Travelogix eyes international growth as it prepares to launch Analytix V2

Travelogix eyes international growth as it prepares to launch Analytix V2

British corporate travel data analytics platform Travelogix will take the wraps of version two of its core technology next year as it targets international growth. The new version of Analytix, Travelogix’s data management suite, will be launched at next February’s Travel Technology Europe trade show in London. Chris Lewis, co-founder and chief executive of the … Continue reading Travelogix eyes international growth as it prepares to launch Analytix V2

British corporate travel data analytics platform Travelogix will take the wraps of version two of its core technology next year as it targets international growth.

The new version of Analytix, Travelogix’s data management suite, will be launched at next February’s Travel Technology Europe trade show in London.

Chris Lewis, co-founder and chief executive of the Warrington-based firm, which he brought back from VC ownership in September in an MBO, described the new tech is market leading.

With clients already in English speaking markets like UK, Australia, the US and New Zealand, Travelogix will target expansion into South Africa and Germany as a first entry into mainland Europe.

Further potential growth opportunities are being looked at in Dubai and the Middle East and Singapore and Malaysia.

Lewis said: “Version two of Analytix came out of our 2016 client assembly where we showed clients the platform development we made in the last 24 months and talk about what they want to see.

“We threw some idea on to a board and cherry picked what we wanted to do in the next 12 to 24 months.

“We took the development team away and came the conclusion that the platform we have currently got was too restricting to force new requirements into.

“So, we took the decision we were going to invest for two years in creating a brand new platform.”

Lewis said Analytix V2 will offer a new database engine, a new API layer and a new front-end and multiple dashboards to increase the functionality for users.

“We are adding much more functionality around administration and the ability to splice and dice data to be able to create stories around your data.”

Lewis said Travelgix’s technology gives small and medium sized Travel Management Companies the ability to compete with industry giants by providing business intelligence tools.

He said this provides firms with the ability to understand their own businesses in ways they would not have been able to by themselves because they don’t have the in-house resources or expertise.

This insight can then be used to drive keep performance indicators in the business and go to supplier airlines with up to date data on performance to build on existing or forge new partnerships.

Travelogix is moving towards developing more intelligent predictive analytics tools using artificial intelligence to help it clients’ clients investigate “what if” scenarios whe devising growth strategies.

“Travel is probably the second biggest cost in a company’s profit and loss account, so to be able to predict spending as much as possible is a massive positive for travel managers,” Lewis said.

“One of the things we hear all the time is that margins are thin in this industry. When we talk to our TMC clients the story is always the same.

“When was the last time they were asked to put their prices up? But we are seeing the adoption of technology. People are a lot more aware of what’s possible with tech these days.”

In September, management bought back a 51% stake in Travelogix from former Swedish parent Global Warning Systems, which had invested in January 2016.

Lewis said earlier this year he realised that GWS was “going in a different direction” and Travelogix could not be as entrepreneurial as he would have liked.

“We got tied up in a lot of red tape and it was in our interests and GWS’s that we broke free so we could plough our own furrow. It gives us the freedom to develop our own platforms.”

Most of Travelogix’s clients are TMCs with the rest leisure agencies or wholesalers. “We are entirely focused on travel, which make us relatively unique,” Lewis said.

To date the firm has 63 clients using Analytix in four countries and it has a further 60 firms on a new platform, Farecast, which allows firms to manage their own negotiated fares.

Lewis said he was confident that Travelogix’s technology makes it a market leader in the UK and its new version will help it challenge on the global stage.

“Certainly in the UK we are marketing leading. We have displaced a number of competitors and been successful retaining clients’ business and growing.

“Version two will put us on the right path to be market leading globally.”