As the online travel planning Move, Travel Agents AMEX encountered

American Express, in response to the growing acceptance among business travelers to organize online travel layoff of thousands of employees travel planning moves to the digital world. The 5400 job cuts announced Jan. 10 fall heavily on travel services division of the bank, which is aimed primarily at companies that contract with American Express (AXP) to organize business trips for their employees. The company will take a charge of $ 400 million in cuts, which will be completed this year.

“The economy, in particular the activity travel business has changed dramatically over the years than any other part of our business,” American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault told a conference call Thursday. “We moved more things online, and it will continue.” Migration planning online travel will also help the company to “serve a growing customer base with the lower level staffing,” he said.

An important reason for the passage of age telephone reservations are a future Web companies can gain control over management-er, reducing the amount they spend when workers hit the road. Sixty percent of some 1,500 business travel planners said new online tools gives them more control over travel policy in the past, according to a poll in July 2012 (PDF) by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation and Egencia, the corporate travel unit of Expedia (EXPE). The same survey found that three-quarters of travelers use online booking tools as part of their journey to work.

Most new

industry offers online travel can be customized to the travel policies of a client, including predefined limits on expenditures for certain categories, while integrating reports expenditures. new digital products also allow travelers to book flights and hotels and changes from their mobile devices while driving. The company has experienced rapid growth in recent years for traditional travel agents and travel services to business as well as online players such as Priceline (PCLN), Sabre Holdings, Expedia and pushy as Concur Technologies (CNQR). (American Express holds nearly 14 percent of Concur.)

American Express answers to these types of trends, said spokeswoman Diana Postemsky. “We’re trying to move these offers products and services in a manner that is consistent with the way our customers want to interact with us,” she said .

Report Businessweek.com – Technology