WorldMate goes big in Japan

SAN FRANCISCO - WorldMate, Inc., a Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) company and maker of the popular app favored by more than 11 million business travelers, and JTB-CWT Business Travel Solutions, a joint venture between Japan's largest travel agency and CWT, have teamed up to launch Trip To Go and B-Schedule, first-of-its-kind travel apps in Japan. The apps are built on WorldMate's platform and are fully localized for the Japanese market. Business travelers will enjoy a world-class experience booking hotels and renting cars directly within the apps.

The two apps benefit from WorldMate's 15 years of mobile expertise and ability to deliver amazing mobile user experiences:
- Trip To Go – tailored to unmanaged business travelers who do not have a corporate travel agency. The app enables hotel, car rental, and insurance booking and also facilitates mobile check-in to dozens of airlines.
- B-Schedule – serves existing JTB-CWT corporate travel customers. In addition to all of the Trip To Go functionality, B-Schedule provides itinerary synchronization for all travelers who book their trips with JTB-CWT.

"We chose WorldMate above all other companies, both domestic and foreign, to bring mobile capabilities to our current customers and to expand our reach into the unmanaged travel market in Japan," said Tsutomu Takenaka, CEO, JTB-CWT. "By leveraging WorldMate's technology platform, the project went from contract signing to launch in less than seven months."

"WorldMate's alliance with the largest travel agency in Japan showcases our ability to quickly use our technology to serve new markets around the globe," said Amir Kirshenboim, WorldMate CEO. "We're proud to work with JTB-CWT to deliver unprecedented mobile services to business travelers in Japan."

According to Haruo Ushiba, director and senior analyst, Phocuswright Japan, the potential for adding value for unmanaged travel in Japan is huge, as no one is specifically addressing this need today.

"Previously these unmanaged business travelers had no travel agency to make their arrangements," said Ushiba. "With the introduction of these new apps from JTB-CWT powered by WorldMate, Japan's unmanaged business travelers can now easily make their own arrangements and work seamlessly with Japanese sources, like airlines, hotels, car rental companies and more."

WorldMate was recently named Most Innovative Established Company at the Phocuswright Innovation Summit for its Hotel Price Alerts and Counter Offers, recognized as the most innovative and potentially disruptive travel technology of 2014.

sourced:traveldailynews.asia