Ridesharing Adapts to Business Traveler Needs — Corporate Travel Innovation Report

The Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report is our new weekly newsletter focused on the future of corporate travel, the big fault lines of disruption for travel managers and buyers, the innovations emerging from the sector, and the changing business traveler habits that are upending how corporate travel is packaged, bought and sold.

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The Future of Corporate + Business Travel

The big news this week comes from Lyft, which has begun a trial experimenting with the integration of scheduled pickups. The underdog ridesharing service is making serious inroads in the corporate travel space, and the new scheduling capability is something that corporate travelers sorely need.

While rival ridesharing companies are picking up major new funding, Lyft is looking to provide concrete solutions for corporate travel in a serious way.

Some established players in the car service space, meanwhile, are looking to evolve their tools for travel managers as well.

“I’m really excited about that business in particular, because there are so much disruption going on, and there are so many traditional operators and travelers… that really are desperate for a Uber-like solution that helps them,” Deem CEO John Rizzo told Skift. “Talking about how great it will be in the future is not a reasonable substitute for actually doing it today. It is going into a market that is undergoing massive disruption.”

Deem’s tech connects car services with business travelers in an Uber-like format, combining traditional duty of care with a more contemporary booking tool.

More solutions for travel managers is a good thing for both companies and business travelers.

— Andrew Sheivachman, Skift

Social Quote of the Day

Going after those sweet, sweet corporate travel dollars https://twitter.com/WSJD/status/735115529942409216 – @michaelshafrir

Business of Buying

CEO Interview: The 15-Year-Old Corporate Travel Company That Wants to Be a Startup: Deem will try to become more relevant by reducing its product offerings and adopting a more focused approach to developing travel solutions. But in an extremely crowded marketplace, it may be a case of too little, too late. Read more at Skift

American Airlines Enters the Battle for Elite Passengers: Airlines reinvented their loyalty programs in 2015. They’re doing damage control in 2016. Read more at Skift

On Demand and in Advance: Lyft Is Testing Scheduled Pickups: We’ll be interested to see how riders, drivers, and competitors react to this move by Lyft. Read more at Skift

Security + Safety

There’s a Safety Gap Separating Female and Male Business Travelers: Better technology tools from travel management companies can help put female travelers into safer situations on the road. Read more at Skift

Airlines and Airports Preparing to Spend Millions to Cut Security Line Times: The business of flying has radically changed in the decade-plus since the TSA was started. It would be a good time to rethink the organization if there was smart leadership at the congressional or federal level that could get real change pushed through. Read more at Skift

Disruption + Innovation

Airbnb and the Solo Female Business Traveler: There are a lot of things that Airbnb hosts can do to make solo female business travelers feel more safe and comfortable, but there are also many female travelers who will never book an Airbnb alone. Read more at Skift

Why Car Rental Giants Are Learning Lessons From Airlines: Companies like Avis Budget and Hertz are looking for leadership from the same people that helped return U.S. airlines to profitability, as ride sharing services drive prices down in the traditional car rental ecosystem. Read more at Skift

Gett Raises $300 Million From Volkswagen to Better Challenge Uber, Lyft: Rather than fade away, Gett appears determined to remain a player that will continue to challenge Uber and Lyft in additional markets. Read more at Skift

Comments

The Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report is curated by Skift editors Hannah Sampson [hs@skift.com] and Andrew Sheivachman [as@skift.com]. The newsletter is emailed every Thursday.

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