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What Is Corporate Travel Management?

Things to consider in corporate travel management, options for corporate travel management.

• Challenges of Corporate Travel Management

Tips for Creating a Corporate Travel Management Policy

Budgeting and reducing costs for corporate travel, the bottom line.

• Corporate Finance

A Complete Guide to Corporate Travel Management

Organize Your Employees’ Travel Itineraries and Manage Business Travel Efficiently

Investopedia / Joules Garcia

Travel is a major expense item for many companies, and while teleconferencing via Zoom and other online platforms may have eliminated the need for some trips, it remains essential for a wide range of business purposes, such as industry conferences and trade shows, critical sales calls, and certain meetings.

Corporate travel management (CTM) is one way that companies large and small can attempt to control and cut down on their travel costs. If you’re considering implementing a corporate travel management program for your business, here is what you need to know about how it works.

Key Takeaways

• Corporate travel management is a way for companies to try to control their travel costs and cut back on them if necessary.
• Some companies handle this function themselves, while others outsource it to specialist companies.
• Corporate travel managers can be involved in setting itineraries, booking flights and hotel rooms, and managing other travel-related costs.
• Today, many companies are concerned with not only the financial costs of employee travel but also its environmental impact.

Corporate travel management refers to processes that businesses put into place to oversee their employees’ travel and entertainment (T&E) expenses and ensure that they comply with the company’s policies. That can include approving (or rejecting) travel plans, arranging itineraries, purchasing tickets, and auditing expense reports.

A large company might have a separate department dedicated to corporate travel management, while a smaller one may assign the tasks to their human resources and accounting departments. Still others may outsource these functions to third-party travel management companies.

While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant cutbacks in business travel, an October 2023 survey by the Global Business Travel Association found that 84% of companies said their business travel had “largely” or “mostly” returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Companies can choose to exert varying degrees of control over their employees’ travel, from fairly general guidelines on spending limits to very specific, step-by-step procedures, including which travel suppliers to use. Here are some of the matters they may take into consideration.

Itineraries

A business travel itinerary is a summary of a proposed trip, including travel dates and times, flight numbers, hotel bookings, meeting appointments and contact information, and so forth. Corporate travel managers may develop itineraries in collaboration with employees, making sure that each aspect complies with company policies. A written itinerary is also a handy reference for employees to bring with them on their trips.

Transportation

Corporate travel managers will often make transportation arrangements on behalf of employees, much like a travel agent might for someone’s personal vacation. Because they may control a high volume of business, they can have more leverage in negotiating with suppliers, such as airlines or rental car companies. They may also have special arrangements with certain suppliers, and the company might require its employees to use those suppliers whenever possible.

Even if they don’t have such arrangements in place or much power to negotiate prices, they may have tools at their disposal for searching out deals and discounts that individual employees don’t have. For example, they may have access to an online global distribution system (GDS), such as Amadeus, Sabre, or Travelport, allowing them to compare multiple carriers at the same time.

Accommodations

As with transportation providers, corporate travel managers can help arrange hotel bookings, often securing discounts that would be unavailable to employees individually. Hotel prices and availability are also provided on GDS platforms, which can save employees a lot of time and effort calling around to book a room.

Meetings and Events

For companies planning meetings and other events, corporate travel managers can book venues and assist attendees with their travel arrangements. Some companies may have separate travel management and event planning departments or merge the two into a single department. They can also farm out these functions to third-party companies that specialize in arranging events and have deep experience and contacts in that area.

Costs and Reporting

Since keeping costs under control is a major reason for implementing a corporate travel management program, setting spending policies and enforcing them is one of the managers’ key responsibilities. Employees must generally submit expense reports at the conclusion of their travel, which travel managers can then review.

Keeping accurate records, and receipts where necessary, is also important for tax reporting purposes. Companies can generally deduct employees’ travel expenses if they have a clear business purpose and are “ordinary and necessary” and not “lavish or extravagant.”

In many cases, companies will provide corporate credit cards for employees to use during their travels. Corporate credit cards can make it easier for companies to collect the information they need for reporting purposes, and spare employees the cost and bother of putting travel expenses on their own credit cards and having to wait for reimbursement.

Policy Compliance

Most companies of any size will have a written travel policy that they expect their employees who travel for business to become familiar with. This document will cover matters such as any required approval process before starting on a trip, spending limits, preferred travel suppliers, expenses that are reimbursable (or not), rules on the use of a corporate credit card, and how to fill out and submit an expense report at the conclusion of a trip. Written travel policies serve the dual purpose of controlling company costs and saving employees unwelcome surprises over expenses that the company won’t reimburse them for.

Beyond specific travel-related policies, corporate travel can be affected by broader company policies. For example, a 2023 Deloitte study reported, “Climate concerns will likely put a cap on corporate travel gains for several years to come. Four in 10 European companies and a third of U.S. companies say they need to reduce travel per employee by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets.”

Travel Support and Assistance

In addition to helping employees with the logistical and financial aspects of travel, corporate travel managers can provide other forms of support, including help in a medical or other emergency. Many large corporate travel departments and third-party companies have support services available 24/7, just in case.

As mentioned, companies don’t have to take on all (or any) of these responsibilities themselves but can hire another company to handle it for them. While that represents an added cost, a company that specializes in corporate travel is likely to bring greater expertise to the role and may find cost savings that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Companies can also buy travel management software programs that allow employees to book their own travel arrangements and that may link to the company’s accounting software to simplify expense reporting. Such software can also flag and even reject any expenses that don’t comply with company rules.

If they don’t have access to professional GDS platforms, travel managers can also make use of regular consumer booking sites, such as Expedia and TripAdvisor.

Challenges of Corporate Travel Management 

While corporate travel management will often benefit a company from a financial perspective, it does present challenges.

For example, because it takes away some of the autonomy that employees may have become accustomed to in planning their own trips, it can cause them to feel mistrusted or micromanaged and make travel seem like more of a burden. In addition, for corporate travel management to be effective, it requires that the people who oversee it know what they’re doing, which may require not only training but also frequent refresher courses to keep up with the rapidly changing travel industry.

A good corporate travel management policy will lay out as specifically as possible the company’s rules for arranging flights and other transportation, booking hotel accommodations, and expensing other reimbursable travel-related costs, such as meals and entertaining. Any caps on costs should be regularly revisited and revised as necessary to keep up with inflation and changes in the marketplace.

The policy should describe a clear process for having travel approved in advance, if that’s required, and submitting expense reports after the trip for timely reimbursement.

An effective policy will also strive to avoid situations in which lower-level employees feel they are subject to stricter or more penny-pinching rules than higher-ups.

Finally, it’s important that employees be encouraged to read the policy and know the rules. They may also be given the opportunity to provide feedback on ways that the rules can be improved next time the policy is revised.

Corporate travel managers not only play a role in monitoring how a company’s money is being spent and looking for ways to cut its costs. They also often have a major say in setting the company’s annual travel budget, based on previous years’ needs and anticipated pricing changes throughout the travel industry.

Today that may involve weighing in on when a virtual meeting can substitute for an in-person one. A 2023 Morgan Stanley survey of 100 global corporate travel managers found that they planned to replace 17% of their corporate travel with virtual meetings in 2024 for reasons “ranging from cost savings to lower carbon footprints.”   

Why Is Corporate Travel Important?

While many companies learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that they could sometimes substitute virtual meetings for in-person ones, they have also found that travel can more than justify its cost in many instances . As Harvard Business School Associate Professor Prithwiraj Choudhury remarked in a recent interview on the university’s website, “Even in a hybrid world, even in a world of work-from-anywhere, we still need to occasionally meet colleagues in person for social purposes.” In addition, face-to-face meetings can help establish more profitable and productive relationships with a company’s key customers and suppliers.

Who Handles Corporate Travel?

Companies handle corporate travel in a variety of ways. Many have created internal departments dedicated to corporate travel management, while others outsource that role. However, many companies still leave most of the decisions to individual employees. One 2023 survey by Morning Consult Research Intelligence reported, “Over half (51%) of those who travel frequently for work book on their own using a platform of their choice.”

What Does Corporate Travel Include?

Corporate travel can include both domestic and international trips that have a business purpose. It generally doesn’t include employees’ everyday commuting. Commuting costs are not tax-deductible for employees, but companies can choose to subsidize them up to certain limits through what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calls qualified transportation benefits. Those benefits are not taxable to the employee, but the employer doesn’t get any tax deduction for providing them.

Corporate travel is expensive, but many companies find that its benefits outweigh the costs. Corporate travel management is one way that companies can try to keep those costs under control and get the most value from their travel budgets. While many companies have embraced corporate travel management programs, others still leave most decisions to their individual employees.

Global Business Travel Association. “ Global Business Travel Industry Sees Rebound in 2023 with Shifting Challenges and Opportunities for 2024 .”

American Express. “ What Is Corporate Travel Management and Why Do You Need It? ”

Internal Revenue Service. “ Topic No. 511, Business Travel Expenses .”

Deloitte. “ Navigating Toward a New Normal: 2023 Deloitte Corporate Travel Study .”

Oracle NetSuite. “ What Is Corporate Travel Management? ”

Morgan Stanley. “ 2023 Outlook: Business Travel Bounces Back .”

Harvard Business School. “ Why Business Travel Still Matters in a Zoom World .”

Morning Consult Research Intelligence. “ Business, but Not as Usual ,” Page 18.

Internal Revenue Service. “ Publication 15-B: Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits ,” Page 22.

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The 2024 guide to corporate travel management

What is corporate travel management, what does a corporate travel manager do.

• Booking trips for travelers (not only c-suite executives, but employees in any role)
• Helping individual departments track their travel spend so they can stay under budget.
• Providing travel support to travelers before, during, or after their trip.
• Selecting and managing any travel vendors or travel tools used.
• Working to negotiate corporate rates on hotels that the company uses often.
• Booking group travel.
• Organizing ground transportation like rental cars or rail
• Analyzing company travel spend, or delivering travel spend reports to the CFO for analysis

What does a travel buyer do?

Stakeholders in the travel management process.

• In-house corporate travel manager
• Office manager or office team
• Head of operations / COO
• CFO and finance managers
• Panel of frequent employee travelers
• Current corporate travel agency or company

What solutions are companies using to book their business trips?

Consumer booking sites, traditional travel agencies, travel management software.

Save your company time and money on business travel

What are the drawbacks of each solution.

• Need to compare various websites and pay out of pocket in order to secure the best price
• Many hidden costs, with fees for cancellations and changes
• Many back-and-forth emails when booking for companies
• Need to pay upfront
• No support for issues on the road
• Time-consuming manual reimbursing and expense tracking
• Impossible to ensure compliance with company travel policy
• Online booking tools are typically buggy, with bad UX
• Employees end up calling support or book, when they’d rather save time by booking for themselves, with the options they want
• Costly service
• Above-market transport/accommodation prices
• Company policy compliance is difficult to guarantee
• Lack of travel inventory and options
• Clunky user experience that travelers don’t enjoy
• Offshore customer service, typically ranked as the top frustration in customer reviews
• Often overly complicated and feature-laden
• Impossible to control travel when travelers can’t or won’t use the tool
• Lacks low-price flights and hotels available online
• Impossible to guarantee company policy compliance

The pillars of modern travel management:

• Trust – Trust travelers to book using the approved process and policy, and make it easy for them
• Transparency – Let travelers see what they’re allowed to spend and choose accordingly, and let finance and administrative teams see what is being booked and why.
• Simplicity – Create a process that works and meets everyone’s needs.
• Impact – Measure the impact of business travel on the company and reduce unnecessary trips that leave travelers exhausted and businesses with needless expenses.
• Duty of care – Ensure a thorough duty of care strategy is in place to mitigate risks for employees when traveling
• Sustainability – Being aware of the impact of travel on the environment and adopting good practices to reduce the effect

How can a good corporate travel program help companies to save money?

Ensuring compliance with company travel policy, access to more affordable flight options, stay on top of travel spending trends, six steps to managing corporate travel effectively.

• Choose a smart booking tool
• Assure 24/7 travel support
• Create policies and approval workflows
• Organize and utilize travel spend data in real-time
• Improve collaboration between admin and finance
• Reduce your company’s carbon footprint

1. Choose a smart booking tool

• Self-booking within policy – Trust your travelers to book what they need, and set up policies and parameters
• Consolidated invoicing – The ability to get one monthly invoice for all travel from one vendor, instead of having it spread across the web
• Travel spend reporting – Easy access for all finance and administrative team members who need to track travel itinerary details and spend by cost centers, tags or labels
• Easy booking process that travelers love – Invoice consolidation and accurate reporting are impossible if employees want to cheat on the approved tool, so choose a tool that’s easy to use with consumer-grade UX. Make their entire travel experience, from booking to coming home, as easy and smooth as possible. Introducing a mobile app is just an added bonus!
• Great inventory – Inventory is not a side note. Make sure the platform you use has every available option you can find online and that the company is committed to adding more inventory
• Travel support – You need travel assistance that’s available 24/7 in your native language so that employees can get help even when the internal admin team is unavailable

2. Assure 24/7 travel support

Here are the requirements to look for in travel support:.

• Available 24/7
• Easy to reach a real human
• Guaranteed follow-up and follow-through
• Native language support
• Fast escalation for big issues

3. Create policies and approval workflows

• Maximum cost of airfare
• Maximum cost per hotel per night
• Minimum amount of days booked in advance
• Hotel star rating
• Flight class allowed

Travel Management: The Ultimate Guide

Approval workflows.

• No approval required for any trip
• Approval required for some trips
• Approval required for every trip

4. Organize and utilize travel spend data

• Cost centers – Does your company use different payment accounts for different geographical regions? How many cost centers does the company have? Make sure that travel spend is getting charged to the right accounts and that you're making accurate expense reports.
• Tags and labels – Beyond cost centers, are there any important filters that the finance team would have to have when viewing travel spending reports? For example, would they like each trip tagged by team or by project? Decide upfront so that the tagging system can be implemented clearly from the get-go.
• Keep all travel in one place – to get accurate travel data, you need to keep all travel in one place—whenever possible. Work with a travel management solution that integrates with providers that matter to your company, such as budget airlines, AirBnb or European train lines. If your company has negotiated hotel rates, you want your corporate solution to be able to book those rates for you, so you don’t lose the travel data by booking directly.

5. Improve collaboration between admin and finance

• Streamlined approvals process – If your approval process requires action from the admin and the finance team, try to make this as seamless as possible.
• Easy access invoices – The finance team needs to grab all invoices quickly so they can reconcile expenses and set clear reimbursement processes. The best way to do this is to use a platform that consolidates travel spend into one monthly invoice.
• Ability to track spend instantly – Consolidate all travel spend into one platform so that they can generate reports on what is being spent, by who, and why (when using tags and labels). Same as with the invoices, determine whether you need to send them a monthly report, or if they want to download it themselves.
• Cost savings on trips – Fixing travel isn’t just about saving time. Many businesses are still using travel booking platforms that were built in the 80s and 90s. This means that they markup the inventory so that the company is paying more than a consumer would! Impress the finance team by reducing travel costs and introducing consumer-grade prices for trips.

6. Reduce your company’s carbon footprint

• Work out your starting point by calculating your company’s travel carbon footprint
• Design a green business travel program, which creates data-driven strategies to increase employee commitment
• Choose economy class
• Reduce your fuel consumption where possible
• Pick low-emission airlines and avoid layovers
• Vet your accommodation for sustainability practices
• Utilize green travel tax breaks

The bottom line: it's time to upgrade your travel management

Let’s bring it all together.

• Choose a smart booking tool – Meet everyone’s needs
• Share the burden of travel support – Don’t try to do this alone
• Set up cost centers and labels – Let the tool reflect the business
• Create policies and approval workflows – Put the policy inside the booking process
• Improve collaboration between admin and finance – Grab invoices and reports

Make business travel simpler. Forever.

• See our platform in action . Trusted by thousands of companies worldwide, TravelPerk makes business travel simpler to manage with more flexibility, full control of spending with easy reporting, and options to offset your carbon footprint.
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Connecting Business Through Travel

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Connecting People Through Travel

Welcome to ctm. we do business travel, differently., corporate travel management (ctm) is a leader in business travel management services in north america and beyond. we drive savings, efficiency, safety, and sustainability to businesses and corporate travelers, wherever your business takes you..

When you partner with Corporate Travel Management, you’ll enjoy the experience of business travel done differently – a uniquely designed travel program, built for your business’s specific travel needs and objectives, and expertly delivered in every region you operate in. We design travel programs that drive strategic results for every part of your business and every member of your team.

So if you’re looking for a tailored travel management solution, delivering customer service excellence, innovative travel technology and a demonstrable return on investment, you’re in the right place.

Experience the CTM difference

Elevate Your Travel Program With Corporate Travel Management

Is your business travel program delivering savings, efficiency, and safety to your business and traveling workforce? Are you leveraging your travel data to negotiate better travel deals and positively influence booking behaviors? Do you have access to the travel solutions you need to control your budget, reduce risk, improve sustainability and maximize employee well-being?

If not, it’s time to elevate your corporate travel program with CTM.

We don’t believe in a one-size fits all approach to travel management. We work in partnership with your team to design a tailored corporate travel program, utilizing proven strategies and leveraging big data, to deliver strategic outcomes which align with your business’s unique objectives and priorities. Find out how CTM’s travel solutions can transform your business travel program and budget today.

Get More From Your Business Travel Program

Bigger Savings

For every dollar spent on our travel management services, we’ll return more to you in savings.

Greater Efficiency

Our expertise, 24/7 support and intuitive technology significantly improves your team's efficiency.

Award-Winning Service

Access award-winning service and solutions designed for your needs, via your prefered channel.

Heightened Safety

Drive safety and well-being to your traveling workforce to reduce risk and increase productivity.

Improved Sustainability

Travel doesn't have to cost the earth. Our tools and solutions support more sustainable travel.

Better Insights

Unleash the power of reliable, actionable data to drive program performance and accountability.

Take your travel program from average to exceptional

Take Your Travel Budget Further

For every dollar spent on our travel management services, we’ll return more to you in savings. That’s the CTM difference.

How we do it

• You’ll benefit from CTM’s extensive global buying power and supplier negotiations to experience exceptional deals on flights, accommodation and car rental
• Your CTM travel platform provides one-stop-shop access to the best corporate negotiated deals, last-minute inventory and dynamic supplier content (NDC-ready), all comparable side-by-side for maximum speed, choice and value
• CTM’s forecasting technology visualizes the cheapest time to travel in a single search, ensuring you travel at the most affordable time
• Your strategic Account Manager will design a bespoke travel policy based on your unique travel behaviors and business objectives, and conducts regular business travel program analysis and benchmarking to identify ongoing savings opportunities
• Consolidate your corporate travel, meetings and events spend with CTM for stronger supplier negotiation power and access to great corporate and event travel deals.

Increase Efficiency

Get where you’re going fast.

Leverage CTM’s travel expertise, 24/7 support and intuitive travel technology to significantly improve your employees’ productivity.

• We put intuitive  travel technology at your fingertips 24/7, making travel research, booking, and trip management simple, efficient and reliable
• Choose your preferred self-service online booking tool and a mobile app to book all your flights, hotels and car rental in a single transaction
• Enjoy round-the-clock travel service from CTM’s travel advisors , via a channel of your choice, for friendly, knowledgeable, and relevant travel support wherever and whenever you need it
• Enjoy access to live consolidated travel reporting across every aspect of your travel program, driving increased visibility, control, and efficiency.

Maximize Safety

Boost Travel Confidence & Productivity

Enhance your employee’s safety while traveling for business with our suite of intuitive and integrated travel risk management tools.

• Traveler tracking technology enables you to track and communicate with travelers in the event of an emergency, including one-click ‘proof of life’
• Pre-trip approval workflows enable risk identification and management prior to booking
• CTM risk alerts send email and SMS notifications to affected travelers based on itinerary location and risk levels
• CTM Mobile travel app enables travelers to book and manage their travel needs on-the-go for greater independence.

Get Connected with Corporate Travel Management.

Contact our team today to discuss your travel program needs., transformative business travel technology.

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The service experience provided and standards we expect from CTM have always been critical to our business success... We now have no ‘downtime’ when a consultant is out of the office, as the entire team knows our policy and our travelers’ needs. This always gives us excellent service continuity, which makes my role just that little bit easier.

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CTM held our hand through the [implementation] process – training on the booking tool was clear and concise, and the entire exercise could not have run more smoothly.

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Challenger continues to seek the best return on its investments in technology. Partnering with CTM to implement Fare Forecaster was a commonsense decision that met our needs in achieving this goal.

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Take your corporate meetings and events to a new level of performance with CTM Meetings & Events. Our expert event organizers ensure strategically designed meetings and events which deliver exceptional attendee experiences, more strategic outcomes for your business, and a better return on your travel budget.

Benefit from our extensive supplier relationships to leverage corporate deals on accommodation, travel and entertainment, saving you time and money. Moreover, consolidate your corporate and event travel spend through CTM for stronger supplier negotiations, maximizing your overall budget’s potential. Whether it’s corporate events, strategic meetings, conferences, group travel, team-building activities, or sales incentives, we tailor your event management solution to exceed expectations and drive business success.

Partner with us for a connected event experience that drives results for your business, people, and budget.

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The ultimate guide to corporate travel management

Published: April 9, 2024

The days of businesses operating and growing within a small city radius are long gone. In today’s fast-paced and tech-savvy business world, companies have easy access to global talent and clientele.

As such, transporting stakeholders long distances is standard practice. Recent forecasts project that there will be more than 470 million domestic business trips taken in the US alone in 2024.

While corporate travel is a necessary part of operating a modern business, it can also be logistically difficult and costly to manage—especially as your business scales. This article will help cover what you need to know to improve your corporate travel management operations.

What is corporate travel management?

Corporate travel management is the process of coordinating, analyzing, and managing a company's business travel needs.

Effective corporate travel management is crucial for keeping business trips organized and efficient, ensuring that travel arrangements align with the company’s policies, helping to enhance the safety and comfort of travelers, and adhering to budgets.

What does a corporate travel manager do?

Craft and implement comprehensive corporate travel policies.

Corporate travel managers develop detailed travel policies that align with the company's unique goals and needs.

For example, a travel manager would establish policies for:

Booking procedures. Define processes for booking rides, flights, and hotels.

Travel class guidelines. Set standards for business or economy class based on distance, duration, or employee level.

Accommodation standards. Specify the type, budget, and class of accommodations allowed (for instance, hotels or home rentals).

Expense reporting and reimbursement. Set limits on daily allowances for meals and incidentals, and establish procedures for tracking and submitting travel expenses.

Technology use. Implement travel management software or apps to simplify travel arrangements, data analysis, and reporting.

Orchestrate seamless experiences

Corporate travel managers oversee the coordination and execution of business travel plans for employees. They either directly arrange all aspects of travel themselves, manage an internal team of travel coordinators, or work with third-party travel agents.

Today it’s also essential to adopt corporate travel apps , as they assist managers with streamlining travel plans across their organization. A corporate travel app helps with the following:

Automated expense tracking. Eliminates the need to save hard copies of receipts by automatically adding to the system the trips and meals to be expensed.

Centralized control from a dashboard. Provides complete visibility into travel policies, procedures, expenses, budgets, and plans.

Real-time reporting and tracking. Offers a comprehensive look into customized travel programs with real-time updates for travel, meals, incidentals, and more.

Simplified travel management. Includes flexible and customizable limits for booking rides, buying food, and processing payments (such as charging to a personal card for reimbursement or to a business card).

Control the budget for optimal financial outcomes

Travel managers navigate the line between providing comfortable travel experiences for employees and sticking to the business’s travel budget.

To do this, managers research cost-saving opportunities, identify the most cost-effective times to travel, and negotiate discounts with travel vendors.

A travel manager might, for instance, identify and book off-peak flights for a team attending an international conference. They could also track rideshare prices to find optimal travel times and book hotel rooms with corporate discounts.

Analyze data to inform future travel policies

Corporate travel managers are also responsible for monitoring travel data. Keeping a close eye on travel analytics helps with:

Tracking expenses. Examining corporate travel expenses reveals spending patterns and shows where the company can reduce costs.

Identifying travel patterns. Historical travel data helps managers find patterns and trends, which helps with forecasting future travel needs and preferences.

Benchmarking against industry standards. Travel managers compare their company’s travel spending and policies against industry benchmarks to better understand performance.

Analyzing supplier performance. Evaluating data about suppliers can uncover their reliability, service quality, and value.

Managers capture this data with feedback surveys from employees, travel industry reports, travel management software, and third-party travel platforms.

Prioritize duty of care for employee well-being

Corporate travel managers work closely with HR managers to develop duty-of-care protocols for their employees.

Duty of care in corporate travel includes:

Ensuring the health of employees. Maintaining the well-being and health of traveling employees and making sure they have access to necessary healthcare and support.

Providing for basic needs. Arranging for essential amenities like quality food and beverages, and comfortable accommodations.

Protecting employees. Keeping travelers away from situations where they may experience harassment, stress, or discrimination.

Collaborate with industry partners

Corporate travel managers’ duties don’t start and stop with coordinating and managing business travel. They’re also responsible for building relationships with top industry partners and vendors.

This includes establishing discount and comfort agreements with airlines, negotiating deals with hotel chains, and selecting the best rideshare apps.

They also work closely with internal teams and senior management to ensure that travel strategies and contracts align with overall business goals.

For travel policy setters or managers

Oversee your travel program with the flexible rules and streamlined reporting you need, with Uber for Business.

Challenges within corporate travel management

Successfully managing corporate travel requires so much more than simply booking plane tickets and hotel rooms for employees. Below are some of the top challenges corporate travel managers face.

Cost-benefit analysis

In corporate travel management, this involves quantifying all costs associated with travel and weighing them against the benefits, such as networking opportunities, employee development, client relationships, and successful sales.

Imagine a scenario where a company is considering sending an employee to an international conference that costs $3,000 in total. The corporate manager would need to research the potential benefits (such as networking, business development, and employee growth) of spending that $3,000 and determine if it’s worth it.

Cost-benefit analysis can also be nuanced. Consider this data point, for example: 48% of business travelers say their last work trip was too long. If an employee can accomplish what they need to in 2 days of travel and a manager books a trip for 4 days, it results in 2 extra days of employee time and corporate travel budget.

Cost-benefit analysis, in this instance, would involve analyzing past data, including post-travel feedback surveys, to understand how long employees need to travel to accomplish goals while optimizing the travel budget.

Traveler satisfaction

Research shows that 60% of employees say business travel positively affects their satisfaction with their job. And Slack’s 2023 “State of Work” report found that most employees say feeling happy and engaged at work is a key motivator. What’s more, when employees are happy and productive, businesses thrive, according to The Economist .

The tricky part for travel managers is accommodating employees’ diverse travel needs and preferences within a corporate (not a luxury vacay) budget.

To keep employees happy and productive, travel managers must understand what satisfies employees while they travel and then develop a plan to deliver a positive experience while working within a corporate budget.

Adapting to changing business needs

Shifts in business priorities, such as targeting new international markets or altering strategic partnerships, directly affect travel requirements.

A shift toward more in-person client meetings, for example, can increase travel frequency. Corporate travel managers must adapt policies and budgets to align with evolving business needs.

And efficient corporate travel management requires monitoring shifting political, economic, and health climates worldwide and being ready to respond and adapt. Travel needs can change in an instant, and corporate travel managers must remain adaptable to adjust travel strategies as necessary.

Environmental sustainability

A 2023 Deloitte study reported that climate concerns will likely limit corporate travel growth in the coming years. Deloitte found that “4 in 10 European companies and a third of US companies say they need to reduce travel per employee by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets.”

This statistic highlights the growing pressure on corporate travel managers to devise travel strategies that meet the needs of a growing business while being efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible.

4 tips for managing business travel

Now that we’ve discussed some of the job responsibilities and top challenges of corporate travel managers, let’s cover the best tips for managing business travel.

1. Establish clear communication channels

When employees don’t know your travel policies and procedures, it’s impossible for them to comply.

In other words, they might not know how much they can spend at a corporate dinner, whether they should take a taxi or use a rideshare app, or what safety and security policies they need to follow when traveling for business.

Consider establishing a clear communication channel where every employee can access critical travel information. This could be a dedicated travel portal or intranet page, regular email updates, or travel management software that provides real-time communication.

2. Conduct regular training sessions

Another way to fine-tune communication and increase awareness about travel policies is by conducting regular training sessions.

Create a live or digital training course that covers the following:

• Travel policies: Review company-specific travel guidelines and booking procedures.
• Safety measures: Explain all protocols and emergency procedures for travel. Draw special attention to areas people may be visiting that are undergoing political or civil unrest.
• Changes in procedures: Provide updates on any new or altered travel-related processes. This is especially important during health crises.
• Duty-of-care responsibilities: Educate on and provide clear definitions of the company’s commitment to traveler safety and well-being.
• Per diem amounts: Outline the daily allowances for expenses while traveling. Include a definition of what is and isn’t allowed. For example, is alcohol part of a per diem or excluded from corporate expenses?
• Expense reporting: Give instructions on how to accurately report and submit travel expenses.

3. Adopt travel technology

When you’re managing travel for multiple employees across different offices, it’s challenging to educate everyone, track expenses, and ensure compliance with travel policies. To organize and streamline everything, you may consider a travel management system (TMS).

A TMS is a comprehensive travel platform that helps companies book, track, and report travel activities. It typically also provides real-time data and analytics, helping you monitor travel spending and optimize your travel strategies.

4. Evaluate and update travel procedures and policies

Any changes in technology, the world economy, political climates, global health status, and industry have a profound effect on business travel.

As such, it’s essential to establish a process for continually evaluating and updating travel procedures and policies.

This could include:

• Reviewing policies to make sure they’re relevant, cost-efficient, effective, and safe
• Surveying your employees to see how happy they are with your travel policies
• Evaluating your TMS data to identify where you can optimize travel, innovate, and improve processes

Move your business forward with Uber for Business

In today’s fast-paced business world, getting corporate travel right is more important than ever. Adapting to changes quickly and embracing new technologies are key to staying ahead in managing business trips effectively.

You may also consider leveraging Uber for Business , a game changer in managing your company’s travel needs. It simplifies the entire process of corporate travel management with features like automated expense tracking and centralized control, making it easier to stick to policies and budgets.

With Uber for Business, you’re not simply organizing travel. You’re also saving time and money while giving your team a smoother, more efficient travel experience. Learn how to get started .

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What is Corporate Travel?

• Factors Leading Job to Departures
• Tie Raises to Performance
• Ask Employees What They Want from Their Workplace — and Their Worklife
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Did you know that 20% of trips worldwide fall under the business category? Or that business travel is the second-largest expense after staff salaries?

Corporate travel has become an essential part of today’s organizations. While technological advancements, such as virtual meetings are making waves in the corporate world, many organizations still rely on face-to-face meetings and offline networking.

In fact, according to our New York Travel Barometer , corporate ground transportation is bouncing back.  In March 2022, ride volumes were 42% of 2019 Tri-State Ground Travel with our predictions estimating continued growth and strengthening of business travel due to the removal of COVID-19 restrictions, and renewed enthusiasm for in-person meetings.

What Is Corporate Travel?

Corporate travel refers to trips employees and entrepreneurs take for work-related purposes. This may include, for example, an employee attending a business conference or visiting a project site for evaluation.

Unlike other travel types, corporate travel doesn’t include leisure trips, holidays, or daily commutes. In most cases, employees travel purposely to fulfill a business obligation.

Who Is a Corporate Traveler?

A corporate traveler is anyone involved in corporate travel. This could be employees, senior executives, or even the business owner.

A corporate traveler will typically spend more than one night at the travel destination and will almost always require hotel accommodation

What Is Corporate Travel Management?

As the name suggests, corporate travel management is the process of controlling, tracking, and reporting on an organization’s travel-related expenses.

Corporate travel can be managed by an in-house travel manager or an external travel agency. If a business opts for an in-house travel manager, the manager oversees all aspects of corporate travel, including creating policies and optimizing travel spend.

It’s important to note that corporate travel management does not only entail creating policies and booking flights. It encompasses all aspects of travel, including the logistical, financial, and security aspects of the travel.

Types of Corporate Travel

People travel on business for various reasons, from business meetings and conferences to attending trade shows and more.

With that in mind, not all trips have the same purpose or objectives, as each is carried out for different reasons. Below, we’ll briefly explain the various types of corporate travel typical in the modern business world.

Event and Conference Travel

Many organizations send their employees to corporate events and conferences.

These may include seminars, workshops, or networking sessions. These trips aim to offer professional learning and development while facilitating networking with peers, experts, potential clients, and service providers.

Trade Fairs

Trade fairs, also known as trade shows, trade expositions, or trade exhibitions, are key selling channels for many organizations.

These exhibitions are usually organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase their products, services, or innovation. Trade shows are an effective tool for boosting sales, creating brand awareness, and building customer relationships.

Client Meetings

Even though virtual meetings are the new trend in the corporate space, many clients still prefer face-to-face meetings, especially when negotiating a high-value deal. Where face-to-face meetings are required, executives may need to travel to meet the clients or prospects.

Company Retreats

A company retreat is an event the entire company attends that’s out of the office environment and mostly not work-related.

Corporate retreats are an excellent way for employees to relax, bond, and build a company culture through shared activities. Some companies choose to hold retreats once per year and others after surpassing some set performance goals.

Internal Meetings

Some multinational companies with offices in multiple locations can choose to hold meetings in one of their key branches. In such cases, employees and senior executives may need to travel to the designated offices, probably for a few days if the meeting is held overseas.

Incentive Travel

Incentive travel is a business-related trip designed to motivate, incentivize, or reward employees. It could be awarded to a single employee or a team and is usually made available after hitting business targets.

An organization can use incentive travel as a networking opportunity, team-building experience, or simply as a reward for those who have earned it.

Technical Trip

Technical trips involve a technician traveling to one of the business offices or project sites to fix a technical hitch or review a project’s status. Employees might also be given a technical trip to attend an inauguration of a new facility or study new networking methods at the company’s headquarters.

Who is Involved in Corporate Travel?

In most organizations, the corporate travel docket is managed by the travel manager.

A travel manager is an in-house employee who manages the travel program and all the travel aspects of the organization. Depending on the size of the organization, there might be more than one travel manager. Typically, the core duties of a travel manager include:

• Planning, developing, and implementing travel policy
• Preparing travel expense reports and handling reimbursements
• Providing advice on travel-related matters
• Managing relationships with vendors and travel agencies
• Ensuring compliance in all aspects of travel procedures
• Negotiating rates and contracts with service providers
• Assisting in all travel-related matters

Apart from the travel manager, there are other stakeholders who assist in managing the travel processes. Depending on the size of your company, the travel manager may collaborate with the CEO, head of operations, office manager, CFO, or finance managers.

When developing travel management processes, the travel manager may work with a team consisting of senior executives and a panel of frequent employee travelers.

Why Automation Is Important

A few years ago, companies relied on travel agencies to manage all their travel-related tasks, from bookings to transportation.

Thanks to technology and the way we book travel products, today’s corporate travelers expect a smooth, streamlined experience facilitated by intuitive, easy-to-use software solutions. To that end, many organizations are opting for in-housing travel managers rather than outsourcing the role to third parties.

Forward-thinking companies are discovering that automation can simplify their processes, saving time and money while unlocking new growth opportunities.

What’s more, automation can improve visibility into how and where their money is spent.

Take HQ SummitGround and HQ corporate shuttles for example.  Our service allows you to book all your rides from one platform while giving you full control and visibility of your spending. With HQ mobility solutions , you can get reports and generate real-time data on your ongoing rides. Plus, you can track, process, and report all transportation expenses in one place with payment integration. This simplifies travel expense management, which has historically proven difficult to control.

Wrapping Up

Corporate travel is an essential part of any modern organization. Companies are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of hiring an in-house travel manager to oversee the travel docket. These professionals can help your organization implement travel management best practices and play a critical role in automating the travel processes, and with automation comes streamlined workflows and cost and time savings.

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Destination management in Russia is one of the main focus areas of our agency.

For the years we are successfully carrying of corporate groups in Russia as professional incoming agency in Moscow. The Proekta’s staff is experienced specialists with excellent knowledge of all local features of Russia. The most popular destinations that corporate groups visit are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kamchatka, and Sochi. We develop unique programs and concepts for each corporate tour to create a memorable experience.

Destination management company in Moscow is needed to ensure running event and logistics at the highest professional level. The knowledge of city’s dynamics, original places and non-tourist sights is the main difference of a professional incoming agency from a mass tour operator.

Destination management in Moscow is quite a young industry, but it has great potential. Here in Russia you can always find what to research and make discoveries every day. Russia is a vast country, not like all the others. Here you can experience different climatic conditions for a few hours, get familiar with different cultures and history of our civilization. There’re infinitely many nuances in such a large country as Russia, and dmc in Moscow and Saint Petersburg should take them into account. That’s why we develop each service for our clients on an individual basis.

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The experienced managers of Optima Tours will be pleased to develop a budget optimization plan for your corporate trips and events, provide free-of-charge consulting, and offer recommendations for reducing expenses for your business trips.

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Resources are out there for LGBTQ+ travelers looking to stay safe

Do LGBTQ+ tourists have a green book-like system for staying safe while traveling in these politically precarious times

NEW YORK — Do LGBTQ+ tourists have a green book-like system for staying safe while traveling in these politically precarious times ? They don’t have one. They have many.

In recent years, there’s been an outpouring of specialized blogs, cruise and tour operators, and booking sites for accommodations . There are organizations that certify the support of transport operators, destinations and special events. And there are watchdog groups with eyes on the laws and customs of the world.

“People are concerned because we realize that our rights are under attack in some cases,” said Mark Chesnut, a New York-based travel writer and speaker with 30 years of experience in the industry. “People aren’t going to stop traveling. They’re just more careful and taking precautions. They’re choosing destinations wisely.”

Read reviews. Network with locals. Know the laws and customs of a destination, Chesnut and other seasoned LGBTQ+ travelers and their allies suggest. Is it illegal there to be gay? Is it a taboo that can get you killed? Is it safe to embrace or hold hands in public? What are the ramifications for HIV-positive travelers? How about misaligned documents and security scans for trans people?

The potential pitfalls are many for LGBTQ+ travelers, especially couples looking to express their authentic selves, advocates said. But the possible dangers should be weighed against the joys of discovering new places, said Stefan Arestis and Sebastien Chaneac, the globetrotting couple behind the travel blog the Nomadic Boys.

“We as gay people have to do that extra layer of research compared to my straight friends. They can hop on a plane and go,” said Arestis, a Greek Cypriot.

He and Chaneac, who is French, left their London jobs (the former a lawyer and the latter in tech) to make Cyprus their base. They turned more than a decade of extended travel into a detail-rich website and, this year, a handbook for LGBTQ+ travelers, “Out in the World: The Gay Guide to Travelling with Pride.”

Granular due diligence will help

Arestis said it was clear in 2014, when they began blogging about their year-long sabbatical in Asia for friends and family, that LGBTQ+ travelers were hungry for information.

“After about a year, we started getting random people coming to our site. We thought who are these people? Basically, they were googling things like where are the gay bars in Bali? Are there gay hotels in Shanghai ? Is it safe to go to Taiwan? They were finding our content,” he said, because at the time there was little else about the subject online.

Arestis has visited 97 countries of all sorts. Chaneac doesn’t count but does have places he wouldn’t go out of safety concerns, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

On their site and in their book, the Nomadic Boys tell it like they see it, with practical tips and a feel for political and cultural landscapes.

They had a scare in Lebanon, for instance, when they were told they were blacklisted while trying to leave the country. And among their book’s listings are these warnings about Peru: It “lags behind its more progressive neighbors” in terms of LGBTQ+ rights but introduced anti-discrimination laws in 2017.

“We advise caution over PDAs unless you’re in a gay-friendly environment. Having said that, Peru relies heavily on tourism so gay travelers will feel comfortable and welcome,” they advise.

The couple went on to note they had no problems getting a double bed in any of the hotels they used in the Peruvian towns of Barranco, Miraflores, Cusco, Arequipa and Lake Titicaca.

That level of detail and practicality is what drew Black travelers to green books during the Jim Crow era.

Friendly locales only or venture out?

Some other LGBTQ+ travelers prefer to stick with safer and more accepting locales, for comfort and as a boycott of sorts against hostile destinations. Others travel out of their comfort zones for adventure and to support local and often suppressed gay communities.

“It’s a really robust debate,” Chesnut said. “It’s a personal judgment and a personal decision that travelers need to make.”

Traveling can be particularly fraught for trans people.

Gabrielle Claiborne in Atlanta is co-founder and CEO of Transformation Journeys Worldwide, a training and consulting firm that works with Fortune 100 companies on creating cultures of belonging for trans and gender-diverse people. She’s also the chair of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association Foundation’s Transgender Advisory Group.

Claiborne is a trans woman who frequently travels globally. At 6-foot-2, and taller in heels, she often draws stares in security lines.

“I get a lot of people whispering and gawking, just by being present and being visible in that space,” she said. “The security checkpoint is triggering for trans people because of the experiences with TSA agents, from other people in the line.”

Some trans people have documents with photos and gender markers that don’t align. Going through security scanners can be troubling, Claiborne said. Agents must press a button designating male or female.

“If they pressed the wrong button and an area of our bodies is flagged, we have to go through a very triggering pat down,” she said.

Claiborne doesn’t support boycotts of unfriendly destinations.

“We have a long way to go, yet I’m optimistic about the progress that is being made,” she said. “The reality is we make progress when people are willing to stand up and be visible. Until we’re visible in a space where we might be the only one like us in the room or in that space, people are not going to know what they don’t know.”