so we wanted to provide this at the point of booking. It’s great that Agiito have listened to their bookers and responded with innovation and a unified travel experience that makes a genuine difference.”
Agiito are currently implementing the TravelTime API into Meetingspro, their venue-finding booking tool. Meeting bookers will be able to search for venues based on their bespoke criteria and be presented with the physical walking time to each venue.
Not only will this innovation streamline the venue selection process for bookers, but it will also positively contribute to attendee punctuality, as it enables bookers to communicate travel times before the event takes place. Furthermore, understanding the walking time will actively encourage attendees to walk to venues, which is a more cost-effective and sustainable alternative to using taxis or public transport.
TravelTime gives accurate travel time information rather than a distance
“Currently, booking tools in the industry base the distance stated in venue searches on a straight-line measurement. By making the search results more relevant and accurate, we can offer our customers a more convenient, reliable and personalised experience when booking meetings,” said Carl Law, Chief Technology Officer at Agiito.
“We are proud to lead the way in the industry once again and take our technology in the right direction to be more booker and delegate centric. This will mark the first of what I hope to be an innovative partnership with TravelTime, as we work together to expand this functionality further and across other online booking tools”.
This is currently being developed for Agiito customers and will be available for pilot in February. This is one in a series of developments made to the award-winning Meetingspro tool, after its live availability and instant book functionality went live in November.
Want to know more about our meetings management technology? Get in touch with Katy Nuza Katy.Nuza@agiito.com
To find out more about Agiito’s Online Travel and Meetings Booking Tool here.
You can also read about the recent release of Live Availability Technology by Agiito to Royal Mail Group.
