New Web site features discounted travel fares
Whether booking business or personal travel, a new Web site provides savings and convenience for Vanderbilt employees and visitors.
Vanderbilt corporate discounts from airlines, car rental companies and hotels are embedded in the site, removing the need for employees and visitors to enter special discount codes.
A database tracks employee and visitor purchases made through various links on the site. As the site attracts more users and data accumulate, Vanderbilt will be in a position to negotiate additional discounts.
Six travel agencies are represented on the site, each with agents and phone lines specially dedicated for the use of Vanderbilt employees; each of the six agencies offers all of the Vanderbilt corporate travel discounts found elsewhere on the Web site.
The site also features links to travel services companies, airline ticket consolidators, passenger rail and bus companies, airport parking, and internal travel resources from Vanderbilt Procurement and Disbursement Services.
Vanderbilt spends approximately $20 million per year on business travel, according to Sheri DiGiovanna, manager of strategic projects for Procurement and Disbursement Services. She said the University stands to save millions annually as more travel purchases are made through the new Web site.
The site is managed by CTM (Campus Travel Management), which collects fees from companies included on the site. Some 65 universities have partnerships with CTM. Some of the hotel discounts negotiated by these institutions are available to Vanderbilt users, whether for business or personal travel: see the “Colleague reciprocity” link.
To visit the site, go to the Medical Center home page, www.mc.vanderbilt.edu; click Faculty and Staff Resources, then Travel.
Direct Medical Center visitors to the VUMC consumer site, www.vanderbilthealth.com; tell them to click Coming to Vanderbilt, then Travel.