Understanding business travel management
To say that companies spend a lot of time and money on corporate travel would be a vast understatement.In fact, business travel is typically the second biggest line item in the average company’s budget — only topped by salaries. Knowing this, it’s easy to see why companies need to be thoughtful and deliberate about how they manage business trips and travel expenses.The first step of this process is creating a corporate travel policy.These internal documents provide booking guidelines and expensing procedures to help travelers pick flights and hotels that are within budget and get reimbursed for these expenses as quickly as possible. Travel policies help communicate consistent flight and hotel booking expectations for travelers and streamline the approval process.But, a travel policy is just the first step.Most companies find that they need another layer of oversight and management to help control costs, provide support for business travelers, and book on behalf of busy employees.Historically, companies have turned to one of two main options for this type of corporate travel management: corporate travel agents and travel managers.What to look for in business travel management?
An effectively managed corporate travel program has some important hallmarks: you will be saving time and money on bookings, you’ll know exactly where you stand against your travel spend budget, and, most importantly, your business travelers will be happy.If you can accomplish these three things, you’ll find that your travel program is a lot more effective and streamlined than before.What to avoid in business travel management?
But there are still some aspects of corporate travel that you’ll need to make sure you’re avoiding or minimizing.The most important is booking and change fees.Most corporate travel agencies charge a not-so-small fee every time you book a flight or hotel room through them. These fees add up quickly and can eat away at any savings you might be getting from negotiated fares.Another important thing to avoid is a lack of visibility into your travel spend and budget.Outsourcing travel management may save you time on the booking end, but if it makes it harder to track spend and stay under your budget, it’s a net loss.And finally, you’ll want to avoid leakage, which occurs when travelers are put off by the process or delay of having their travel booked by someone else.Instead, they use a consumer online booking tool like KAYAK for travel bookings, meaning that they’re not getting access to negotiated fares and their travel expenses aren’t visible in a centralized reporting tool.Given all these nuances and complexities, it’s no surprise that business travel management is changing. New tools and tactics are quickly emerging to help companies solve this vexing problem.Trends in business travel management
In the last couple of decades, many manual, labor-intensive processes have been supplanted by lightweight, software-based solutions, and business travel management is no exception.What’s driving the latest business travel trends?
It wasn’t long ago that booking and managing business trips took a lot of industry know-how and specialized tools. But improved technology (including consumer booking tools) and travel industry disruption have changed the landscape.Now, many companies are turning to corporate travel software to replace the manual, cobbled-together processes that have been part of corporate travel management for years.More and more companies are realizing that user-friendly travel management platforms that connect directly to flight and hotel inventory can save them time, money and headaches when managing their travel programs.What are some expected developments in business travel?
As these tools mature, new trends in business travel management are emerging. Business travelers can more easily book their own travel, thanks to more intuitive interfaces and simpler workflows.And, finally, spend management software is making it easier for travelers to get reimbursed for travel and expenses and for finance teams to view travel spend in real-time.Why is it important for companies to keep abreast of developments in business travel?
As new tools emerge to help companies manage global business travel, it’s more important than ever for you to keep up. If you’re still paying fees for every business travel transaction, or providing lackluster support for your traveling employees, you’re jeopardizing your company’s success.Given that corporate travel is such a large expense, companies who find incremental gains and more efficient processes will give themselves a meaningful competitive advantage.Conversely, companies still relying on outdated, expensive options will be set up for failure.But where should you start in your quest to bring on more modern, effective corporate travel management solutions?Tools and resources for managing business travel
By this point you should know that new travel management platforms are emerging as a modern way to book, manage and report on corporate travel. All with lower costs, more flexibility and better support than older methods.What is business travel management software?
At its core, corporate travel management software digitizes the work of a corporate travel manager.Travelers can use these apps in place of online consumer booking tools to book their own travel — while ensuring that they’re staying within policy, earning personal loyalty points, and easily sending travel expenses for reimbursement.Travel managers can use the platforms to book on behalf of frequent travelers and provide consistent booking guidelines for employees who book for themselves.Finance teams can use these tools to get real-time visibility into travel expenses, reimburse employees automatically, and forecast future travel spend.?)
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