Corporate travel is a major expense and time-consuming process for many businesses. From comparing flight and accommodation costs to ensuring compliance with travel regulations, companies can spend significant time and money on business travel. Businesses can benefit from having a reliable way to coordinate travel efficiently and reduce expenses. A travel management company (TMC) offers effective ways to achieve these goals.
The Role of a Travel Management Company
A TMC can handle all aspects of corporate travel. While this often includes booking each business trip, similar to what a travel agency does, TMCs offer much more. These companies help businesses build travel programs that fit their specific needs. This typically involves consulting with businesses to discuss the type of travel they do, how often they travel, and other factors. These factors are then used to create a customized travel program to help businesses achieve their goals.
Travel management companies also provide expert advice on the kinds of difficulties that are common with business or corporate travel. For example, they might offer assistance with expense management. Business travelers frequently need to make changes to travel plans, which can add up in terms of fees and other expenses. TMCs have the expertise needed to help businesses lower these expenses.
Working with a TMC gives businesses an opportunity to gain valuable insight into travel expenses and other aspects of corporate travel. In fact, partnering with this type of company offers notable benefits to help businesses travel more efficiently and safely.
Benefit 1: Cost Savings
Business travel accounts for a large part of air and lodging revenue in the travel industry. The U.S. Travel Association states that corporate travel makes up between 40 and 60 percent of this revenue per year. That’s a considerable amount of money that companies are spending on travel.
Discounts and Better Rates
Cost savings is one of the biggest benefits of working with a travel management company. These companies tend to have many business connections among travel suppliers, putting them in a better position to secure the best rates on flights, car rentals, hotels, and more. All of these expenses can add up, resulting in travel expenses that exceed a company’s budget. From negotiating flight bookings at a lower rate to getting discounts on hotel reservations, TMCs can help businesses save a lot of money on travel.
Reduced Expenses with Travel Policy Compliance
Travel management companies can lower travel expenses in other ways as well. They can help improve travel policy compliance, so that employees don’t go over budget on expenses while traveling. The amount that employees spend on business trips can get out of hand if they’re not fully aware of their company’s travel policy. TMCs can make sure businesses have a clearly written and communicated corporate travel policy for employees to follow. This helps employees understand what the limits are in terms of travel expenses, from flights and hotels to meals and ground transportation.
Consolidated Reporting on Travel Spending
Keeping track of travel expenses takes considerable time and effort for a company’s finance department. A TMC provides a more efficient way to handle this. These companies offer Consolidated Travel Reporting and Business Intelligence, which results in more visibility and better control over travel spending. Businesses can get real time information on travel spending and consult with their TMC to determine the right ways to adjust these expenses. The ability to receive customized business travel reports offers a more convenient way to work on reducing travel costs.
Benefit 2: Time Savings
One of the challenges that companies face with business travel is the amount of time spent finding and booking flights and handling other tasks. This can interfere with employees’ ability to focus on other aspects of their job. Companies might also need to hire employees who are solely responsible for handling travel, costing them even more money. Corporate travel management can help companies reduce the time employees spend on travel-related tasks, which helps free up more time for day-to-day operations. Instead of having employees, managers, or dedicated travel employees deal with these tasks, companies can count on a TMC.
Time-saving Tech Solutions
Working with a TMC means that businesses have access to tech solutions that offer more convenience. This might include an online booking tool, such as Concur Travel & Expense, that makes it easy for businesses to make travel plans. These kinds of tools give businesses a quick way to handle travel tasks instead of having to make phone calls or spend time comparing different booking platforms on their own.
Around-the-Clock Support
Problems with business travel can happen at any time. Employees might need to change flights, switch accommodations, or handle other time-sensitive issues before or during business trips. TMCs offer 24/7 support and assistance in these situations, so that travel-related issues can be dealt with right away. With this kind of assistance, businesses don’t have to worry about ensuring that someone in their company is available at all times to provide travelers with support.
Access to Travel Consultants Expertise
Travel management companies take the burden of having to make travel arrangements and handle changes from businesses. TMCs provide expert travel consultants who can take care of all travel arrangements, such as reserving a rental car or booking accommodations. These consultants can also deal with any changes that need to be made, such as switching employees to an earlier flight or changing hotel reservation dates. This benefit helps save companies a significant amount of time.
Benefit 3: Risk Management
Any kind of travel comes with potential risks, which makes risk management important for businesses. Travel management companies offer ways to manage risks, so that employees can travel as safely as possible. This can provide traveling employees with peace of mind, so they can focus more on doing business during their trip.
Emergencies and Safety
TMCs provide effective ways for businesses to know where their employees are currently traveling in case emergency situations occur. For example, transportation strikes, severe weather, political unrest, or pandemics that may disrupt travel plans or make it hazardous for employees at a destination. TMCs also offer tools that make it easy for business travelers to be informed of airline schedule changes and cancellations. All of these events are communicated seamlessly to ensure that travelers stay safe and arrive at their destination without incident.
Duty of Care Policies and Procedures
Duty of care policies and procedures are an essential part of corporate travel. These policies and procedures provide detailed information on a company’s responsibility for traveling employees, including those who travel domestically or internationally. A TMC can help businesses come up with and implement duty of care policies and procedures.
Travel Regulation and Requirement Compliance
Some business trips involve meeting travel requirements or following specific regulations. Employees traveling to certain countries might need to meet certain passport or visa requirements in order to have the right documentation for their trip. Travelers also need to follow travel regulations for flying. Travel management companies can help businesses ensure that employees are in compliance with any relevant travel regulations or requirements.
Benefit 4: Value-added Services
Partnering with a travel management company offers more than cost savings, time savings, and risk management. TMCs also provide additional services that help improve business travel. These value-added services can help boost employee satisfaction and efficiency, especially for workers who travel frequently, while also benefiting employers.
Customized Travel Solutions
Every company has its own specific needs and preferences when it comes to business travel. Some companies might only travel within the U.S., while others might need to book international trips to multiple countries. Some businesses have a few employees who travel, while others have several traveling employees. TMCs create a customized travel program that addresses each company’s preferences and needs.
Destination Knowledge and Local Expertise
Knowing what to expect when traveling to a destination can help improve employees’ experiences with business trips. This kind of knowledge can also help businesses make more efficient travel arrangements, such as booking accommodations closer to the airport for hectic business trips with tight timeframes. Travel management companies offer local expertise and destination knowledge to help travelers feel more at ease and help companies make better travel arrangements.
Other Perks
Working with a TMC can provide companies with other perks, such as loyalty programs that help them save even more money on travel. Other services that might be offered include VIP services and upgrades for C-Suite leaders and other executive travelers. VIP services and air, car, and hotel upgrades can help make business trips more comfortable and enjoyable for travelers.
Teplis Travel
If you’re looking for a dependable travel management company for your business, Teplis Travel can help. We are a full-service B2B travel agency in Atlanta with a reputation for providing reliable services to small and medium-sized enterprises. Our travel experts create customized programs for each client based on their needs.
As a women owned TMC with a strong commitment to customer satisfaction and care, we can help your business build a travel program that saves time and money, while also reducing risk. To learn more about our services, please contact Teplis Travel today.
