Lufthansa Group invests in TripActions as first strategic investor

BERLIN, GERMANY and PALO ALTO, CA, January 21, 2020 – TripActions, the fastest-growing business travel platform trusted by 3,000+ enterprises globally, announced it has landed in Europe and that Lufthansa Group has made a minority investment in the company, kicking off an extensive strategic partnership. TripActions is bringing its industry-disrupting focus on the business traveller to the EU to empower European organisations to deliver a great travel experience for employees while controlling costs. The company’s expansion follows several years of supporting business travellers in EMEA, and is cemented by Lufthansa’s investment through its digital business unit, Lufthansa Innovation Hub. The investment is only its fourth in a tech company, highlighting the unique value, innovation and capabilities TripActions brings to the EU.

“We are excited to enter into this strategic partnership with TripActions to foster modern airline retailing to the benefit of our corporate customers,” said Tamur Goudarzi Pour, Senior Vice President of Revenue Management & Distribution at Lufthansa Group Hub Airlines. “Jointly we aim to develop a unique customer experience and are committed to shaping the industry through our joint distribution innovation.”

“It’s about time that companies in Europe no longer have to compromise with antiquated corporate travel management products and services,” said Ariel Cohen, Co-founder & CEO of TripActions. “We’ve demonstrated in the U.S. that our state-of-the-art travel management technology paired with our best-in-class travel agency service is the only choice for organisations and their road warriors. Our partnerships with forward-thinking supplier partners like Lufthansa will further fuel our rapid expansion by empowering more enterprises and their travellers to seize travel as a strategic lever for growth.”

TripActions differs from legacy players in Europe and globally as it puts the business traveller first. TripActions delivers consumer-like ease-of-use, powerful personalisation, unrivaled inventory choice including European air, hotel, rail and car rental options, and 24/7 travel agents that business travellers love. As a result, organisations achieve high adoption. Coupled with EMEA-first features like carbon impact reporting, centralised billing and billback, European companies get the spend visibility, control and insights they need to optimise their travel programs, save money and fulfill duty of care.

“We are always looking to deliver a win-win-win in corporate travel,” added TripActions’ Cohen. “Our expansion into Europe combined with our strategic partnership with Lufthansa delivers a win for business travellers with expanded inventory choice and transparency. It’s a win for finance leaders and travel managers with greater spend visibility and control. And it’s a win for Lufthansa as we innovate together to delight our joint customers.”

Lufthansa Group is the first strategic investor of TripActions. Together the companies are set to collaborate to proactively shape the distribution and corporate retailing landscape to create the future digital era of travel management companies. Both TripActions and Lufthansa Group are committed to continue working with all industry players to enhance the experience for business travellers.

Today’s news follows the two companies’ recent strategic NDC partnership announcement in November 2019. This extended strategic partnership marks a further important step for corporate customers to benefit from modern airline retailing and providing a better end-to-end experience. Customer value will be increased in various fields of cooperation, including ancillary retailing, corporate products and servicing.

European finance and corporate travel leaders interested in learning how TripActions delivers the most advanced travel management technology together with the best travel agency service can meet with TripActions at The Business Travel Show in London, GBTA Conference in Frankfurt, WebSummit in Lisbon, and at the TripActions TRAVERSE travel + tech festival in London; or visit www.tripactions.co.uk. To join the TripActions team in EMEA, visit the TripActions Careers site.