Ireland-based technology firm CarTrawler is eyeing the next battle ground in the B2B car rental world with a move to expand its white label system to city pick-up points.
CEO Greg Turley reckons the strategic decision to ramp up its search coverage for locations away from traditional airport pick-up/set-down areas is a major opportunity.
The "off-airport" market is currently around 50-60% of the entire $35 billion car rental industry, but is largely unmanaged from a distribution perspective, Turley claims.
Until now, partners using CarTrawler have been limited to airport terminal locations on the system, but a new maps engine created for a number of clients will handle searches for areas such as rail stations and hotels within cities, opening up the market to a string of online travel agency and airline web users.
The mapping tool also drops in real-time pricing and availability from the various car providers at each location.
Meanwhile, an enhanced mobile strategy is also scheduled to emerge from the company in the coming months, with a B2C-focused iPhone application ready for release during Q1 2011 but more importantly a mobile version of its existing services for airline and OTA partners.
The platform has been specifically designed so that the service can be integrated with travel management systems along the lines of Mobiata and Worldmate.