Navan Teams With Booking.Com to Uncover New Lodging Options

Business travel, payments and expense management platform Navan deepened its integration with Booking.com.

“With a new, updated direct integration, our partnership further expands travelers’ access to more properties and better rates, while making it simpler for travel managers and finance departments to oversee company stays, save across their travel programs, and unlock new lodging options,” Navan said in a Thursday (Jan. 22) news release.

The new connection lets business travelers access additional lodging directly in Navan’s platform, useful for those searching for “off-the-beaten-path” destinations, the release said.

This allows travel managers and finance departments to make sure compliant accommodations are available, while “travelers can find the perfect fit, wherever their work takes them,” according to the release.

Booking’s API supports future additions to Navan’s platform, such as potential features like a “work-friendly” tag for non-hotel properties, per the release.

“This new connection with Booking.com isn’t just about adding more rooms to Navan’s already expansive inventory; it’s about adding more value to every business trip for every company with discounts and perks on eligible stays,” Dane Molter, senior vice president of Navan Group Travel Marketplace, said in the release. “By connecting directly to Booking.com’s most advanced API, Navan can offer concrete savings and more choices that directly benefit a company’s bottom line, which is a win for everyone.”

The expanded partnership comes as uncertainty leads business travel to reinvent itself.

In November, the government shutdown underlined the need for agility and resilience, PYMNTS reported at the time. The standoff meant uncertainty in the execution of trips, which impacts business outcomes, and budget uncertainty, which could lead to fewer trips approved.

“Corporate travel is inherently cyclical and exposed to macro headwinds such as recession, geopolitical unrest, commodity shocks, inflation and evolving corporate travel policies,” PYMNTS wrote. “Across the sector, travel management companies (TMCs), technology vendors and enterprise software partners are converging to make corporate travel infrastructure shock-proof, data-driven and integrated with the enterprise stack.”

Travel no longer exists in isolation, the report said. Each booking is a financial transaction, every itinerary a compliance event, and every traveler a node in the data network of corporate spend. By integrating directly with ERP and expense systems, travel management solutions become part of the financial nervous system of the enterprise.