Portaga’s TripSync: Simplifying Business Travel (Part 1)

Continuing on our coverage of the Online Travel industry, I bring you Portaga, a small private company that is working on simplifying the challenges of booking and changing travel plans from within your calendar, desktop or mobile. Here, we speak with Portaga’s CEO Robert Kost.

SM: Please describe your business value proposition and your product.
RK: TripSync is the free, Web 2.0 travel tool that allows business travelers to book, change and manage travel directly from their calendar with a few simple clicks. TripSync simplifies, organizes and synchronizes business travel for one or multiple travelers by creating live data itineraries right in Outlook. TripSync makes creating or changing travel plans as easy as scheduling a meeting. Designed with an inherent understanding of how small and medium sized companies work, TripSync was developed by veteran business travelers at Portaga, Inc., a web services company based in White Plains, NY.

SM: What is your target customer?
RK: Our target customers are businesses between 5 and 250 employees that spend less than $3 million on travel per year. Primarily in the services, marketing, financial, legal and other verticals whose employees travel. Secondarily, the employees of these businesses and other individuals who value efficiency in travel booking arrangements. We’re seeking the un-managed to lightly managed business traveler.

SM: What is the competition, and how do you differentiate?
RK: The competition is Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity. We differentiate on features that are specific to business (Book and Hold, waiver of service fee, organizational booking and management, calendar integration). Unlike the “Big Three”, we are not a leisure site nor are we a destination site. We’re offering our travelers features that just can’t be found on those sites. In addition, TripSync Mobile is the only application that allows a traveler to book a flight, car or hotel right from their web-enabled PDA or Smartphone.

SM: How big is the market for what you have to offer?
RK: Recent studies show that there are approximately 35 million online business travelers.

(to be continued)

This segment is part 1 in the series : Portaga's TripSync: Simplifying Business Travel
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