Can Outsourcing Your Business Travel Bookings Save You Money? 
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Written by Emma Marais

July 22, 2024

Business Travel Bookings

Can outsourcing business travel bookings save you money? It sounds a bit absurd right, to pay a company of travel experts to book your business travel rather than have your office manager or PA make the bookings instead. In the last few years, we saw a rise in the number of business travellers. As per a recent report by Morgan Stanley, the number is expected to increase in the coming years. However, in such a fast-paced business environment, companies may find it challenging to make business travel arrangements for their employees.

Corporate travellers need to have certain travel requirements fulfilled as their needs are not the same as someone travelling for leisure. This then means that finance managers and corporate executives need to have accurate financial statements. It all must be done quickly and effectively.

Fortunately, outsourcing business travel arrangements is not only easy but smart. As some companies employ several people who travel, it becomes especially cost-effective to outsource your business travel as one travel agency can handle the full account, it stands to reason that a company may end up realizing cost savings by using a travel management service. Some drawbacks have to be considered but for many, if not most companies, outsourcing travel management is the right business option.

Outsourcing your business travel bookings can save your company money as well as time. Having a travel management company handle your business trips for you can be highly beneficial.

A business travel agency like The Travel Group manages all elements of business travel for businesses. 

They perform the following functions: 

  • Make travel arrangements such as cruises, rental vehicles, flights and hotels. They also negotiate cost reductions with travel suppliers to get their clients the best available rates. 
  • The Travel Group assists companies in tracking travel expenses. This assists the company in staying under its trip budget and documenting all expenses
  • Assist organizations in adhering to travel rules. This can entail making sure business travellers have the right visas and permits, as well as being informed of local laws and customs. 
  • Support businesses and their employees with travel advice and assistance. These details are handled by a business travel consultant.

Benefits of corporate travel management services: 

1. Seamless booking process:  

 One of the major issues that most companies face is the complexities in the booking process. It can be very daunting to book different flights, hotels, rental cabs etc. for different employees with various destinations and itineraries. Additionally, a lot of time is spent browsing through various third-party websites to choose the best and most cost-effective travel options, and any last-minute cancellations or changes in their business travel plan can make the process more difficult. 

By outsourcing your business travel arrangements to the Travel Group, you do not have to worry about any booking complexities as they handle all aspects for you. 

2. 24/7 Business Travel Support:

Your traveller’s well-being and safety on a business trip is a high priority for us. Travellers may encounter situations such as natural disasters, being stranded in an airport or a city due to a global pandemic, political unrest or loss of baggage. In these situations, travel managers must provide them with business travel support. However, assisting can be difficult during such situations because of variations in time zones, weekends or after-work hours.

Through outsourcing your business travel management you can overcome these issues. A travel management company provides round-the-clock travel assistance to your employees in case of such emergencies. The Travel Group possesses a skilled and committed workforce that can assist your employees in handling unexpected circumstances. 

3. Travel policy compliance. 

Travel policy violations are among the most common problems that travel managers and companies face. Employees violate travel policy for various reasons.

By outsourcing your business travel management, you can ensure travel policy compliance. With the help of software, your business travellers can get real-time visibility of the travel policy. This prevents them from making any out-of-policy bookings or expenses. Additionally, business travellers and approvers are instantly notified if any out-of-policy bookings are made. This way, travel managers don’t have to keep a check on any policy violations. 

4. Cost optimisation

Optimising business travel costs is another major challenge that companies and travel managers face. Corporate travel management services can assist organizations in saving money on travel expenses by negotiating discounts with travel providers, tracking expenses and providing cost-cutting advice. 

To guarantee the greatest level of convenience for your travellers. The specialized corporate travel management service keeps complete profiles on these systems. Which are instantly imported into all your bookings. Your travel policy is kept up to date and is always adhered to. 

As a full-service provider option for corporate travel for companies of all sizes, any travel budget can be maximized by The Travel Group. We are committed to providing specialized business travel options. 

They assist businesses in planning business trips, managing travel needs and providing useful information about hotels and other essential travel facilities. Read our article: Business Travel Agency – What can they do for you? to find out more. 

 Business Travel Bookings

We have reasoned and given a few positives but most people would like to see facts and so we investigated if booking through a Travel Management company saves you money:  

 Let’s see:  

1. Problem: Lots of admin for the internal team. 

Solution: Let a travel expert do it. 

Saving opportunities: 

  • Financial savings equivalent to. 8.5 full-time staff members. 
  • Your existing staff will get time back in their day to focus on other tasks. 
  • Less stress for everyone.

2. Problem: Outdated manual processes. 

Solution: Self-service portal for travel requests. Automated invoice entry with coding, automated approval e-mail trigger to request travel approval. 

Saving opportunities: 

  • Time saved for everyone from your finance team to the travellers themselves  
  • Fewer financial mistakes for invoices being missed or trips not approved in time. 

 3. Problem: Inconsistency in process across regions. 

Solution: New consistent process in all regions, including one company-approved travel management company. 

Saving opportunity:  

  • One process to adhere to and communicate. This results in quicker understanding and time freed up. 
  • With everyone booking with one company, reviewing all company travel, spending and budget in one place. 

4. Problem: Missed information from invoices. 

Solution: Configure an online tool to set up mandatory fields before trips are booked

Saving opportunities: If bookings are all made through the same channel consistently, the team can quickly see travel rates per person. 

 

We invite you to join us on this journey to provide an evolving business travel experience where there is no limit to delivering service and helping our clients succeed in what they do through their travel. Book a free travel assessment and see what The Travel Group can do for you and your business travel. Want to know more about how a business travel agency can save you money, then read this article 7 Ways a Travel Management Company Can Save Your Business Money

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