How we started and where we're going next.
Locomote was founded in 2012 with a simple but bold vision: business travel should be as seamless, empowering, and technology-driven as leisure travel. At a time when booking a holiday was effortless but managing business travel was buried in outdated processes and clunky systems, Locomote set out to reimagine the experience.
Within just a few years, the platform had captured the attention of leading businesses who were searching for a better way. By automating the way companies organised, approved, and managed travel, Locomote delivered something the industry had long been missing—speed, savings, and simplicity all in one place.
Investors quickly recognised the potential. In 2014, US travel giant Travelport took a stake, and by 2016 it had acquired the business outright. Under Travelport’s ownership, Locomote grew to 150 people across six countries, building a culture and product that left a lasting impact. While stepping away in 2018 was difficult for the founding team, the entrepreneurial spark never faded.
Then came 2020—a year that changed everything. COVID-19 shook the travel industry to its core, grounding planes and silencing airports. While many saw only uncertainty, Locomote’s founders saw opportunity. The pandemic became a reset moment, a chance to return to their vision and build the future of business travel once again.
Through determination, persistence, and a belief in what Locomote could still become, the founders reacquired the business from Travelport. Where others were retreating, Locomote leaned in. The mission was clear: to finally deliver the technology-driven, service-conscious platform the industry had always needed.
In January 2022, Locomote re-launched. The dream had come full circle—an end-to-end, purpose-built solution giving businesses complete control of their travel. A platform that makes booking, managing, and reconciling travel effortless. A partner that helps companies save time, reduce costs, and support their people on the move.
In 2024 Locomote made a monumental shift, whist still supporting and growing our travel agency partners, we launched Locomote Travel, our in-house full service TMC running 100% exclusively on all Locomote built technology, including our own Mid/Back office – AgentOS – a complete travel finance and servicing toolkit directly integrated into the Locomote platform.
We are excited to finally realise our long term vision of tackling the travel industry's haphazard, disconnected and outdated set of tooling, and are now right in the trenches alongside our TMC partners perfecting a single-platform, driving efficiencies and unmatched automation in a way that is completely unavailable to traditional TMCs and Corporates in the market today. This shift is the final piece to enabling us to pioneer a new unrivaled and automated way to emanage the end-to-end of business travel for companies large and small.
Today, Locomote is more than a travel platform. It’s a movement to transform an outdated industry. It’s proof that technology and service, when brought together with vision and courage, can change the way the world works and travels.
An exciting update to the Locomote story see's Locomote acquired by WebJet and will soon become WebJet Business Travel.(click banner at the top of page for more detail).
“This is more than just an acquisition – it's a milestone that validates everything we've built at Locomote and the belief our customers have had in us from the very beginning. Locomote was created to challenge the traditional way business travel is managed – with our proprietary end-to-end technology that simplifies the complexities of business travel, is digital-first, and is designed around meeting the real needs of modern business.
Becoming part of Webjet Group means we can scale faster and unlock a whole new level of possibility for our current and future customers. This new era strengthens our ability to serve businesses of all sizes – from SMEs to large corporates – by enhancing the technology, insights, and service they depend on to manage travel more effectively, saving time, money, and supporting their business travellers with confidence.
Our entire team can’t wait to start this new chapter as Webjet Business Travel and accelerate every aspect of our capabilities. Together, we’ll continue to deliver on our vision at scale and set a new benchmark for how business travel is managed for every company.
We’re excited and just getting started.”
- Ross Fastuca - Co-Founder & CEO