By Steve Hartridge, published 7/05/20
Egencia, the corporate travel arm of Expedia Group, has unveiled a programme to assist global healthcare providers in securing hotels for employees who are safely distancing from family or traveling to COVID-impacted areas
Under its Helping Healthcare scheme, Egencia is offering healthcare and other service providers three months of free travel management services, including waived transaction and onboarding fees, access to special healthcare hotel rates with an average saving of up to 30% per night and 24-hour customer service in over 30 languages.
The scheme is available to healthcare providers in over 25 countries, with support from thousands of hotels.
The travel programme allows healthcare providers to access Egencia’s travel management services after a 45-minute onboarding phone call. Healthcare workers can find and book hotels close to their place of work either online or via the Egencia mobile app, with the option to expense or cover the cost themselves.
Healthcare providers can also update their travel programme whenever they need to, for instance to make an area unbookable should it become high risk for their staff. They can also ensure their staff have 24/7support when they need it, and access to regular travel updates through the app or by logging in online.
“We are deeply grateful to healthcare professionals all over the world who are working to keep our communities safe. Healthcare providers need their staff to be able to easily find affordable rooms near their workplace, and at Egencia we’ve purpose-built a programme to do just that,” said Ariane Gorin, President of Expedia Business Services.
“It’s fantastic to see so many hotel partners unite to support healthcare professionals all over the world through this and other programmes designed with health and safety as touchstones.”
Jon Lensing, CEO of Apollo, an Egencia client that is a web-based platform that matches healthcare professionals with hospitals and other facilities in need of extra staffing due to COVID-19, added: “Our healthcare workers are integrating into a new hospital and understanding new patient demands, all while being away from home. It’s comforting to know that the logistics of travel and lodging will all be handled by a dedicated team specifically for them.”
