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What Is Corporate Travel Management and Why Do You Need It?

By Randi Gollin | American Express ® Freelance Contributor 4 Min Read | September 17, 2021

Whether your organization has mushroomed from a mom-and-pop shop to a larger business with a traveling workforce, or arranging business trips has become too much for your human resources or finance department to handle, there comes a time when it makes sense to implement a corporate travel management program.

Here’s an overview of how corporate and small business travel management programs work, including how they can benefit companies that prioritize both domestic and global travel.

What Is Corporate Travel Management?

Corporate travel management (CTM) is the framework that companies administer to successfully handle business trips and travel and entertainment (T&E) expenditures. CTM programs oversee, organize, and manage business travel end to end, including activities such as approving and booking flights and hotels, managing business credit card spending , ensuring employees comply with company travel policies, and recordkeeping.

Though these programs are commonly referred to as corporate travel management, even small organizations can benefit from a dedicated business travel management program.

How Does Corporate Travel Management Work?

As travel becomes more expensive, safety concerns heighten, employees become more mobile, and companies more global, the job of arranging everything from travel visas to restaurant reservations becomes more challenging. To effectively manage travel tasks, it’s often necessary to develop a CTM program. Depending on the company’s needs, this could mean one or more of:

• Hiring a corporate travel manager.
• Establishing an in-house corporate travel management team.
• Hiring an external corporate travel agency.

Smaller companies may be better off developing and hiring in-house business travel management teams to ensure that the workforce complies with company travel policies like spending caps and using approved vendors. Depending on the organization, a CTM program may grant employees the autonomy to self-book travel and accommodations that comply with company travel policies. Companies may even integrate automated travel management software systems that can be customized with budget restrictions and approved suppliers to better manage travel spending.

For larger corporations with major travel requirements, it can make sense to hire an external corporate travel agency that takes over all tasks related to business travel. As specialists in their field, they may be better able to negotiate the best rates while keeping employees’ comfort top of mind, handle global business travel management tasks, and take the time-consuming job of booking trips away from busy HR or finance departments. These professionals might implement corporate travel software that includes a booking tool, expense management tools, and reporting and analytics capabilities. These software tools may even use Global Distribution Systems (GDS) to pull up real-time data about hotel room availability, flight data, car rentals, and other pertinent travel information.

Benefits of Corporate Travel Management

The benefits of CTM programs are important to some companies because, for many employees and executives, company travel is so vital a part of doing business. Though video-conferencing calls have become routine, when it comes to building and nurturing relationships with clients and colleagues, converting prospects into customers, and networking with industry professionals, there’s no substitute for personal interaction. In fact, it’s reported that U.S. travelers took 462 million domestic business trips in 2019, and that number is expected to climb to 499.4 million by 2022. 1

Given the importance of business travel, companies may wish to consider the benefits of CTM programs, such as:

• Cost reduction : CTM agents, teams, and specialists should have greater travel expertise than the typical employee. They’re usually better fit to negotiate or find the best deals for flights, hotels, insurance, and other travel-related expenses.
• Time savings : Organizing a business trip takes a lot of time and effort, especially if your workforce travels often. CTM teams relieve your employees or finance department of that burden, allowing them to focus on their jobs.
• Policy enforcement : CTM professionals can help enforce corporate travel policies, enabling companies to monitor and reinforce compliance around hotel, car, and airfare spending caps, vendor stipulations, and more.

How Business Credit Cards Can Help Streamline Corporate Travel Management

Some companies manage business travel expenses by asking their team to report expenses with the promise of reimbursement. But expense reporting can become difficult to manage as an organization grows, and the paperwork can become onerous.

For many companies, a more workable approach is to integrate corporate credit cards into their CTM programs. This can make it easier to monitor expenses and reconcile transactions. For example, business and corporate credit card programs often come equipped with expense tracking tools that can ensure spending visibility for employees and management. Stakeholders can monitor compliance with travel policies, validate expenses without paper receipts, and see what employees are spending. Automatic reconciliation can save time, while expenses can be integrated into a company’s accounting system, simplifying the often-tedious approval process. What’s more, card activity may be fed into the travel management software to further streamline the process.

Other benefits to integrating CTM programs with business credit cards for employees include:

• Closing loopholes for fake receipts or receipt manipulation.
• Increased security protection against theft, loss, and unforeseen incidents like accidents and mishandling, thanks to common business credit card benefits like travel insurance.
• Access to credit card perks, such as earning rewards, saving money on air travel and hotels, and gaining access to airport lounges.

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The Takeaway

Corporate travel allows employees and executives to forge bonds with colleagues, turn business prospects into clients, and gain inspiration from new horizons. Corporate travel management (CTM) programs help to minimize the time-consuming aspects of business travel, like bookings and reporting paperwork, along with some of the other pain points of business travel. An effective CTM program can help organizations implement company travel policies, booking, track T&E expenditures, and successfully integrate business credit cards .

View Article Sources

1 “ Number of domestic and leisure trips in the U.S. from 2008 to 2019, with a forecast until 2024 ,” Statista

Randi Gollin

A freelance writer and editor who’s covered topics including shopping, travel, dining, and food for tech and media brands and digital publications.

This content was written by a freelance author and commissioned and paid for by American Express. 

The material made available for you on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, tax or financial advice. If you have questions, please consult your own professional legal, tax and financial advisors.

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What Are the Benefits of a Corporate Travel Management Company?

7 Benefits of Using a Corporate Travel Management Company are:

• Access to a Dedicated Support Team
• Cost Saving Strategies
• Assistance with Risk Management
• Access to Technology and Tools
• Enhanced Reporting
• Travel Policy Creation and Integration
• Time Savings for Travel Managers and Traveler

1. Access to a Dedicated Support Team

Benefits for the Travel Manager

A corporate travel management company (TMC) should offer its clients a dedicated support team. As a travel manager, you are responsible for creating and maintaining an evolving, complex program. Working with a dedicated support team to help manage your program has many benefits.

First, you can lean on a team of experts. Whether you are creating a new travel program or you are looking to improve your current one, a TMC should be able to make recommendations to help you meet your goals.

At Christopherson Business Travel (Christopherson), our travel management experts average more than 25 years of experience in business travel. We have helped hundreds of organizations overcome the challenges of business travel and achieve a variety of goals. Not only do we recommend adjustments our clients can make to their programs, but we also specifically point out how we can help them get there.

Another benefit of having a dedicated support team is that travel managers can rely on experts to provide best practices, industry updates, and seasoned expertise. When a business travel program is outdated, corporate travelers become frustrated. In a dynamic industry that changes rapidly, it’s important for travel managers to stay informed about current and emerging trends.  

Benefits for the Business Traveler

Depending on your booking and service needs, your travelers might have access to a dedicated travel advisor team, a certified online support team, or a combination of the two. By partnering with a corporate travel management company, your business travelers can feel confident knowing they always have trusted experts to turn to 24/7, 365 days a year.

Having a dedicated support team to assist with travel challenges (like delayed flights or overbooked hotels) significantly improves the overall traveler experience. A TMC also considers traveler preferences and loyalty information when helping them book travel within policy. At Christopherson, your travelers can access a small, dedicated team of travel advisors, so they always know who to contact for support.

Some TMCs offer support via a call center, which can be frustrating. Call center agents won’t be familiar with your travel preferences or policies, and travelers often don’t receive the level of customer service they deserve. With a dedicated team, you’ll have personalized service and relationships you can count on.

Another benefit of having a dedicated support team is providing VIP services for your executive travelers. At Christopherson, priority response time, requesting special accommodations, and frequent traveler enrollment assistance are just a few of the VIP services we provide.

2. Cost Saving Strategies

Corporate travel management companies help businesses save money by securing the lowest possible rates on travel. Consider the following hypothetical scenario: You reach out to a large hotel chain to negotiate a corporate rate for your business. You attempt to use your predicted number of reservations of 150 nights as leverage for a lower rate. The hotel is able to offer you a discounted rate of $160 a night.

Now imagine that your corporate travel management company reaches out to the same hotel chain. Instead of 150 nights, your TMC is leveraging the 15,000 nights they anticipate booking among  75 different accounts. It probably comes as no surprise that the hotel is able to offer your TMC an even lower rate of $140 a night.

This example illustrates how working with a TMC increases your buying power and, ultimately, saves you money. Also, by consolidating your hotel spend, a TMC can continue to negotiate lower rates on your behalf year after year.

When it comes to your travel policy, corporate travel management companies make compliance effortless through integrated technology. You can find more details about this below, but one of the reasons travel policies exist is to help manage costs. If your travelers are booking outside of your policy, chances are they are paying more than you would like because they’re not accessing your negotiated rates.

Next, let’s consider unused airline ticket funds. It’s inevitable that business travelers will have to cancel trips due to scheduling changes, which can potentially leave money on the table. Nearly 10% of all business travel airline tickets go unused. As a travel manager, how do you ensure these unused ticket funds aren’t impacting your bottom line? A TMC can monitor these funds, helping ensure they are used before they expire.

Christopherson’s AirBank tool is our solution to managing unused airline tickets. AirBank captures those funds in a centralized database and then prompts travelers to reuse them during their next booking. AirBank’s transparency encourages active participation in the reuse of the ticket. This helps prevent loss of funds, cut costs, and eliminate waste. Managers can also access real-time status updates and reports on those unused tickets and the subsequent available funds.

Lastly, when partnering with a corporate travel management company that charges fair and transparent fees, travel managers are able to more accurately budget for their travel program costs. Christopherson’s all-inclusive pricing structure includes all account management, technology, integrated reporting systems, and tools. Some TMCs operate on an “a la carte” model which can quickly become costly and unpredictable making it more difficult to budget.

By negotiating lower rates, travelers are often able to choose from higher-end hotels than they would be offered without the purchasing power of a TMC. This improves their overall travel experience and makes for happy travelers.

Unless a tool or system like AirBank is in place, it is easy for travelers to forget about the unused airline tickets they have at their disposal. By providing travelers with money-saving tools like AirBank, travelers can easily cash in on those tickets whether booking online or with an advisor.  

3. Assistance with Risk Management

Businesses have a legal and moral responsibility to keep their travelers safe from threats while they are on the road. Threats can range from something as serious as an outbreak of an infectious disease to losing a passport. Regardless of the circumstance, it’s important that travel managers are aware of threats as soon as possible and have a process in place to keep their travelers safe.

Assistance with risk management is a huge benefit of working with a corporate travel management company. In a recent study , only half of the travel managers surveyed felt confident that they could locate their travelers within two hours of an emergency. When working with a TMC, travel managers often have access to risk management tools that make them more efficient and effective in times of crisis.

For example, Christopherson’s SecurityLogic tool (available within our AirPortal platform) provides travel managers real-time information regarding which of their team members are currently traveling and where those travelers are. SecurityLogic allows you to quickly see if your travelers are in or will be in an affected area.

SecurityLogic’s alerts inform travel managers of events that could impact employee travel or compromise their safety, and the Safety Check feature can be used to verify traveler safety.

When businesses utilize the full range of corporate travel benefits tools like SecurityLogic provide, travelers feel safe and secure while on the road. When traveling, staying up-to-date on breaking news can be a challenge. Travelers will find comfort in knowing that if they are in or traveling to a potentially dangerous area, their employer is proactively warning them of any threats and has a plan in place to keep them safe.

4. Access to Technology and Tools

Without updated technology, travel managers are left to manage their travel programs manually using spreadsheets and emails, which can be time-intensive. Integrating best-in-class technology into your travel program is a sure way to save you time and money.

Corporate travel management partners streamline your processes for requesting travel, approving travel plans, and expense reporting. Christopherson’s AirPortal software platform has your negotiated vendor contracts, travel policy, and travel approval system built-in, ensuring compliant travel booking. All reservations filter into your custom reports and align with your managed travel program. AirPortal can be integrated with valuable benchmarking tools, preferred booking tools, and your HR feed. These technologies make your program efficient and integrated.

AirPortal 360 Mobile, the mobile version of our travel manager dashboard, is the first and only comprehensive mobile app for travel managers that allows you to manage your entire travel program from the palm of your hand. With AirPortal 360 Mobile, travel managers can locate travelers in real-time, verify their safety, view itineraries, monitor travel plans, enroll/deactivate travelers, and manage traveler profiles from anywhere.

When working with a corporate travel management partner like Christopherson, you will also have access to tools like Virtual Pay. Virtual Pay eliminates faxing credit card information to hotels by creating single-use credit cards for each hotel booking. The unique card is then sent to the hotel for booking payment. This process helps eliminate traveler reimbursements, improve billing accuracy, and consolidate hotel spend.

With access to a robust set of tools and technology, travelers are more organized, efficient, and satisfied with their travel program. Booking compliant travel, reimbursing expenses,  and locating travel plans becomes a breeze. Traveler profiles ensure that loyalty programs and preferences are always considered at the time of booking.

5. Enhanced Reporting

Arguably the most important aspect of any successful program is the ability to access, aggregate, and visualize the data to inform decisions. Some corporate travel management companies offer reporting tools that allow you to view your entire travel program in one location.

Domo, AirPortal’s integrated business intelligence and data visualization program, delivers real-time insights that help you take action and manage a smarter travel program. By aligning metrics that matter to you in one centralized location, you can start to visualize the story your data creates.

With complete visibility into your travel program, you can quickly identify the departments that spend the most on travel or which hotels are booked the most. This allows you to draw meaningful conclusions that help you improve processes and save money.

With Christopherson’s ValueLogic technology, travel managers can also assess the ROI of our partnership. Customizable reports show exactly how and where we’re saving our clients’ money.

While travelers don’t necessarily need access to the full range of reporting options that travel managers need, data from these reports is essential to your travelers’ ability to book within policy, reconcile credit cards, monitor unused tickets, and identify when their profile information needs to be updated. Good data also makes life easier for travelers in the long run.

6. Helps Create and Maintain Your Travel Policy

When creating or updating a policy, it’s helpful to have experts consult with you on current best practices in your industry. A travel policy should be a living concept and evolve with the industry. Corporate travel management companies help ensure your travel policy is up to date and integrated throughout your booking tools, benchmarking tools, and HR feed.

Keeping your travel policy current is a great way to keep your travelers happy. And with policy integration, travelers can be confident their bookings are always compliant.

7. Saves Travel Managers and Travelers Time

Streamlined and integrated travel programs save travel managers time by keeping them organized and efficient. Whether you’re managing the ins and outs of a large global travel program or have a small team of road warriors, working with a TMC makes your day-to-day efforts easier by helping you implement the processes and plans that will help you reach your goals and support your travelers.

Centralized, integrated travel programs save travelers time by simplifying the booking process, making it easy to get travel approved, providing the resources and service needed to make their actual trip a breeze. Gone are the days of frantic inbox searches for flight plans, not knowing whether your booking falls within policy or where your frequent flyer number is. Travelers can spend time actually doing what they were hired to do rather than wasting time weighing the costs of different flight options or figuring out logistics of an upcoming trip. A travel management company has the expertise they can rely on.

Connect with our team of experienced travel experts to learn how Christopherson can help your business travel with ease.

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CTM provides local service solutions to customers around the world. Please select your local region, and start experiencing the CTM difference!

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Corporate Travel Management (CTM) was founded on the principle of challenging the status quo, asking questions and designing solutions that simply make global business travel better.

This commitment to continuous improvement ensures our customers’ travel programs are always evolving and adapting to the opportunities that lie ahead.

Don't just take our word for it!

The unequivocal spirit of entrepreneurship.

What makes CTM unique is the culture which underpins how we do business. This culture is deeply rooted in our origin story and the unequivocal spirit of entrepreneurship; work hard, embrace the opportunity, keep things simple, and always act with integrity and a smile. This spirit transcends geographical borders, cultures and industries to deliver long-lasting partnerships and meaningful results for our customers across the globe.

CTM embraces a culture of empowerment and accountability, flexibility and agility, connectivity, and collaboration in everything we do. These values are what make CTM think and act as one, with a laser focus on being the best travel management partner for our customers, employees and partners in every corner of the globe.

Your #1 Travel Partner

At CTM, we’re focused on being the best at what we do to ensure we are your number one choice of travel partner. When it comes to global business travel programs, we believe size comes fourth to service, innovation, and savings. As the world’s fourth-largest travel management company* (TMC), CTM has the scale to deliver maximum value, the spread to provide local market expertise and service wherever your travels take you, and the agility to design for tomorrow’s travel needs today.

Experience the CTM Difference

CTM is an award-winning global provider of innovative and cost-effective travel management solutions to the corporate market. We understand the complex travel needs of businesses in every global market and are committed to developing tailored travel solutions that drive results.

With more than 25 years in business travel, CTM is proud to support the travel needs of a diverse customer portfolio spanning geographies, industries, and business sizes.

This breadth of travel management experience and expertise enables our customers to leverage extensive knowledge, insights, and tried and tested solutions from similar and differing businesses, to maximize their program optimization strategies.

Company Snapshot

• Founded in Australia in 1994. CTM has grown from a two-man start-up to a global leader in travel management. Estimated fourth largest travel management company globally.*
• Publicly listed since 2010 (ASX:CTD). Visit the CTM Investor Center website
• Owned operations across four continents (North America, UK & Europe, Asia, Australia & New Zealand), with a global network spanning over 100 countries.
• Commitment to Sustainability and CSR. Learn more here .
• Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) Awards – Best National Travel Management Company awarded 13 times
• World Travel Awards – The Leading Travel Management Company (Australia & North America)
• Australian Financial Review – Most Innovative Companies List
• Business Travel Awards Europe – Best Corporate Booking Platform (Lightning)
• SmartBrief Awards – Innovation Award for Travel Management

* At August 18, 2021, based on publicly available financial performance data.

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Travel Management 101: Back to the basics 

Traveling for business isn't just about hopping on a plane – it's a structured journey requiring precision and robust support. 

As the realm of corporate travel grows, so does the need for effective travel management and dedicated support. 

That’s why we at Corporate Traveler created this guide. 

Packed with indispensable knowledge and pragmatic insights, we’ll cover everything from the fundamentals of business travel management to evaluating the advantages of integrating the right travel management software solutions. 

Whether you're an aspiring travel manager or a seasoned business professional looking to enhance an existing travel program, this guide serves as your compass through the labyrinth that is corporate travel management. 

• Introduction - What is corporate travel management?
• Managed vs. unmanaged travel
• What is corporate travel technology?
• 5 key components of effective corporate travel management
• Make your business travel count

What is corporate travel management? 

Corporate travel management refers to the strategic planning, coordination, and control of multiple processes, all relating in some way to business travel. Each company has its own unique approach to corporate travel management, but at the end of the day, the primary goal remains the same: guaranteeing safe and efficient travel for employees within the framework of the company's policies and guidelines. 

This involves (but is in no way limited to) overseeing travel expenses, mitigating potential travel risks, and ensuring booking processes adhere to the company travel policy. 

Businesses navigate travel management through various channels, including: 

• Travel management companies (TMC) 
• In-house travel manager(s) 
• External travel agents 

What is a corporate travel manager? 

A corporate travel manager is typically an internal employee responsible for steering the travel program and coordinating all business trips for the entire organization. Not only are they the architects behind the corporate travel policy, they also handle duty of care (DOC) and risk management initiatives as well as assist the company in navigating global business travel terrain. 

(Side note: When the expertise comes from someone outside the organization, we call them corporate travel agents) 

Depending on the scale of the company, there might be a full-fledged team of travel managers, or the responsibility might rest with a solo office manager or HR representative. 

Their daily duties? Well, it’s quite the to-do list: 

• Booking trips for employees across various roles within the company 
• Tracking departmental travel expenses to ensure adherence to budgets 
•  Offering travel support to employees throughout all stages of their journey 
• Managing travel vendors or tools used by the company 
• Negotiating corporate rates with frequently used hotels 
• Arranging group travel and ground transportation, like rental cars or trains 
• Tracking company travel spend and providing reports for analysis 

What is a travel management company (TMC)? 

At the most basic level: a TMC is a specialized travel agency that assists businesses in managing their corporate travel needs. 

Like travel managers, TMCs adeptly handle all the nuances involved in business travel, from handling flights and securing hotel reservations, to providing top-notch DOC and analyzing expense reports. 

So, what sets them apart? The beauty of working with a TMC like Corporate Traveler is that we provide holistic travel management services and solutions that are specifically designed to streamline travel processes, optimize costs, and facilitate convenient and efficient business travel for employees. 

Is your company literally jetting off? An increase in employee travel comes with an increased need for travel and expense management. 

With Corporate Traveler, you can access negotiated rates, analyze your spend, and save across the board – all from anywhere, on any device. 

Managed vs. unmanaged travel 

Managed travel refers to any business travel that is supported by the services and expertise of a TMC. Travel bookings are either made with a dedicated travel consultant or via the travel company’s online booking tool (OBT), all of which are consolidated into a single, easy-to-digest report. 

Unmanaged travel, on the other hand, is where an organization handles its own business travel arrangements. In some cases, travel tasks and responsibilities may be delegated to a travel arranger or assistant. In others, businesses leave employees to book for themselves directly on InsertAirlineHere.com 

For some businesses, unmanaged travel a highly attractive option. But things aren’t always as they seem. 

Is your travel program unmanaged? Check out our article on managed vs. unmanaged corporate travel to see some key benefits to a managed program that you might not know you’re missing out on. 

What is corporate travel technology? 

Travel management software is like a specialized toolbox companies wield to ace their travel game. Think of it as software tailor-made to streamline and automate every feature of travel management, including: 

• Travel booking 
• Travel supplier management 
• Approval workflows 
• Corporate travel policy enforcement 
• Expense management 
• Reporting and analytics 

These travel management solutions don’t just stop at desktops! They are also offered as user-friendly mobile apps, allowing employees to book and manage their business trips without a travel agent or manager. 

In a nutshell, this tech is the control tower – a centralized platform steering travel bookings, policies, expenses, and reporting. It hands companies the reins, granting them stellar control, efficiency, and a crystal-clear view of their corporate travel management playground. 

But don’t just opt for any OBT. Choose a tech solution that knows how to play together. 

What is a corporate travel management system? 

This is a holistic, agile travel tech stack that consists of interdependent software solutions that work together seamlessly to provide end-to-end travel management. Such a cohesive system gives you the ability to streamline approvals, stay connected to employees wherever they are, and improve business travel compliance. 

By integrating different software solutions such as online booking tools, expense management systems, and travel risk management platforms, companies can create a comprehensive travel program that enhances the traveler experience, reduces costs, and improves compliance. 

With a travel tech stack in place, companies can also gain greater visibility into employee travel spend, track traveler behavior, and make data-driven decisions to optimize their travel program. 

5 key components of an effective corporate travel management program

No matter the size of the organization, number of stakeholders, or software employed, an effective corporate travel management program typically consists of several key components. 

1. Inclusive corporate travel policies 

This one might seem obvious, but we can’t stress it enough. Your travel policy is an extension of your travel program and company culture. A travel policy is the glue that holds your travel program together – from approvals, expenses, booking processes, and emergency contacts. 

Having a travel policy helps you: 

• Control travel costs 
• Determine how reimbursement works 
• Compile a list of trusted and approved travel vendors 
• Manage an employee’s travel experience and safety 
• Cut rogue bookings – and simplify approvals 
• Budget, report on travel expenses and activity and reconcile bookings 

As a company though, your travel policy helps centralize your travel program, makes data and tracking more accurate and easier to navigate, and it saves time and money (including on expense management). Plus, if you take the time to craft your policy in an intentional and inclusive way, you’ll have a policy your travelers are happier to follow. 

Want to learn how? Check out our   guide to corporate travel policies . 

2. The “right” corporate travel booking tool 

Not all online booking tools are created equal. 

Look for a travel platform that helps you develop processes that simplify: 

• Travel policy compliance – You've gone through the trouble of building a policy that meets all your travelers' needs. How can you make sure your travelers follow it? A corporate travel management platform, like Melon, allows you to outline your travel policy in the platform and alerts bookers when they are selecting options outside the company guidelines to help them stay on track. 
•   Centralized booking – Booking across different websites and compiling it into one organized itinerary is tricky. Melon brings all the available booking options, including flights, hotels, and transportation, into one platform. Say goodbye to that browser full of open tabs.
• Preferred vendor integration –Have a preferred airline? Like a specific hotel bed the most? Collecting rental car loyalty points? Our travel platform, Melon, delivers your preferred vendors first so you always find what you're looking for.  You'll rest easy knowing your travelers are choosing from the negotiated rates and exclusive deals that save your bottom line. 
• Approval workflows – Jump off the approvals merry-go-round. With Melon, you can set up a custom approval workflow to make sure that travel requests are routed to the appropriate managers for review. Once approved, Melon takes care of booking the rest. 

3. Consolidated reporting and expense management 

Your travel program looks blurry when you're looking for your travel spend data among different sources. This is where consolidating your travel data with a single travel management company proves its worth: 

• Centralized data management: The sheer volume of travel data can be overwhelming to say the least. You can spot trends and opportunities to cut travel costs and enhance your travel program from one dashboard. 
• Leveraging the right tools: TMCs offer a range of tools for various aspects of travel management. With a TMC, you can consolidate the tools you need for reporting and quickly view everything from travel expenses to carbon emissions tracking. 
• Nothing gets past you: A common challenge companies face with their travel programs is booking leakage, where employees make bookings outside the approved channels. With consolidated travel data, you can more effectively identify and target booking, supplier, or channel leakage. 

4. Corporate travel discounts & rates 

Business travel isn’t cheap. And if it is not managed effectively, it can be a black hole for your company’s budget. 

Corporate travel rates are special deals that are offered to companies by travel service providers. These rates are specifically designed to cater to the travel needs of individual businesses, giving them access to more economical options and perks that might not be available to the average solo traveler. 

Why? Essentially, travel services providers want to give businesses like yours a more attractive rate so that they can gain your loyalty and secure a high volume of business. 

This includes air travel, hotels, car rentals, and rideshare accounts. 

So how can you benefit? That’s easy – invest in a full travel management package. 

Here at Corporate Traveler, you can expect greater choices without missing out on business travel savings. With a network spanning 90+ countries and counting, we can hook you up with ALL the rates . 

5. Proactive duty of care 

Duty of care is a company’s moral and legal obligation to monitor its employees' safety and security . And when your employees venture beyond the borders of their familiar workspace, their health and safety take center stage. 

Most incidents that occur on business trips are not a matter of life-or-death…but they’re still pretty inconvenient. From a stolen phone to food poisoning, small incidents may add up to lost workdays, wasted business trips, and unhappy employees. 

To keep your travelers safe, they need support and assistance - anytime, anywhere. This not only ensures that they are safe, but also that they feel safe. The safer your team members feel on their travels the more relaxed and productive they’ll be, improving staff retention and streamlining the travel experience. 

The best way to ensure your traveler’s safety? Preparation. Put a plan in place to reassure your travelers and give them a game plan for every situation. With the right prep, you’ll know exactly where all your travelers are and how to reach them at any point of their journey. 

Your business travel matters. Make it count. 

In the dynamic landscape of corporate travel, success hinges on effective management, nuanced strategies, and unwavering support. And if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that precision and dedicated guidance pave the way for streamlined, efficient business travel. 

At Corporate Traveler , we understand the intricacies of this realm. Our comprehensive solutions and expert guidance are tailored to elevate your travel program to new heights. 

Travel expertise? Anytime. We get you and your travelers where they need to go. You can depend on a team of real people to support you, 24/7. 

Latest tech? Always ahead. Innovative booking solutions, real-time updates, and on-demand reporting to take visibility to the next level. 

The best fares and rates? Of course. The widest range of travel options with the most perks. Superior value, choice, and savings that add up quickly. 

More savings? Yes, please! Access all the available content from negotiated fares, exclusive deals and perks, and Melon exclusive deals. 

Business travel is an investment, and it should feel simple. Take your business travel to the next level with exceptional service every step of the way. 

With a blend of knowledgeable travel experts and seamless digital experiences, we’ve got you covered from door to door. 

Want to make corporate travel easier? We've got you.  

The state of tourism and hospitality 2024

Tourism and hospitality are on a journey of disruption. Shifting source markets and destinations, growing demand for experiential and luxury travel, and innovative business strategies are all combining to dramatically alter the industry landscape. Given this momentous change, it’s important for stakeholders to consider and strategize on four major themes:

• The bulk of travel is close to home. Although international travel might draw headlines, stakeholders shouldn’t neglect the big opportunities in their backyards. Domestic travel still represents the bulk of travel spending, and intraregional tourism is on the rise.
• Consumers increasingly prioritize travel—when it’s on their own terms. Interest in travel is booming, but travelers are no longer content with a one-size-fits-all experience. Individual personalization might not always be practical, but savvy industry players can use segmentation and hypothesis-driven testing to improve their value propositions. Those that fail to articulate target customer segments and adapt their offerings accordingly risk getting left behind.
• The face of luxury travel is changing. Demand for luxury tourism and hospitality is expected to grow faster than any other travel segment today—particularly in Asia. It’s crucial to understand that luxury travelers don’t make up a monolith. Segmenting by age, nationality, and net worth can reveal varied and evolving preferences and behaviors.
• As tourism grows, destinations will need to prepare to mitigate overcrowding. Destinations need to be ready to handle the large tourist flows of tomorrow. Now is the time for stakeholders to plan, develop, and invest in mitigation strategies. Equipped with accurate assessments of carrying capacities and enhanced abilities to gather and analyze data, destinations can improve their transportation and infrastructure, build tourism-ready workforces, and preserve their natural and cultural heritages.

Now boarding: Faces, places, and trends shaping tourism in 2024

Global travel is back and buzzing. The amount of travel fell by 75 percent in 2020; however, travel is on its way to a full recovery by the end of 2024. More regional trips, an emerging population of new travelers, and a fresh set of destinations are powering steady spending in tourism.

There’s no doubt that people still love to travel and will continue to seek new experiences in new places. But where will travelers come from, and where will they go?

We share a snapshot of current traveler flows, along with estimates for growth through 2030.

The way we travel now

Which trends are shaping traveler sentiment now? What sorts of journeys do today’s travelers dream about? How much are they willing to spend on their trips? And what should industry stakeholders do to adapt to the traveler psychology of the moment?

To gauge what’s on the minds of present-day travelers, we surveyed more than 5,000 of them. The findings reveal disparate desires, generational divides, and a newly emerging set of traveler archetypes.

Updating perceptions about today’s luxury traveler

Demand for luxury tourism and hospitality is expected to grow faster than for any other segment. This growth is being powered in part by a large and expanding base of aspiring luxury travelers with net worths between $100,000 and $1 million, many of whom are younger and increasingly willing to spend larger shares of their wealth on upscale travel options. The increase is also a result of rising wealth levels in Asia.

We dug deeper into this ongoing evolution by surveying luxury travelers around the globe about their preferences, plans, and expectations. Some widely held notions about luxury travelers—such as how much money they have, how old they are, and where they come from—could be due for reexamination.

Destination readiness: Preparing for the tourist flows of tomorrow

As global tourism grows, it will be crucial for destinations to be ready. How can the tourism ecosystem prepare to host unprecedented volumes of visitors while managing the challenges that can accompany this success? A large flow of tourists, if not carefully channeled, can encumber infrastructure, harm natural and cultural attractions, and frustrate locals and visitors alike.

Now is the time for tourism stakeholders to combine their thinking and resources to look for better ways to handle the visitor flows of today while properly preparing themselves for the visitor flows of tomorrow. We offer a diagnostic that destinations can use to spot early-warning signs about tourism concentration, along with suggestions for funding mechanisms and strategies to help maximize the benefits of tourism while minimizing its negative impacts.

Six trends shaping new business models in tourism and hospitality

As destinations and source markets have transformed over the past decade, tourism and hospitality companies have evolved, too. Accommodation, home sharing, cruises, and theme parks are among the sectors in which new approaches could present new opportunities. Stakeholders gearing up for new challenges should look for business model innovations that will help sustain their hard-won growth—and profits.

Unbundling offerings, cross-selling distinctive experiences, and embracing data-powered strategies can all be winning moves. A series of insight-driven charts reveal significant trends and an outlook on the future.

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How Important Are Corporate Travel Managers?

If you’re an employee, business travel and work trips are enjoyable and productive.

However, if you're in charge of managing business travel for a whole company, you may find yourself on a rollercoaster ride.

So, what exactly do corporate travel managers do?

As the name implies, they manage travel needs for employees, customers, vendors, and business partners.

Their responsibilities include booking flights, arranging accommodations, and other miscellaneous costs and tasks.

Globalization has had a significant impact on the travel industry, and with that, the need to reduce costs has increased.

In corporate travel, company policies and procedures are created to reduce costs and streamline the business process for a more efficient, effective, and streamlined operation.

Let's take a look at how to establish an efficient corporate travel management system for your company.

Challenges in Corporate Travel Management

Business travel continues to be a challenge for many companies. Despite your best efforts, you may still have to invest a significant amount of time and effort just to complete what should be simple.

It doesn't have to take a lot of time or effort to complete such tasks. Let's explore some of the challenges corporate travel managers face.

1. Handling Large Amounts of Requests

This is a common challenge for small businesses . It's one of the responsibilities that are primarily the responsibility of the administration or finance department . If this isn't handled well, it can disrupt other duties and responsibilities they need to handle.

Requests are coming in from every corner of the business. An email comes from one teammate, and a Slack message comes from another.

In addition, you have employees who come to you in person, which further distracts you from what you are supposed to be doing.

Interactions between these two groups are problematic because of their disparate, inconsistent nature.

2. Tracking Approvals

A person in charge of administration or finance must track requests and ensure that travel has been authorized by the proper people. In most companies, a manager or team leader must approve the request, but some also need the CEO's signature.

More steps have been added to an already lengthy process. However, they are mandatory, so it's difficult to avoid them.

3. Keeping Spending in Check

Businesses must travel for growth, and it‘s considered essential to their success. However, the costs that come with it can be very burdensome.

Many employees love to take advantage of these opportunities, but this may mean that the business’s travel budget is spread thin. When this occurs, managers may decide not to approve reasonable requests. 

4. Reducing Errors

Errors can be costly. The time that your finance team wastes fixing an employee's work is time that could have been spent on more productive activities… that is, if the mistakes can be fixed.

Lost receipts, incomplete expense claims, and incorrect types of expenses may distract your team from other responsibilities.

Best Practices for Corporate Travel Management

1. choose a smart booking tool.

It's not surprising that businesses worldwide started booking travel via consumer sites after the advent of online booking sites.

Without booking tools , there’s a lack of oversight from the CFO, and the finance departments are tasked with micromanaging travel spending for the entire company in a controlling manner.

Transformation is impossible without technology. To manage travel today, choose a tool that’s built on trust, transparency, and simplicity (don't forget).

2. Assure 24/7 Travel Support

It’s difficult to provide travel support 24 hours a day . It's easy to get overwhelmed when cancellations, changes, and other requests consume your workday and flood into your night and weekend.

When you're unable to assist, travellers get stuck waiting for fixes that ultimately cost your business money and time. An ideal solution would be to partner with a company that’s able to provide 24/7 travel support so that your role as an office manager or travel manager is relieved.

3. Create Policies and Approval Workflows

Automating your business travel policy offers three key benefits in your travel management process. The first benefit is that you’re able to maintain compliance with your travel policies on a 24-hour basis. 

Since they no longer have to book all trips, the administration team saves time. Travellers enjoy the convenience of booking their own trips.

You should consider putting in place a more complex policy for departments or members of your team with special travel needs. This allows the company to adopt a flexible policy instead of one that applies to the entire company.

It’s possible to set up automated travel policies so that they are either as strict or as lenient as you desire. You want to have a simple process in place in case a traveller attempts to book a trip that's outside the policy. 

For an admin who’s regularly approving trips, having a dashboard that shows you everything pending approval can be extremely helpful. 

They’ll always have an updated record of trips in progress, and they won't ever have to dig through their email account.

4. Schedule & Use Travel Spend Data

Admins aren't the only ones who benefit from effective travel management. Collaboration between your finance and operations teams is key when it comes to managing expenses . If you want travel expenses reported correctly, you'll want detailed information too.

You can generate smart reports that will help the finance team identify trends, leaks, and opportunities for budget optimization by using cost centres and labels and by making sure that all your trips are included in the booking tool’s reporting software.

To Wrap-It Up

It’s safe to say that corporate travel managers are critical to ensuring that your company remains safe and secure while travelling, while also looking for ways to reduce any costs relating to business travel. 

That’s why travel managers love Locomote, we give them everything they need to look like superheroes within their business while giving them more time back in the day to support the company in other areas.

‍ See for yourself today with a one on one demo of our platform.

Sign up to get all of the latest updates and news.

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The future of travel management strategy – trends that will impact travel and meetings thinking

"The future of our sector has never been more challenging, nor more fascinating. The potential to shine is palpable but knowing where to focus and what to do is the key. Not getting it right has consequences, more than ever before," explains Paul Tilstone and Caroline Strachan, the managing partners of Festive Road in a recently published insight into the macro changes affecting travel management in 2022 and beyond.

The specialist business travel consultancy has produced a broad, macroscopic view of the sector in The Macroscope Report , detailing key considerations for the future of travel management strategy, policy and service need. The report builds on its previous work on the Permissible Travel Framework and the Purposeful Travel Model with insights from travel managers and road warriors to offer a framework for the structure of future travel management visions.

The report identifies eight key factors that will continue to impact travel and meetings management thinking, regardless of other external impacts such as high inflation, talent shortages due to changing employee priorities and the dynamic changes in the fuel market. That is not to mention the challenges of shifting pandemic mindsets and the extended dangers of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"Never has there been a better time to take a step back, consider the 'why' of the travel and meeting programme itself and the value travel and meeting managers deliver to their businesses," highlights the report. "A blank piece of paper and a fresh perspective are probably two of the most important tools for successful travel management in the 2020s," Festive Road acknowledges.

MACRO #1 - Future of work: dispersed but not forgotten

Call this moment in time "The Great Resignation" or see it as an opportunity to drive "The Great Attraction", the workplace and employee attitudes have been disrupted, says the report. The way we work has changed and so has the way we meet and travel and for travel managers "these are unique times to reinforce the values of their programme in this new emerging world where a dispersed workforce is the new norm, or at least part of it," says Festive Road.

MACRO #2 - ESG at the purposeful core

Sustainability is most often defined as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, but the scientific data is telling us that we're overshooting our planetary means and tipping Mother Earth out of kilter, notes the report. "This critical decade represents a moment in time when organisations can take a proactive stance and balance people and plane alongside profit," says Festive Road.

MACRO #3 - it was always about the meeting

The full integration of travel and meetings has been a high ideal for years, yet few companies have reached a truly co-ordinated approach to the two sister categories, says the report. Travel and meetings "are intricately linked" acknowledges Festive Road, and the pandemic has triggered 'the meeting' to be achieved in a different way while traditional options were paused. New methods are not "just about saving money or reducing emissions," notes the consultancy, but "the most effective way to achieve meeting objectives". As such, the knock-on effect "is huge," it says and marks a new dawn: "the decade for a true strategic meetings and travel management programme has arrived."

MACRO #4 - the whole trip experience (at last)

When travel managers reinvent their travel programme with the traveller at the very core, extraordinary things can happen. Duty of care is met and travellers adhere to policy and preferred suppliers because they are the right fit, says the report. Travellers expectations have changed and new working habits have been formed. "It is truly time to connect all the critical elements that make up a business trip and put servicing the traveller as a programme priority," says Festive Road.

MACRO #5 - Dynamic content the true king

While content has been ascending the throne for many years, deep and rich content aggregation from multiple sources is now table stakes with he coronation moment close, says the report. "Dynamic content is the next evolution that will usher in personalisation, agile policy engines and a much better shopping and on-trip experience," says Festive Road.

MACRO #6 - API explosion brings buyer empowerment

The corporate travel ecosystem has never been so vast and diverse as it is today, and increasingly the marketplace is getting more complex as the three letters - API - become mainstream lexicon for travel managers, says the report. The Application Programming Interface is the route to broader and deeper content in the sector and there are already signs that "it's about to explode," recognises Festive Road.

MACRO #7 - Hail to the storytellers

Data is everywhere in travel. Every click of the traveller's mouse, keyboard tap, or swipe, generates data that can and should shape travel programme decisions, says the report, but our challenge to date has remained how to consolidate the huge amount of available. From identifying new travel patterns and opportunities to leverage tailored products, to re-defining the KPIs of travel management, "data underpins it all," says Festive Road. "We've entered the era of the analyst as the lockpicker, the storyteller through numbers. The data cruncher is cool," it adds.

MACRO #8 - take the lead or be directed

In the last two years the spotlight shone brightly on travel managers and they rose to the challenges that were set at a significant time of crisis for their companies and sector, but if the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that travel functions cannot operate as in island, says the report. "In a world that being an 'operational doer' may no longer be enough, travel managers have the opportunity to take a step back, be discerning in the projects taken on and turn strategic goals into critical reference questions," says Festive Road.

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GSTC for Corporate and Business Travel

Business travel is a segment within the tourism industry focusing on visitors who travel for business and professional purposes. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the share of GDP generated by the business travel market reached 0.7 percent in 2019. In that year, the business tourism spending worldwide – which has more than doubled since 2000 – peaked at roughly 1.28 trillion U.S. dollars. Business travel is an important factor in national and international business. However, it also has a negative effect on our environment. Sustainable business travel is concerned with managing the costs, social impacts and environmental consequences generated by the use of different modes of business travel.

Using the GSTC Criteria as a reference point allows corporates and organizations to improve their commercial performance and enhance their reputation by adopting sustainable working policies and practices.

Make use of the GSTC Criteria

The GSTC Criteria serve as the global standards for sustainability in travel and tourism. The Criteria are used for education and awareness-raising, policy-making for businesses and government agencies and other organization types, measurement and evaluation, and as a basis for certification. They are the result of a worldwide effort to develop a common language about sustainability in tourism. They are arranged in four pillars: (1) Sustainable management; (2) Socio-economic impacts; (3) Cultural impacts; (4) Environmental impacts. Since tourism destinations each have their own culture, environment, customs, and laws, the Criteria are designed to be adapted to local conditions and supplemented by additional criteria for the specific location and activity.

Join a Training on Sustainable Business Travel

The GSTC Sustainable Business Travel Course is conducted online, delivered as a facilitated 4-week course and combines self-paced learning, hands-on activities, and interactive components to enhance learning results. It focuses on corporate and business travel, providing the knowledge and tools needed to help improve sustainability practices. The course uses the four pillars of GSTC Industry Criteria to look at how to create a new model for of business travel that harnesses the real value of a sustainable business travel program that respects the new needs of travel.

Training participants who the 4-week online GSTC Sustainable Business Travel training class have the opportunity to take the official GSTC Sustainable Business Travel Course Exam, which is offered in an online and open-book format. Upon successful completion, you (as an individual) are awarded with the Professional Certificate in Sustainable Business Travel by the GSTC to demonstrate your knowledge of sustainable business travel knowledge and practices. Learn more about the GSTC Professional Certificate in Sustainable Business Travel .

✓ Take a new look at sustainability best practices in Business Travel – post-pandemic ✓ Focus on corporate and business travel management and helping companies recover successfully and in a balanced way. ✓ Make informed decisions on how to implement sustainability practices in business travel

Upcoming GSTC Sustainable Business Travel Courses

We currently don’t have planned dates for public sessions of our Sustainable Business Travel class for the remainder of 2023, but we still arrange private sessions for companies and suppliers.

It was a great course, especially for a tour company like ours that is thinking of expanding to Business Travel. For us, it is important to start working with the pillars of GSTC as a lighthouse. Have the opportunity to share with colleagues from all over the world and enjoy the leadership during the course of two great sustainability professionals and speakers was indeed the best scenario!

This is the definitive go-to guide for sustainable business travel and was incredible opportunity to learn about the future of travel at a global scale.

This was an eye opening course! I thought I knew what will be taught, but there is much more to sustainability than I expected. The trainers and guest speakers clearly know what they’re doing and the wisdom they can instill is inspiring.

This first GSTC Sustainable Business Travel training course has definitely exceeded my expectations. As the world has changed due to covid, this course provides practical steps for corporates around the globe on how to build a responsible and sustainable corporate travel program to make positive contributions to the destinations. I found the relevant and up-to-date teaching materials, interactive style of training by two industry experts Horst and Bernard, and live breakout sessions where industry participants share ideas and formulae solutions to today’s problems particularly helpful.

…I have enjoyed the course very much and look upon it as very educative enriching the knowledge and insights which are currently developing in the global market on this topic. In case there are plans to develop and provide a follow-up course or any other type of follow-up I’m happy to participate again….

The GSTC Sustainable Business Travel course is a great way to get an overall view of the tasks that lie ahead, when turning Business Travel green. Highly recommendable.

The GSTC Business Travel course is very well geared towards the needs of travel managers. The content of the course is very helpful and entertaining. At the end of the course, everyone is able to realistically classify themselves and their company in terms of sustainability.

I decided to attend the course to better understand the post-pandemic scenario in the business travel industry. The course was far beyond my expectations, it has been a great occasion for networking with professionals from all over the world but most of all I must say that the knowledge and inputs shared by the GSTC trainers will surely be of great help to improve not only my professional skills but also to engage colleagues in exploring the sustainable and responsible best practices for the industry.

Thank you for the opportunity and privilege to take GSTC Sustainable Business Travel Course. I cannot express how enjoyable I feel the course was and the passion Bernard and Horst feel for the material was contagious. I found the final exam both challenging and invaluable.

I am now more aware of what needs to be done within the travel space with applicable knowledge of where to start. The team was very knowledgeable, with prominent speakers and elaborated discussions.

While most often focus within sustainability is around CO2 reduction, however, this course really brings out the other pillars of sustainability (socio-economical, cultural, management). The use of the small group discussions opens up the communication, and allows you truly listen to other views and insights.

The course helped me become much better informed, learning about new reporting criteria, what official institutions there are for certification and how companies can best share their activities and reports. Interaction with other participants was useful, the speakers and presentations were very useful with great tips about books and articles. It definitely increased my awareness that sustainability is not just about the environment but also about people and culture. Taking the exam is a good opportunity to practice what you learn with a real case from your own company or clients.

The enthusiasm of the trainers – Horst and Bernard – made a difference. The course was one of the best learning experiences I had in my career.

The GSTC program has a rich pedigree, evolving as it has from a United Nations sustainability initiative. This, coupled with an existing history of pursuing sustainability initiatives in tourism and leisure travel, has provided a rich foundation for the corporate travel course. The instructors likewise bring a history of expertise and passion in the area of corporate travel sustainability. This converges into a course that can dramatically impact the role that corporate travel takes in combatting climate change, inequity, and other sustainability shortfalls in the corporate travel industry.

If you ever want to expand your knowledge or organize your existing knowledge in the field of sustainability, gain a broader perspective on various sustainability topics from every possible angle, exchange experiences and best practices during live sessions in an international environment, get the knowledge from professional mentors, and additionally gain knowledge where to look for valuable content on the Internet concerning current news on sustainable tourism – I wholeheartedly recommend the GSTC Sustainable Business Travel training. There will be a lot of reading, a lot of watching, but the more time you spend working at home during the course the more you will get out of the live classes.

Certification of Businesses

Increasingly, both leisure and business travelers are seeking confirmation that sustainability practices are in place. Also increasingly, travel companies are looking for a product that is not only certified sustainable, but certified sustainable by a certification program that is GSTC Accredited.

For example,  AMEX GBT will highlight hotels and other accommodation partners as “sustainable” that meet GSTC’s standards or, even better, are certified by a GSTC-Accredited Certification Body. Booking.com is currently highlighting hotels certified by GSTC-Accredited CBs along with other standards that are Recognized by GSTC. Hilton continues to identify opportunities to achieve GSTC certification for their hotels to ensure the sustainability of their operations. TUI Group encourages their hotels to become certified to GSTC-Recognized Standards, with a mandatory clause in contracts with their accommodation suppliers requiring them to work towards certification to GSTC-Recognized Standards.

Certification by an Accredited Certification Body (CB) provides business hotels and corporate travel companies a credible solution to complex environmental and social issues, while informing your stakeholders — from customers to ownership and to your supply chain — that the business is operated with sound management that looks to the future and not merely at today.

Certification for Sustainable Business Hotels Certification for Sustainable Business Travel Operators

Join GSTC as a Member

Join GSTC as a member organization to stay informed of key developments, and to learn from others in our network. As a corporate or an organization that is involved in business travel, being a GSTC member means actively participating in our global community who represent a wide range of tourism stakeholders – leading international tour operators, government organizations, multinational corporations, and international hospitality brands.

6 Advantages of Corporate Travel Management in 2022

After Lord knows how many months of asking people whether they can hear us, see us, and mute themselves, it’s time to finally pack our bags again. 

In-person meetings are making a comeback, which will make things a little easier in specific industries.

But we’re all a little rusty when it comes to corporate travel. The big questions aren’t even whether you should fold or roll your shorts: it’s about the whole itinerary. Who’s in charge of that, after months of not needing this? 

We say: your corporate travel manager. If you’re thinking: ‘but we don’t have one!’, then this article is here to give you 6 great reasons why to partner up with one, so you can focus on charming clients in your meetings.

What does a corporate travel manager do?

There are people who are great at organizing trips, and then there are those that get to the airport with a bag packed by their spouse, unsure where they’re going—but just happy to be involved. 

That’s endearing in private situations, but dangerous in business travel. A business travel management company takes the hassle out of organizing business-related trips. Depending on what you need, your corporate travel manager, or managers, if you’re on the go a lot, take care of things like:

• Booking and organizing trips: does an employee need to go from A to B? Your corporate travel manager makes sure you get the tickets for the trip that makes the most sense, at the best price. This doesn’t stop at flights or trains: they make sure you get a cab or rental car if needed, too. 
• Provide travel support: before, during, and after the trip, the corporate travel manager is there to assist travelers in whatever obstacle they run into on their journey. 
• Help track and analyze travel spending: an important thing corporate travel managers do is help people and teams keep track of what they spend on travel, so you can create better budgets.
• Select and negotiate with travel vendors and hotels: they know the market well, so trust your corporate travel manager with picking a vendor that has what you need. They also make sure you get the best deals in hotels and other travel-related places.

You can have an in-house travel manager, or outsource it to a corporate travel agency that jumps in whenever you have travel needs. 

Many agencies in the travel management industry also let you leverage their strength by giving you access to a corporate travel platform where you can easily make requests and keep track of your expenses. 

Challenges of corporate travel 

Organizing business travel is a lot different from organizing a weekend getaway. However, since everyone will have booked a flight or hotel at least once, we all assume we can take care of the business trip as well.

That often results in companies using processes that aren’t optimal for what you require for business travel. It’s hard to track expenses for instance, or communicate who is going where and what airport they need to go to. Don’t even get us started on making sure you get the invoices you need to actually claim expenses. 

If employees are in charge of booking their own flights, you won’t always know whether they get the best deal, or the most comfortable seat, so they can work or rest to prepare for their meetings. 

Then there’s the back and forth between admin and whoever is booking something to get everything accounted for. It’s easy for communication or receipts to get lost in email threads, which could blur your vision of your actual spending.

If travel is a common thing in your organization, for instance, if you’re also managing an offshore location , it will save you a lot of time and money hiring a corporate travel manager, or finding a platform that suits your needs. 

You want your business trips to be an accelerator of success, not a painful process that just slows things down and costs unnecessary amounts of money. But there are plenty of other benefits.

How corporate travel management transforms your trips 

There are quite a few benefits to using a travel management company instead of keeping your efforts in-house. Ready to explore them? 

1. Travel and work more efficiently

Let your employees focus on their core competencies, and let a corporate travel manager take care of the rest. 

One of the biggest benefits is that a corporate travel manager lets you get back to work and do what you do best. Let’s be honest: organizing a good trip takes a lot of time, and that’s simply not the thing you hired your well-paid salespeople to do. 

A dedicated corporate travel management platform cuts the time spent on organizing these trips down drastically.  

2. Get expert advice on business travel

What’s the place to go? How do you get the best rates, the best perks, and how can you cut down on your travel expenses?

Business travel is a professional sport, so get an expert on board who has the experience and access to get you the best deals. 

3. Have someone on standby 24/7 

When employees leave for a trip, who’s in charge on the ground for their trip? That’s right, probably nobody.

A lot can go wrong on a business trip, beyond missed or canceled flights. With time zone differences and employees back at the office having to deal with their own workload, it’s nearly impossible to appoint someone who takes care of the traveling bunch. A corporate travel manager can function like that always-on support, so your meetings can go on. 

4. You have risk management covered

What about insurance, when someone is on the other side of the world—or even just in a café two cities down south? 

Risk management is one of those factors that often get overlooked when business travel is managed in-house, but it can lead to some costly mistakes if you’re not on top of it. 

A corporate travel manager keeps tabs on everyone at all times and makes sure you’re covered. 

5. Improve the ROI of your business trips

Want to both cut travel costs and optimize your travel expenses, while making money on those important meetings? Corporate travel management could help you do that. 

Yes, the tools and platforms cost money, but they pay themselves back in focus, time saved and expenses controlled and optimized. After the initial cost of onboarding, you immediately get insights into what your travel spend really looks like, so you can start making better, data-driven decisions right off the bat. 

You save on flights. Make sure every last receipt is accounted for, and your corporate accommodation is arranged for the best price. 

These are all things that would take an atrocious amount of time to arrange yourself if you don’t have the experience or capacity, and connections.

6. Be compliant, wherever you go

What do your travel policies look like? If you’re not sure what we’re referring to, then we’ve hit the nail on the head: like with anything in business, compliance is crucial. This is also something to take care of when your employees work while traveling. Your corporate travel management can advise you on that.

Choosing the right corporate travel management platform

Our tip? Think about what you need first, before you go surfing all the solutions travel management platforms offer. Then cross-check which ones are hitting most checkmarks, and make a selection of the ones that fit the bill.

If you’re not sure what to look for in a business travel support partner or platform, here’s what we would personally put on our wishlist:

• Ease of use: this is the main reason you will partner up, so make it the top priority in your search. How easy is it to use the platform or communicate with the travel agents? Does this fit in your business and way of working? How big is the learning curve?
• Transparency: another big point is learning more about how much is really being spent on travel within your organization. Look for a platform that gives maximum transparency and shows you everything you need to know. 
• Support: when push comes to shove, and that might be at midnight, you will want to talk to a real human, not to a bot—let alone an FAQ page. Select a travel support platform that gives you access to a support team that works in a language you speak and that can quickly act when there are any issues.

So… where to next?

If you have the time to look for a corporate travel agent before your next business trip takes off, then take that opportunity. It’ll transform the way you and your employees prepare for a big trip, meeting, and presentation massively, which you’ll see in the results.

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6 Reasons Why Business Travel is Important

Without question, phone- and video-based meetings are easy. But was taking the easy path ever a long-term solution for success? The benefits of in-person business meetings are overwhelmingly persuasive. Sure, we know it’s easy to lose sight of them in the face of online convenience. But as vaccines become more prevalent and we march toward post-pandemic reopening, businesses are reconsidering their travel programs and guidelines for proving value from meetings. So, we did some research and unearthed six of the top reasons why you want to keep yourself and your staff engaged in business travel.

1. To close the deal better

Despite the unsubstantiated click-bait title of “Want to Close 10x More Deals? Have More In-Person Meetings,”  this Entrepreneur article still has a point: In-person meetings will generate more and better closings than their remote alternatives. (According to  Great Business Schools , the in-person closing rate is 40 percent.) Just think of the number of times you back away from an online transaction before clicking the Order Now button and magnify that by the dollar amount of your deal. In-person closing lets the buyer feel confident in asking more questions more efficiently, which can then increase trust. In-person discussions also promote clarity of communications, which can reduce confusion and post-sale support issues.

Clarity concerns apply to in-person vs. remote communication in general. Even in 2003, a book titled  Inside Interviewing: New Lenses, New Concerns took an in-depth study of in-person and telephone-based interviewing and found that while remote interviewing might be better for quantity of discussions and easier data input, in-person interviewing yielded deeper, more insightful conversations, especially with older interviewees. The ramifications for business outcomes should be clear. If you want quality results from interviews and interactions, nothing beats doing them in person.

  2. To put skin in the game

It’s human nature: The more we invest in something, the more of an active interest we take in its outcome. Whether or not you paid for the airfare and hotel, we all deeply grasp the sacrifice of time that goes into business travel. Those around the meeting table may be in the same circumstances. Even if they’re not, though, the understanding is clear: You made sacrifices to be here. Others will be inclined to appreciate that (see the law of  reciprocity ,) and you will act with more determination to make your sacrifice worthwhile.

Having skin in the game can also apply to job-related training. Contrary to many assumptions, many years of studies reveal that, overall, the efficacy of in-person and online learning are roughly equal. However, as experts noted in  Training Magazine , some types of learning are better suited to in-person than others. High repetition-style learning does well online, but things like leadership training clearly benefit from the role playing and instructor/group interaction that come from an in-person classroom environment.

3. To avoid risks to business outcomes

Even if you’re the type who loves working from home, there are just as many — or more — distractions for us there than when we work from the office. So it isn’t a surprise that many people believe virtual meetings can present significant opportunities for negative consequences to business, as demonstrated in a survey conducted by business travel advisor tClara.

The survey listed 20 negative outcomes, including ineffective selling or negotiating, lost attention, ineffective leadership, and low tolerance of diverse views among others on the list. Respondents said virtual meetings would more likely cause all the negative outcomes on the list, while just 17% said the negative outcomes would be more likely caused by meeting in person.

 4. To create better ideas

Whether because we perceive inspiration, competition, or fear from in-person meetings, the fact remains that the quality of the ideas we generate when face to face is better than when we’re distant. An  infographic compiled by Great Business Schools (mentioned previously) shows some startling advantages when comparing in-person meetings against virtual ones. When in-person, we generate 28.1% more ideas overall. That’s valuable in its own right, but even better is the fact that idea quality/originality goes up by 12.5%, as well. Similarly, the mean level of idea type flexibility increases by 16.7% when face to face. So, if you’re serious about stimulating more, and more creative, ideas, try meeting outside the home office.

5. To create trust with small talk

According to Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy, we judge others according to their trustworthiness/warmth and competence/strength, in that order, because strength before trust elicits fear. “Even a few small nonverbal signals—a nod, a smile, an open gesture—can show people that you’re pleased to be in their company and attentive to their concerns,” write Cuddy and her co-authors in the  Harvard Business Review . “Prioritizing warmth helps you connect immediately with those around you, demonstrating that you hear them, understand them, and can be trusted by them.”

Two of the best ways to build trust stem from in-person presence. First, pay attention to non-verbal cues, such as genuine smiling and straight posture. Such factors are difficult or impossible to convey remotely. Second, make time for small talk. Not the “how’s it going, look at that weather!” sort of blather. Real questions that show an interest in the other party’s life. These are the sort of conversations that spring up outside the conference room or over lunch. Such trust is hard to quantify, but it can prove invaluable in negotiations and relationship-building.

 6. To be more profitable

Read on this topic long enough and you’ll stumble over a paper by Oxford Economics USA titled “ The Return on Investment of U.S. Business Travel .” Now, full disclosure: The paper is sponsored by two travel organizations, so your mileage may vary, so to speak. But the study’s findings remain compelling:

·      Every dollar spent on business travel yields $12.50 in incremental revenue.

·      The average U.S. business would shed 17% of profits in the first year of eliminating business travel.

·      28% of current business would vanish without in-person meetings.

·      In-person meetings convert roughly 40% of prospective customers into clients; only 16% convert without in-person meetings.

·      The majority of business travelers claim that 5-20% of new customers stem from trade show participation.

So, can your company afford  not to have business travel? Of course not. Just make sure you book that travel in a way that controls costs and puts more tools in travelers’ hands.

When your firm books business travel, make sure to use an intuitive, secure booking platform like  Etta, powered by Deem to manage travel efficiently and easily.

Main image credit: Alex Knight, unsplash.com

The Deem editorial team brings important, informative commentary and data to travel managers and everyone interested in technology and the corporate travel industry.

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Why Is Management Important in Tourism?

By Michael Ferguson

Tourism is an industry that relies heavily on effective management to succeed. Management in tourism is crucial for a variety of reasons, including the need to provide high-quality services, attract and retain customers, and maintain a favorable image in the eyes of the public. In this article, we will explore why management is important in tourism and how it can contribute to the success of businesses in this industry.

What is Tourism?

Before we delve into the importance of management in tourism, let’s define what tourism is. Tourism refers to the activities that people engage in when they travel away from their usual place of residence for leisure or business purposes. This includes things like visiting tourist attractions, staying in hotels or resorts, and participating in recreational activities.

The Importance of Management in Tourism

Effective management is essential for any business to succeed, but it’s especially critical for companies operating in the tourism industry. Here are some reasons why:

1. Providing High-Quality Services

One of the most significant ways that management impacts tourism is by ensuring that businesses provide high-quality services to their customers. This includes everything from clean accommodations and excellent customer service to well-maintained tourist attractions and engaging recreational activities.

Tourists have high expectations when they travel, and if businesses fail to meet these expectations, they risk losing customers and damaging their reputation. Effective management ensures that businesses have effective processes and procedures in place to deliver top-notch services consistently.

2. Attracting and Retaining Customers

Another key role of management in tourism is attracting and retaining customers. With so many options available to tourists today, businesses must differentiate themselves from competitors by offering unique experiences or exceptional value.

Effective marketing strategies are essential for attracting new customers, but retaining them requires more than just promotions or discounts. Management needs to create an environment where customers feel valued and appreciated by providing excellent customer service and memorable experiences.

3. Maintaining a Favorable Image

Finally, management plays a crucial role in maintaining a favorable image in the eyes of the public. In today’s interconnected world, news travels fast, and one bad review or negative experience can quickly spread on social media or review sites.

Effective management ensures that businesses are proactive in addressing customer complaints and resolving any issues that arise promptly. By doing so, they can prevent negative reviews from damaging their reputation and maintain a positive image that attracts new customers.

10 Related Question Answers Found

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Top 5 Reasons Why Corporate Travel Compliance is Important in 2021

Jan 12, 2021

I’ve written numerous times about the importance and issues regarding corporate travel compliance.  Studies show that even well managed programs still suffer from between 25-50% program “ leakage ” across air, car, and hotel bookings.  For corporate travel business owners, managing “leakage” becomes part of their program strategy – how can we convince the traveler that booking through the approved channel is better, more beneficial to himself and the company?  That answer varies by traveler, status in the company, and travel habits.  And if we can uncover what drives booking behavior and can satisfy her needs, the entire program benefits even in ways not directly apparent to the traveler.

We know based on studies by leading consumer travel brands, our understanding of how Millennials purchase products and services, and the sheer volume of purchasing choices available in the marketplace today, that driving 100% compliance will only become more elusive in 2021 and beyond.

The problem is that we find ourselves at a point in time where compliance has never been more important.

Compliance is Critical for Risk Management and Duty of Care Programs

When a traveler books his air, car, and hotel reservations through the Travel Management Company, the pertinent booking data is electronically “handed-off” to a third party risk management company or is housed with the TMC’s database for future use or reporting .  In either case, in the event of an emergency, the TMC can quickly communicate or effect impactful change for that traveler.  The types of services that can occur in these situations can be as benign as schedule changes or as serious as medical emergencies, hostage situations, terrorist attacks, hotel fires, or airplane crashes.  With all, companies have both a fiduciary and legal responsibility to the traveler to ensure that reasonable precautions are taken to ensure this duty of care .  Assuming the client does not have access to off-channel booking technology, duty of care is lost when the traveler books outside of the approved TMC.

COVID-19 has brought compliance once again to the forefront.  The industry struggled with this issue after the terrorist events of 9/11 and other international emergencies and again today.  This time, the impact that the pandemic has on risk management programs will be long lasting.  Varying state, federal, and international laws governing travel and traveler points of origin have already become critical elements for well-run risk management programs.

Here are some of the questions that need to be addressed when considering corporate travel compliance and risk management.

• How compliant is your program?
• How do you handle non-compliance?
• Is the data hand-off between your suppliers, your TMC, and your risk company sound?
• Who internally is responsible for your risk program and how do they quality control process and technology?

Compliance Saves Money

All of us know that guy in the office down the hall who books outside of the TMC because he found a better deal elsewhere.  In some cases, this may be true.  But for those who have taken the time to analyze their company’s booking data and have negotiated preferred supplier contracts, these one-off examples do not offset the long term benefit in corporate discount programs.  In fact, in many ways this rogue habit is harmful to the program.  In addition to a duty of care failure, a client’s relationship with its suppliers is driven by both data and a demonstration that it has the support of its senior management as it relates to corporate policy.  This becomes critically important when the client finds himself in a bind, needs a favor, or comes back to the negotiating table as circumstances change that require preferred contracts to be re-negotiated or restructured.

Compliance Helps your Travel Management Company

Travel Management Companies (TMCs) need the help right now.  TMC’s are largely compensated under a variable transaction model which means if the client isn’t booking trips, they aren’t making money.  We are seeing the impact of this now as a result of the pandemic.  TMC’s will start to see transaction revenue return as travel comes back but will also get the added benefit of the incentives they receive from the airlines, hotels, car rental companies, and GDS’s.  When travelers make changes to reservations or use the TMC’s online booking tool, they see revenue and frankly they deserve it.  TMC margins are thin and the service they provide is valuable.  Compliance helps our TMC partners recover more quickly.

Compliance Helps your Travel Manager

Corporate travel tends to be one of the largest discretionary spend categories in companies today but also tends to be one of the most under-staffed.  While you might think that just because travel volume is diminished that Travel Managers are finding themselves with a lighter workload, the opposite is true.  Travel Managers have to re-examine every aspect of their program including risk management, supplier agreements, modifications to travel policy, new technology, and more.  In addition, for every move she makes, a communications and change management plan has to be put in place with the intent to permeate the entire organization.  Chasing down non-compliant travelers makes her job much harder.

Compliance Helps your Entire Company

Corporate travel impacts the company’s entire supply chain.  Best in class organizations tie travel and entertainment expenses to every aspect of their organization in an effort to understand return on investment for everything including sales efforts, account management activity, and direct costs associated with the running of the business.  Compliance provides a level of visibility that provides critical information that gives companies a competitive advantage no matter their industry.

CapTrav offers some support for corporate travel compliance by allowing the travel manager to see all travel bookings no matter the booking source. Learn more about CapTrav and how it can help your corporate travel program maintain visibility and compliance. Request a Demo here . 

Brandon Strauss

Brandon’s career initially focused on supply chain management consulting for mid-market organizations.  Brandon was fortunate enough to get introduced to some senior executives at WorldTravel BTI (BCD Travel) and helped create and manage the first end-to-end self-service booking platform for the company and the first generation of such service in the industry.  Over the last 17 years Brandon has served as a Partner, head of consulting, and co-founder of KesselRun Corporate Travel Solutions, a leading corporate travel consultancy and in 2018 co-founded CapTrav where he currently serves as President of the company.

CapTrav is the market leader in comprehensive corporate travel data capture. Because we collect all corporate travel data no matter the booking source, your program enjoys the ability to better leverage supplier deals, make smart business and policy decisions, and track all travelers in the event of an emergency.

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These are the top 10 countries for travel and tourism

The US retains its prime position in the World Economic Forum's latest Travel & Tourism Development Index. Image:  Unsplash/EveLazco

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• Pent-up demand after the pandemic is expected to drive passenger numbers back up to pre-pandemic levels in 2024.
• The recovery of the travel and tourism sector since the pandemic has been uneven, however, and some nations are better placed than others to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the future.
• The top three best-placed countries for travel and tourism are the US, Spain and Japan, according to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index.

If you were desperate to get away after the restrictions and enforced staying at home of the pandemic years, you were far from alone.

Global international tourist arrivals are expected to meet pre-pandemic levels in 2024 driven by this pent-up demand. But, the recovery of the travel and tourism sector since the pandemic has not been without challenges. Add to that macroeconomic, geopolitical and environmental factors, which have added pressures on the industry.

These pressures will amplify and evolve over the coming years and, along with the growth of digital technologies and AI, may well force the travel industry to adapt.

Some economies are better placed than others to make these changes, respond to future risks and ensure that travel and tourism is a driver of economic growth and prosperity.

With this in mind, the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) aims to serve as a benchmark for stakeholders to gauge progress, inform decisions and policies, and encourage sustainable and resilient growth.

A mixed recovery in challenging conditions

Europe dominates the top 10 economies for T&T, as ranked by the 2023 index, although the top spot is clinched by the US.

But the index also shows that while 71 of the 119 economies it ranks improved their scores between 2019 and 2023, the average improvement is just 0.7% above pre-pandemic levels.

On the one hand, the rebound in travel and tourism has coincided with rising global air route capacity and connectivity, improved international openness, and increased investment in natural and cultural resources driving tourism. On the other hand, non-leisure demand is still lagging, there are ongoing labour shortages, and air route capacity and connectivity, capital investment and productivity have struggled to keep pace with demand.

This has created a supply and demand imbalance which, along with inflationary pressures, has led to reduced price competitiveness and service disruptions.

Europe and Asia-Pacific have the most favourable conditions

Of the top 30 TTDI scorers in 2023, 26 are high-income countries. Nineteen of them are based in Europe, and seven in Asia Pacific.

These countries benefit from favourable business environments and labour markets, open travel policies, advanced technology adoption, excellent transport and tourism infrastructure, and rich natural, cultural and non-leisure attractions.

As a result, this group of 30 accounted for more than three-quarters of T&T industry GDP in 2022, and 70% of GDP growth between 2020 and 2022.

But although this group is leading the way, many of the above-average improvements in scores come from low- to upper-middle-income countries, including sub-Saharan and North Africa, Eurasia, South America, South Asia, and the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

While many have shown improvements, these less affluent countries still make up the vast majority of below-average scorers in the index. More investment is needed to help increase their share of the market and improve their readiness for future risks and opportunities.

Progress needed on resilience and equality

The ability of the travel and tourism sector to grow is limited by challenges like tight labour markets, growing fiscal constraints and concerns around health and security conditions. Labour market resilience will be an increasingly important factor for the sector, but issues like equality of job opportunities, workers’ rights and social protection are holding many economies – particularly low- and middle-income ones – back in this area.

As other sectors proceed to decarbonize, the aviation sector could account for a much higher share of global greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century than its 2%-3% share today.

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) can reduce the life-cycle carbon footprint of aviation fuel by up to 80%, but they currently make up less than 0.1% of total aviation fuel consumption. Enabling a shift from fossil fuels to SAFs will require a significant increase in production, which is a costly investment.

The Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow (CST) Coalition is a global initiative driving the transition to sustainable aviation fuels as part of the aviation industry’s ambitious efforts to achieve carbon-neutral flying.

The coalition brings together government leaders, climate experts and CEOs from aviation, energy, finance and other sectors who agree on the urgent need to help the aviation industry reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The coalition aims to advance the commercial scale of viable production of sustainable low-carbon aviation fuels (bio and synthetic) for broad adoption in the industry by 2030. Initiatives include a mechanism for aggregating demand for carbon-neutral flying, a co-investment vehicle and geographically specific value-chain industry blueprints.

Learn more about the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition's impact and contact us to find out how you can get involved.

Another major hurdle for the sector is balancing growth with sustainability. Although there has been broad progress in areas like energy sustainability, some progress – like the fall in emissions seen during the pandemic – is likely to only be temporary.

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License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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