TQ3 Travel Solutions launches global ‘Web Fare-It’ solution

4 February 2003, London, UK – TQ3 Travel Solutions, one of the leading global travel management companies, is pleased to announce the global launch of Web Fare-It at the Business Travel Show 2003. With the launch of Web Fare-It, TQ3 becomes the first global travel management company to offer a fully integrated global web fares search and book tool. This means TQ3’s travel consultants will be the first to offer the inventory distributed over the internet (including low cost carriers and web-only distributed fares) to customers through an automated booking process.

Web Fare-It is a global product that resolves the corporate travel manager’s dilemma that has developed due to the increasing popularity of web bookings among business travellers. As part of TQ3’s suite of products and services Web Fare-It allows corporations to have a managed travel programme while taking full advantage of all supplier inventory regardless of the method of travel distribution, thereby encouraging the traveller to resist booking outside their corporate travel policy.

TQ3’s Web Fare-It is a proprietary cooperative development from TQ3 Travel Solutions and Outtask Incorporated. Web Fare-It is an agent desktop application that resides on the travel consultant’s workstation and uses .NET technology and SOAP (Simple Objective Access Protocol) requests and responses to automate the web booking process. Web Fare-It increases the consultant’s productivity and ensures that the traveller has access to the entire array of available travel inventory.

Outtask is a leading provider of software as a service in the areas of travel and expense management. Web Fare-It incorporates components of Outtask’s Cliqbookä technology for this innovative solution which offers a variety of travel management functionalities that include searching, compiling and booking available web fares from over 150 travel sites for air carriers and hotels from around the world.

Commenting on the global launch of Web Fare-It, Jon Farrier, Chief Information Officer of TQ3 EMEA said: “Web Fare-It enhances our ability to offer the travel inventory not distributed through the GDSs to our clients. Although reservations booked are confirmed in the suppliers’ own reservation system, the robotic booking application maintains a copy of the reservation in our own system; allowing corporate travel managers to leverage these fares and still maintain the benefits of a managed travel programme. Web Fare-It is integrated with TQ3’s Global Reporting and corporations will receive consolidated MIS reporting capabilities regardless of the electronic travel distribution channel used to make reservations.”

Tom DePasquale, president and CEO of Outtask, said: “As we continue to provide global companies with lower costs in corporate travel and expense management, TQ3 will benefit from strategic product developments for the evolving travel service industry.” He added: “Working with TQ3 Travel Solutions is an integral part of Outtask’s growing presence in the European business community.”

About TQ3 Travel Solutions
TQ3 Travel Solutions, with global headquarters in Bremen, Germany, and EMEA-APAC headquarters in London, UK, is the quality provider of innovative end-to-end travel expense management solutions worldwide. Operating in over 70 countries with system-wide revenues in excess of $9 billion, TQ3 Travel Solutions employs more than 12,000 business professionals throughout 1,600 locations. TQ3 has reinvigorated the global business travel market through its progressive approach to Strategy, Innovation and Performance. For further information about TQ3 and its services and products, please visit: www.tq3.com.

About Outtask, Inc.
An innovator in web applications and services, Outtask, Inc. is a provider of “Software as a Service”, delivering employee-facing applications to companies in the areas of travel, expense and recruiting management. Since 1999, customers around the globe leverage Outtask’s expertise, market-leading solutions, data management, and professional services to achieve efficiencies, recapture lost savings, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive overall savings to an organisations bottom line. Based on its success, Outtask’s proven solution has been awarded Network Magazine’s 2002 Products of the Year Award and Aberdeen Group Best Practices in Online Services Procurement®. For more information about Outtask, Inc., please visit www.outtask.com or contact Ross Atkinson at +1 703 837 6100 x4017 ([email protected] ).

##

For further press information please contact:
Melanie Garrett, Director of Marketing EMEA
Tel +44 (0) 1279 636310; Mobile +44 (0) 7736 105257
[email protected]