The Benefits of Using a Travel Management Company for Your Business

Want to know what are the benefits of using a travel management company for your business? If yes, then keep reading this article.

Traveling for business can be both exciting and stressful.

It can be exciting as it offers employees the opportunity to:

• Meet new people
• Explore different places
• Expand your business network

However, it can be stressful for travel managers owing to the following:

• Managing business travel can be time-consuming and overwhelming
• The problems associated with finding the best flight and hotel deals to managing itineraries
• Coordinating ground transportation
• Ensuring compliance with company policies, and so on

This is where a corporate travel management company comes into the picture.

Such companies generally deal with the travel arrangements for various corporate organizations, which allows the latter to focus on their business objectives in a hassle-free manner.

Owing to their expertise and travel management software, such TMCs or travel management companies can help streamline the entire travel process, saving businesses:

• Time
• Money
• Stress

In this blog, we will be exploring the various benefits of using a corporate travel management company (TMC) for your business travel needs.

10 Benefits of Using a Travel Management Company for Your Business

From saving money to using the latest travel management software. So, here are the top 10 benefits of using a travel management company for your business:

1. Improves Efficiency

Businesses today thrive on efficiency.

A travel management company can help you maintain efficiency standards by taking over all your travel needs. From finding the cheapest flights to arranging accommodations as per your preference, a TMC will do this and more.

This is because a corporate travel management company already has business relationships and access to the required resources in place to carry out the functions with minimal fuss.

Many TMCs also enable multi-software integration, which aids in optimizing the process and ensures everyone in the company is on the same page.

2. Cost-Saving Travel

One of the significant benefits of utilizing the services of a corporate travel management company is the drastic decrease in travel expenditure.

As per reports, a business traveler spends $949 on each business trip. Therefore, it is crucial to reduce business travel costs while ensuring the safety and comfort of your employees.

Since TMCs are quite familiar with all the key players in the travel management world, such as the flights, hotels, to local travel facilities, they can negotiate lower rates.

Additionally, their transparency helps you plan your travel budget better, which mitigates the risk associated with unforeseen circumstances, as you can provision for contingencies as well.

3. Access to 24*7 Support

A corporate travel management company provides its clients with an expert support team.

The company:

• Coordinates with your travel manager to understand your requirements and develop a customized program to suit your needs
• Provides recommendations for improving your travel programs, industry updates, expert advice, etc.
• Lets its clients’ employees have 24*7 access to a well-qualified support team. This is especially important if your employee travels internationally and needs immediate help. Having round-the-clock access also builds their confidence in your commitment to ensuring their safety.

4. Consolidated and Enhanced Reporting

Did you know it takes about 38 minutes to complete an expense report? What’s shocking is that at least 19% of the reports have errors despite the time invested in the same.

Most TMCs offer reporting tools using their travel management software, which allows you to get:

• Error-free real-time consolidated information
• Enhanced reporting

This helps you keep track of all the essential things, such as travel expenses and spending analysis, and enables you to study them in greater detail.

For example, you can easily identify where most of your travel expenses go and adjust your plans using the available data.

5. Latest Technologies and Tools

Manually updating emails and spreadsheets is a process that is both time-consuming and prone to errors. A corporate travel management company can help you save time and money by streamlining your travel processes.

The best TMCs also provide a self-booking option to your employees.

With the help of advanced tools, the employees or travel managers can see personalized choices that fit their budget and use the self-booking option to book their trip.

6. Risk Management

As a business owner, you have a legal and moral responsibility to keep your employees safe while traveling for business.

This is also a part of your duty of care responsibilities. However, according to a study by the Global Business Travel Association, only half of travel managers across the globe feel confident locating their employees within two hours of an emergency.

With a corporate travel management company handling your business travel, you do not have to worry about your duty of care responsibilities.

The TMC keeps track of all the employees traveling for business and can provide real-time information, which can reassure your employees of their safety and security while on the go.

7. Making Data-Driven Decision

Data is at the heart of all business operations, including travel management. This data essentially refers to your employees’:

• Expenses
• Spending habits
• Budget savings
• Department-wise spending, among other factors

Besides this, TMCs often use travel management software to provide advanced business travel analytics that lets you see all the travel data on one dashboard. So you can view and analyze your expenses and use the data to make changes.

8. Better Compliance

Policy compliance is an integral part of a robust travel program.

However, employees often tend to violate the policies due to either:

• A lack of understanding of the guidelines
• Or not having access to them in real-time

TMCs use travel management software to minimize the instances of the above instances occurring.

With the help of this software, employees are made aware of the:

• Different compliances and avoid violating them
• Transparency regarding different policies and their explanations, which helps foster the employees’ cooperation in adhering to the guidelines

9. Concierge Services

As a travel manager, providing additional services to your employees can be challenging.

Factors like price and coordination make the process of availing of these services lengthy.

Moreover, the best corporate travel management companies solve this problem by providing additional services like:

• Cab services
• Business travel insurance, etc.

These services are known as concierge services.

10. Personalized Experience

Business travel is an integral part of companies, so much so that about 90.6% of travel managers believe it is essential for the company’s growth.

The satisfaction and comfort of their employees during the trip are crucial to determining its success. Besides this, a corporate travel management company can ensure this satisfaction by providing personalized recommendations to your employees.

The travel management software used by TMCs has tools such as predictive analysis, which analyzes preferences and makes recommendations based on the same.

Conclusion

Using a corporate travel management company can be a complete game-changer for your travel needs.

By partnering with them, you can:

• Save time and money and reduce the stress of arranging business travel
• Improve policy compliance
• Enhance your employees’ safety and well-being
• Provide analytics to optimize your travel program

So, consider the above benefits and take the first step towards a better travel experience for your business today!