Evolvi’s record year helps corporate sector beat rail fares increase
Evolvi Rail Systems enjoyed another record year of sales and transactions in 2011 with its online rail booking and fulfilment platform - and in doing so helped corporate travellers nullify the effects of the headline fares increase announced in January last year.
Announcing a 9% rise in revenues to £286m and a 10% increase in transactions to 4.7m, Evolvi revealed that its average ticket value for last year was £60.85 compared
to £61 in 2010…this despite the introduction of a general 6.2% fares hike at the start of 2011.
“These results confirm the positive impact of smart, online procurement of rail journeys for Travel Management Companies and their corporate clients,” says Ken Cameron, Managing Director of Evolvi Rail Systems.
“Buying in advance and within a managed travel environment made possible by Evolvi functionality, corporate travellers actually managed to off-set the increase in fares implemented at the start of last year. While part of this was likely due to businesses placing further restrictions on first class travel in times of austerity - as happened in 2010 - I believe it’s also a clear reflection of the much smarter approach being taken to rail travel procurement.”
The total market for online rail ticket retailing, including leisure traffic, grew by around 33% to over £1.2bn in 2011. Out of this, just under half of transactions were processed through agencies such as TMCs, with Evolvi’s system responsible for around 50% of the bookings in this sector.
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In fact, the average value of tickets booked through Evolvi fell for the third year running - from £66 in 2009 to £61 in 2010 and £60.85 in 2011.
The company’s online rail booking and fulfilment service - used by 90% of all UK TMCs and the preferred choice of eight of the top 10 - is helping drive the industry-wide trend towards self-booking, with over 60% of TMC corporate clients now opting for this approach.
The Evolvi results come just ahead the Business Travel Show, which the company is using as the first public showing for its new generation platform - evolvi-ng - which features a whole host of innovations and new functionality.