For many companies, corporate travel is a key component of running a modern business and one of the largest expenses. Travel costs need to be carefully controlled, while the logistics need to be handled so travelers do not encounter difficulties. For this reason, many turn to a travel management company for help. In this article, you will learn more about travel management as a discipline and some of the key benefits a TMC company can offer.

Table of Contents:

What is Travel Management?

Broadly speaking, travel management refers to the strategic management of travel requirements, with corporate travel management as the main example. It typically involves everything from establishing a travel policy to dealing with vendors, making bookings, and helping to monitor and manage travel costs and expenses.

A travel management company is tasked with managing travel for a client. The client will usually be a business or other organization, but individuals might opt to use a TMC company, too, in some instances.

Aside from managing travel requirements and logistics, a travel management company typically aims to save clients time and money. Their role is broader in scope than of a travel agent because a travel agent will usually make reservations based on set criteria. In contrast, a TMC company may help to establish the criteria.

You can find more information about travel management in the article “What is Travel Management?”.

9 Benefits of Using a Travel Management Company

Travel management companies can be valuable to companies for many reasons. Some of these are obvious, while others are more easily overlooked. Below, you will find nine main benefits of using a TMC company to manage your business travel strategy.

1. Cheaper Flights and Hotels

While it is true that a TMC company will require payment for their services, often on a subscription basis or by charging a fee for the services you use, the reality is that they can still save you considerable amounts of money. This is especially true if you travel regularly, or have employees who travel regularly.

A travel management company will have business connections across the entire travel industry, allowing them to gain favorable hotel rates. They also have the expertise to look for cheap flights in the right place and book flights at the right time. As a result, overall travel costs can be significantly reduced.

2. Expert Advice and Insight

Any experienced travel management company will know the travel industry inside out and will have learned some tricks along the way. With this in mind, they can provide expert advice on how to spend your money best, what the best travel routes are, and what you need to know before you visit certain destinations.

In many cases, businesses will work with a TMC company specializing in dealing with clients in the same industry. This can be extremely useful, as some industries have specific or nuanced travel needs. Prior experience can help the travel management company to optimize your travel strategy and steer you away from common pitfalls.

3. 24/7 Help and Support

Another great thing about working with a travel management company is the availability of support. With most companies, this will be available around the clock, or close to it. This means that if something goes wrong, if you need to make a sudden change, or if you need urgent advice, there will be someone on hand to help you.

Without using a travel manager, you will need to handle any issues with travel internally. This could mean you struggle to find support outside of your core business hours, or you are personally responsible for providing support for every corporate traveler in your organization, even if they need help at unsociable hours.

4. Assistance With Travel Policies

Business travel should be as consistent as possible, but you must keep traveling employees happy and safe. For these reasons, you must establish a travel policy. With a clear policy in place, everyone knows where they stand, acceptable and unacceptable behaviors can be outlined, and rules on expenses can be established.

Not only can a travel management company assist you with creating a robust policy, they will also be able to help enforce it, such as by only recommending travel options that meet all the requirements.

5. Consolidated Reporting

Regarding reporting your travel expenses, most travel management companies will consolidate information into a single report, helping to bring the important information together in one place. This makes it easier to keep track of your travel expenses and identify whether or not your spending in this area is too high.

In addition to consolidating reporting in this way, the best corporate travel management experts will go the extra mile, helping you analyze the information in your reports to make adjustments to your strategy.

6. Travel Alerts or Warnings

With many businesses, it is put out of mind once travel is arranged until nearer the time. However, with a travel management company, any travel plans can be more actively monitored and managed. One of the ways this manifests is through the use of travel alerts or warning messages, which are sent to flag important information.

For instance, alerts may be sent if there is a disruption on the planned travel route, allowing you to prepare for all eventualities. Finding out this information promptly can also provide huge financial benefits.

7. The Use of Modern Technology

It is important to understand that a modern travel management company will provide the necessary tools and systems to book your travel easily. This could, for example, mean they will provide you with computer software, or a mobile app, which will allow you to submit your travel plans or requests at any time of the day.

The use of cutting-edge technology enables far greater efficiency in this area. If you manage travel arrangements yourself, the entire process can take a significant amount of time. By contrast, using a mobile app or computer software package to make a request to your TMC company can usually be done in a few short minutes.

8. Greater Peace of Mind

Travel management can be complicated, and it is surprisingly easy to overlook something, whether sorting out visa requirements, ensuring business travelers have the right medical coverage, or organizing airport transfers. A key benefit of working with a TMC company is the peace of mind it affords.

Your chosen business travel agency will work with you to understand your needs and ensure everything is handled. Their expertise in the field makes it far less likely that anything will be accidentally overlooked.

9. More Time For Other Tasks

Finally, a major reason so many organizations turn to a travel management company is that it frees up more of their time, which can then be spent on other tasks crucial to business success. Travel management is a multi-faceted discipline; finding the cheapest flights, and the best hotels, and arranging transfers takes time.

Not only will a high-quality TMC company be able to handle these responsibilities on your behalf, but they also have existing business relationships with vendors, offering them much faster access to the best possible rates.

How to Choose a Travel Management Company

There are several important factors to consider when finding the right travel management company. On a basic level, you want to find a company with relevant experience and an established reputation for delivering excellent service. You also need to know they can tailor their services to your business.

When possible, it is advisable to work with a TMC company with prior industry experience. It is also best to establish a corporate travel policy before starting the search process. Your chosen company will eventually be able to help you to optimize this, but having a basic policy in place will help you find the right fit.

You need to consider your budget and find a company that will deliver what you need at an affordable price. At the same time, working with a high-quality company that uses the latest technology is important. You will also want assurances that the company will offer support 24/7 or close to it.

How Hotels Can Profit From Travel Management Companies

Frequent corporate travel can be expensive and complicated, especially when juggling multiple business travelers with unique itineraries. For this reason, many companies acquire the services of travel management companies or corporate travel agents. Essentially, these agents take over responsibility for arranging and managing business travel, including bookings. Any hotel looking to capitalize on business travel fully must make themselves as available to these travel management companies as possible.

A corporate travel agent may be responsible for finding accommodation, flights, and other forms of transportation and will typically turn to a global distribution system (GDS) to assist them with these tasks. This means the main GDS systems function as a vital distribution channel for hotels. By connecting to these global distribution systems, you can provide travel agents with access to the most up-to-date information about your room rates and current availability. This increases the chances that they will book rooms in your hotel, helping you maximize revenue.

In the article “Global Distribution System (GDS): What Are the Benefits for Hotels?” you will learn more about the top GDS systems and how they can help your hotel to benefit from travel agents and travel management companies.

List of Travel Management Companies

Since travel management companies organize business trips and events for the employees of companies, hotels can create the possibility to attract more corporate travelers by making their property available to multiple TMC companies. In the article “Corporate Travel Agents for Hotels to Gain More Business Travelers”, you will find a list of popular travel management companies.

Travel Job Boards to Find Travel Management Companies

A travel management company will often advertise job vacancies online, and one of the most common ways to do this is to use travel job boards. Some job boards are specifically aimed at the travel industry and are primarily used by businesses in the industry and individuals who wish to work in the industry.

In the “Travel Jobs: The Best Travel Industry Job Boards for Your Career” article, you can find a breakdown of some of the best job boards used by travel management companies and others in the travel sector.

Online Travel Agent as an Alternative to Travel Management Company

When booking travel, the main alternative to a travel management company is to turn to an online travel agent, or OTA. These function similarly to conventional travel agents, serving as a link between vendors and customers, but they operate online and have a much greater emphasis on self-service.

In the article “12 Online Travel Agents (OTAs) to Increase Your Hotel Bookings“, you will be able to access a list of some of the most popular OTAs and learn more about how these platforms work and what they can offer.

A travel management company can assist individuals and businesses by helping to manage their travel requirements. With a typical TMC company taking on tasks like contacting travel companies, negotiating with hotels, arranging flights, and providing extra support, businesses can save money and spend more time on their day-to-day operations.

More Tips Regarding Corporate Travel

The corporate travel market is receiving an increased focus from many in the travel industry, partly business travelers often spend more money on their travels, especially when their employer covers their costs. However, more importantly, business travel is growing, thanks to factors like globalization and the availability of flights. In the following articles, you will find more information about the corporate travel market:

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten

Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, I specialize in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have successfully developed, implemented, and managed revenue management and marketing strategies for individual properties and multi-property portfolios.