Introduction
Travel is an indispensable part of doing business. But left unmanaged, corporate travel costs can quickly spiral out of control. That’s why corporate travel management comes to play. But doesn’t just mean booking flights and hotels for your business trips. It’s a holistic approach to managing all aspects of employee travel and maximizing your organisation’s efficiency, savings and compliance.
An effective corporate travel program goes through six key phases. Together they ensure your corporate travel goals are met and your travel budget is optimized. By implementing best practices at each phase, from creating travel policies to leveraging negotiated rates and online booking tools, companies can save 10-20% annually on their travel budgets. A robust corporate travel management program also promotes compliance with company policies, minimizes risk and enhances employee experience.
Let’s dive into the six phases of an effective corporate travel management system:
Phase 1: Travel Policy
Consistency in employee travel rules and guidelines is essential for any business. So a proper travel policy is the first phase of corporate travel management. A travel policy outlines the guidelines and rules for employee business travel related to expenses, approvals, transportation, accommodations and more.
Having a travel policy is important as it ensures compliance with legal requirements, sets clear expectations for travelers, optimizes cost-effectiveness of travel spend, and improves the efficiency of booking and approval processes. The key elements of a travel policy include authorization limits, preferred booking channels and suppliers, guidelines for different transportation and accommodation options, reimbursement limits, expense reporting procedures, and prohibited expenses.
This phase of corporate travel management involves establishing a comprehensive travel policy to define the goals, constraints and rules for business travel within the organization which lays the foundation for other phases of effective travel management.
Phase 2: Travel Planning
Corporate travel planning can either make or break business travel experience. However,when done right, employees can focus entirely on their objectives without hassle. When done poorly, even the simplest trip becomes stressful and less productive. The key thing of professional travel planning is to collect all vital information up front from travelers – meeting details, deadlines, attendee lists, accommodation needs, equipment requests, budgets, and company policies.
Armed with this information, your travel managers can then work their magic. They browse through the web for the optimal options within budget – flights that minimize jet lag, hotels in safe locations, rental cars the right size, and ground transportation straight to the meeting. They provide a single itinerary for travelers to follow with ease.
By managing the complex logistics and handling the little details that trouble even frequent travelers, your corporate travel team enables employees to maximize their time on their work. Instead of stressing over the trip, travelers can focus on achieving their business objectives. With good travel planning in place, every business trip has the potential to be a success.
Phase 3: Booking and Reservations
The booking and reservation process is crucial to a successful corporate travel management program. Without efficient reservation procedures, business trips quickly become chaotic and stressful.
What matters most is having experienced travel experts/ corporate consultants who navigate airline, hotel and car rental websites to find the best options that meet your travelers’ needs while securing the lowest rates. They make reservations quickly and accurately, ensuring travelers have all the information they need to plan and prepare for their trips.
The experts also manage changes and cancellations when needed, and rebook alternative arrangements when issues arise. They maximize loyalty programs and points – taking advantage of every discount and benefit to enhance your company’s travel program.
All of this allows your employees to spend less time searching for deals and making their own reservations and more time focusing on their job responsibilities. When reservations and bookings are handled expertly by a dedicated team, your travelers can embark on their trips peacefully knowing everything has been arranged correctly. This enables them to deliver optimal results once they reach their destinations. With an efficient reservation process in place, travel no longer needs to be a stressful burden – but rather a productive and enjoyable part of doing business.
Phase 4: Travel consulting services & Risk Management
Travel consulting services are the fourth important phase of any comprehensive business travel management solution. Consultants provide expertise and best practices to optimize your corporate travel program, helping maximize savings, increase traveler satisfaction and boost duty of care. They analyze spending data, benchmark against industry peers, identify savings opportunities and recommend policies and processes to improve efficiency.
On the risk management front, consultants ensure your business travel management program incorporates proper duty of care measures to keep travelers safe. This includes advising on travel safety and security policies, monitoring global events and hazards, providing pre-travel briefings, real-time alerts and 24/7 emergency assistance while deployed.
Together, travel consulting and risk management can help transform your corporate travel management into an efficient, compliant and safe business travel operation that allows employees to travel confidently – enabling them to focus fully on achieving their professional objectives while deployed on assignment.
Phase 5: Travel Experience & Post-Travel Analysis
Ensuring a positive travel experience and conducting thorough post-travel analysis are essential parts of any effective business travel management solution. Meeting with travelers before and after trips to gather feedback helps surface issues and opportunities for improvement. During trips, customer support are available around the clock to resolve issues, rebook changed plans, and address urgent needs.
After travel, exit surveys and debriefings elicit firsthand feedback on hotel and flight satisfaction, problems encountered, and suggestions for the future. All this insight provides a window into your broader corporate travel program’s strengths and weaknesses, empowering travel managers to refine policies, select better vendors, and institute process changes that result in an increasingly positive travel experience for all employees.
With business travel environment constantly evolving, a comprehensive post-travel analysis program is key for any corporate or business travel management strategy seeking continual enhancements. By listening carefully to travelers throughout the entire trip, corporate travel managers can transform even the most mundane business trips into opportunities for productivity, relationship-building and personal growth – elevating every aspect of an organization’s human capital.
Phase 6: 24/7/365 customer support
Round-the-clock customer support is critical for any comprehensive business travel management solution. Travelers need to know someone is available to assist them whenever issues arise – big or small.
24/7 customer support resolves flight changes, rebook lost reservations, address urgent needs, and provide real-time safety alerts. They arrange last-minute requirements and act as a trusted ally for travelers navigating unfamiliar places. This peace of mind lets employees focus on work instead of worrying about logistics while traveling.
Providing 24/7 support shows an organization’s commitment to keeping travelers safe, informed and productive – no matter the time difference or location. It signals that employee well-being remains a priority even when individuals are in different time zones on international assignments.
Reliable 24/7 support can truly elevate any business travel management strategy. Travel no longer needs to be a source of stress but an opportunity for productivity, growth and relationship-building. When issues arise, travelers know someone has their back at any hour, so they focus on achieving their objectives.
Conclusion
Corporate travel management can transform everyday business trips into growth, productivity and relationship-building opportunities. However, when corporate travel is not managed properly, even the simplest trips become stressful and less productive. Travelers spend too much time on logistics and problem-solving instead of their actual work.
That’s why comprehensive business travel management solutions are imperative today. These six phases cover the entire trip lifecycle, from planning through post-travel analysis. And 24/7 customer support ensures issues get resolved quickly so travelers can stay focused on why their trip matters.
Managed flawlessly, corporate travel elevates every aspect of an organization’s human capital. Employees gain experiences and build connections that only travel can provide – to serve the company’s broader goals and mission.
But it starts with having the right processes, policies, technology and people to coordinate every aspect of employees’ trips – from beginning to end. That’s the true power of effective business travel management.
