GetThere Takes Another Major Step in Extending its Leadership in Europe by Signing Leading Global Appliance Company
MENLO PARK, CA,- GetThere Inc. ? (NASDAQ: GTHR), the leading provider of Internet-based business-to-business travel procurement systems, today announced that Stockholm-based Electrolux, the world’s largest producer of powered appliances for kitchen, cleaning and outdoor use, has selected the GetThere B2B travel Marketplace to allow its travelers to book corporate travel via the company’s Intranet. It is GetThere’s first announced corporate travel procurement win in Europe that will help to build GetThere’s momentum in Europe.
With a worldwide annual travel budget of $125 million, Electrolux is implementing the GetThere online travel procurement system to reduce corporate travel costs while providing travelers with an easy-to-use tool that offers the flexibility to book their own business trips online around the clock.
Electrolux has 95,000 employees and offices in 60 countries around the world. The company will first implement the GetThere system at its headquarters in Sweden, with the goal of achieving 25% adoption in the first year. The product will then be rolled out to surrounding countries such as Norway, Finland and Denmark, with other countries to follow.
“The GetThere system provides Electrolux with a robust technology infrastructure that will allow us to roll out a comprehensive online travel program, regardless of country location,” said Jo Hamburger, global travel manager at Electrolux. “Not only will this positively impact our travel budget, but will provide the company’s travelers with a new level of service for their business travel needs.”
GetThere’s SuperSite feature will enable Electrolux to customize the solution for each of its office locations. This capability allows the company to create sub-sites from its main online travel procurement site in order to meet the travel needs of specific regions that the company serves. Different currencies, languages and other features can be customized on each of these sites based on country location. All data from transactions resulting from these sites will feed back into the main site, making it easy for the travel department to monitor travel activity around the globe, create comprehensive reports or analyze data from each site.
The GetThere Marketplace already provides online travel procurement to major corporations that together spend nearly $10 billion in travel each year. With the recently announced GetThere Supplier Network, these corporations will be able to procure travel from leading air, hotel and car rental suppliers directly, in addition to going through global distribution systems. The GetThere Supplier Network already includes Accor Hotels, Avis Rent a Car, British Airways, Budget Rent a Car, Candlewood Hotels, Hertz Corporation, Marriott International, Micros Fidelio & Hotel Bank, Northwest Airlines, Radisson Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, TWA and United Airlines.
Electrolux is the world’s largest producer of powered appliances for kitchen, cleaning and outdoor use, such as refrigerators, washing machines, cookers, vacuum cleaners, chain saws, lawn mowers, and garden tractors. In 1999, Group sales were SEK 120 billion and the Group had 93,000 employees. Every year, customers in more than 150 countries buy more than 55 million Electrolux Group products for both consumer and professional use. The Electrolux Group includes famous appliance brands such as AEG, Zanussi, Frigidaire, Eureka, and Husqvarna.
GetThere (Nasdaq: GTHR) operates the world’s largest Internet marketplace focused on business-to-business travel services. GetThere’s systems are used to provide online travel procurement to employees at leading corporations such as Boeing, Chevron, Cisco, Cox Enterprises, Lucent, MetLife, Nike and Xerox. GetThere also powers online travel sites for leading airlines, including Alitalia, All Nippon Airways, America West, British Airways, Northwest Airlines, TWA and United Airlines. GetThere can be found on the Web at www.getthere.com
.
——-