Does Your Company Need Travel Management?

Travel Management is absolutely vital to large companies with large travel budgets. But will travel management work with your smaller company? As your company grows, travel has the potential to be a headache. A Travel Management Company will manage your company’s corporate travel program. Among other things, they will often provide an online booking tool, mobile application, program management, executive travel services, meetings support, and detailed reporting.

Here are a number of key reasons to start a travel management program:

Control Costs: It is common for travel spend to be a company’s second largest overhead just behind salaries. Travel can be a big number for a start-up. While the growth in travel may slow over time, it won’t stop. Corporate travel is necessary to sustain and grow most businesses. Travel is an investment.
Define Logistics: Whether you have 10 or 500 employees, how do you administer travel? Do employees book on their own and use their own charge cards? Is travel centralized through a single administrator or multiple administrators? How do you approve their travel and report on it? “Home Grown” programs tend to be rife with inefficiencies as a result of logistics. A travel policy address all of these issues and provides guidance for everyone involved with travel. Every company has some form of travel policy in place now. The question is – does it work? Does it define the lowest logical airfare, preferred suppliers, allowable expenses, etc.?
Take Control: In addition to a travel policy that works for your company and culture, you need some kind of trip approval. Approval is of course part of your travel policy. Travel cost is controlled with an approval process that is consistent and requires trip justification. Do you have a “trip model” for frequent destinations? (i.e. what should a trip to Ottawa look like (air/hotel and car rental) and what should it cost? Do you have a travel budget? Does it provide spend limits? Since revenues and expenses can fluctuate, does your travel budget change?
Increase Productivity: Finally, the indirect cost savings within a managed travel program are often a second thought. Employees can spend hours on the internet booking simple trips. Hours searching for hotels and car rentals. Travel receipts can be incomplete and a mess. Incomplete data means reporting is not accurate.

Travel management works!

Don’t take our word for it. Take a closer look. Travel management companies help client companies solve many of these fundamental business problems and much more. The next step? Contact us of course. Plus Travel Group can help! We are experts at navigating the complexities of corporate travel and can build a customized travel program based on your unique needs.

Travel Management - Starting a Business Travel Trip