TROOP, the award-winning meeting planning and group travel logistics platform trusted by global enterprises to find cost-effective and sustainable meeting locations, today announced a new strategic partnership with Direct Travel to extend its meeting management technology to new and existing customers of the corporate travel management company.
“We are excited to partner with Direct Travel in its mission to create ‘The Perfect Trip’ by bringing together modern technology with superior customer experience. Considering that meetings and events account for more than 50% of corporate travel, TROOP is perfectly positioned to inspire, streamline, and improve the meeting organization process for everyone from meeting planners to business travelers to corporate finance teams,” said Dennis Vilovic, co-founder and CEO of TROOP. “As TROOP continues to broaden its reach and expand its global footprint, the partnership with Direct Travel, alongside Spotnana and Center, unlocks an opportunity for rapid growth, particularly in the U.S. mid-market. For that reason, TROOP has been heavily investing in its U.S.-based team to lead the region and strengthen TROOP’s capabilities.”
Direct Travel, a market leader in corporate travel management, was recently acquired by an investment group led by Steve Singh, Managing Director at Madrona, and the founder and former Chairman & CEO of Concur. Direct Travel selected TROOP to be a strategic component of its new modern travel technology stack as the company embarks on a mission to set the global standard for ‘The Perfect Trip.’ Together, TROOP, Travel-as-a-Service platform Spotnana, and card-first expense management platform Center provide a seamlessly integrated workflow for planning, booking, managing, and expensing group meetings and events for Direct Travel customers.
“Meetings and events management is a nascent market, largely served by paper processes. Determining the best location and best cost structure, managing group itineraries, and processing expenses related to a group meeting is either manual or barely automated and largely a disjointed experience,” said Steve Singh, Executive Chairman of Direct Travel. “TROOP’s meetings and events platform will be a critical component of Direct Travel’s strategy to drive a delightful meetings and events experience and to save our customers time and money.”
