15 September 2021

CTM announces new sustainability innovations in Lightning, the award-winning online booking tool, ahead of Business Travel Show Europe

 

London, Wednesday 15th September – Corporate Travel Management announces the first in a range of new proprietary technology innovations to help modern travel managers address how they protect the environment, their business travellers, and their travel budgets.

Hot on the heels of winning this year’s award for Best Corporate Booking Platform at the Business Travel Awards Europe, Corporate Travel Management (CTM) announces today the first in a range of new proprietary technology innovations to help modern travel managers address how they protect the environment, their business travellers, and their travel budgets.

Travel managers will be able to see the technology for themselves at Business Travel Show Europe, where CTM is exhibiting on Stand BTSB150.

Sustainability – Travel doesn’t have to cost the earth

The first launch is an expansion to CTM’s ‘Green Choice’ identifiers for flights, hotels and rail booking, which sits in Lightning to let CTM customers see the most environmentally friendly choice across all modes of travel at a glance during a trip search.

Users can easily compare options side by side and view the total carbon cost of their trip in their basket, combining Lightning’s modern ecommerce approach with a focus on sustainable choices.

Carbon Calculator – What’s your carbon budget?

While companies have been monitoring their carbon footprint at an organisational level, a second new addition to Lightning will allow customers to set carbon budgets at company, country, departmental and individual levels.

Recognising that sustainable travel is as much about personal choice and psychological nudges as policy, travellers will be able to see their personal allowance and the impact of a trip they are planning at the same time.

European Rail – Swap Charles de Gaulle for Gare du Nord.

Booking intra-European rail for business travel can be a complex process. By making European rail available to book within Lightning, CTM is giving travellers greater choice on how to travel internationally within Europe, providing yet more sustainable travel options. Lightning takes the legwork out of being climate-conscious by performing simultaneous search for applicable routes to help travellers easily compare the cost, travel duration and carbon impact of flying versus boarding a train.

“In the last 18 months, expectations placed on business travel programmes and the leaders who manage them have changed like no time before. The combined effects of COVID-19 on traveller safety, a greater focus on truly sustainable travel, and reduced travel budgets mean that travel buyers have a new balancing act to learn as the world opens up again,” said Brian Sheerin, CTO EMEA, CTM.

“CTM never stands still, and we were quick to react to the needs of our customers when they needed greater oversight of the pandemic and safety information at the point of booking. Our agile development philosophy meant CTM’s COVID Hub and Routehappy’s Universal Product Attributes (UPAs) were quickly added in the spring of 2020.

“The new tools we are launching give travel managers what they need for what’s next in business travel and give travellers what they need to make informed decisions around sustainable travel. By putting this technology in the hands of travellers with an intuitive user experience, we make it quick and easy for them to pick the right options for them and their company.”

CTM’s CEO EMEA, Debbie Carling, added, “It’s wonderful to see our focus on building a great experience for our customers with Lightning recognised at the Business Travel Awards Europe by winning Best Corporate Booking Platform. We’re always moving forward, so we’re excited to be adding these great features on sustainability ahead of Business Travel Show Europe later this month where we will also be showing off new developments for risk and cost management.”

CTM will be exhibiting at the Business Travel Show on September 30th and October 1st on stand BTS150. Travel buyers and managers can book an in-person or virtual meeting with the team now via the event online diary system.

 

Corporate Travel Management Pty Ltd (CTM) (ASX:CTD) is a global provider of innovative and cost-effective travel solutions spanning corporate, events, leisure, loyalty and wholesale travel.

Our proven business strategy combines personalised service excellence with market-leading technology to deliver a return on investment to our customers.

Established in 1994, CTM has grown from a two-person start-up into one of the world’s most successful travel management companies.

 

CTM Media Enquiries:

Charlie Le Rougetel

Founder & Director – Big Top PR

T: +44 7736 330676

E: charlie@bigtop-pr.co.uk