Travel management 101: Back to the basics of corporate travel
Travelling for business isn't just about hopping on a plane – it requires structured precision and robust support. As corporate travel grows, so does your need for an efficient travel management programme.
This guide includes:
- Business travel management 101
- What is a corporate travel manager?
- What is a travel management company (TMC)?
- Managed vs unmanaged travel
- What is corporate travel tech?
- What is a corporate travel management system?
- Five key parts of an effective travel programme
- Why partner with Corporate Traveller?
- Additional resources
What is corporate travel management?
Corporate travel management refers to the strategic planning, coordination, and control of multiple processes - all relating to business travel. Each company has its own unique approach on how to manage corporate travel, but at the end of the day, the primary goal remains the same: guaranteeing safe and cost-effective travel for employees, within the framework of the company's policies and guidelines.
This involves (but is in no way limited to) overseeing travel expenses, mitigating potential travel risks, and ensuring booking processes adhere to the company travel policy.
Businesses navigate travel management through various channels, including:
- Travel management companies (TMC)
- In-house travel manager(s)
- External travel agents
That’s why Corporate Traveller created this guide. It’s packed with knowledge and insights, covering everything from the basics of business travel management to evaluating the advantages of the right travel management software solutions.
Whether you're an aspiring travel manager or a seasoned business professional looking to enhance an existing travel programme, this guide serves as your map through the maze that is corporate travel management.
What is a corporate travel manager?
A corporate travel manager is typically an internal employee who’s responsible for coordinating the business travel programme. They create the corporate travel policy, handle duty of care (DOC) and risk management initiatives, as well as assisting the company to navigate the global business travel landscape.
Daily duties include:
- Booking trips for employees across various roles
- Tracking departmental travel expenses to stay on budget
- Offering travel support to employees throughout their journey
- Managing the travel vendors or tools being used
- Negotiating corporate rates with frequently used hotels
- Arranging group travel and ground transportation, like rental cars, buses, or trains
- Tracking company travel spend and providing reports for analysis
SIDE NOTE: When the expertise comes from someone outside the organisation, we call those experts corporate travel agents.
What is a travel management company (TMC)?
A travel management company (TMC) is a specialised corporate travel agency that helps businesses take control of their travel needs.
Think of it as having a dedicated travel expert in your corner. From booking flights and securing hotels to managing expenses and diving into spend data, a TMC handles the full picture so you don't have to.
What makes Corporate Traveller different? It's the full package: holistic travel management services built to streamline your processes, cut costs, and make business travel genuinely easier for your team.
Got a travel programme that's growing fast? More employee travel means more complexity. Corporate Traveller gives you access to negotiated rates, clear spend visibility, and savings across the board - all from any device, anywhere.
Managed vs. unmanaged travel
Managed travel refers to any business trip planning that is supported by the services and expertise of a TMC. Travel bookings are either made with a dedicated travel consultant or via the travel company’s online booking tool (OBT) - all of which are consolidated into a single, easy-to-digest report.
Unmanaged travel, on the other hand, is where an organisation handles its own business travel arrangements. In some cases, travel tasks and responsibilities may be delegated to a travel arranger or assistant. In others, businesses leave employees to book for themselves directly on [InsertAirlineHere].com
When do companies move from self-booking to a managed travel service?
For some businesses, unmanaged travel is a highly attractive option. But things aren’t always as they seem.
Unless your whole corporate travel programme is basic, infrequently used, and/or easy A-B routes, eventually your corporate travel planning needs will become a hefty lift for one in-house person to handle.
Is your travel programme unmanaged? Check out our article on managed vs. unmanaged corporate travel to see some key benefits to a managed programme that you might not know you’re missing out on.
What is corporate travel technology?
Think of travel management software as your very own control tower for corporate travel. It's a centralised platform built to streamline and automate every part of your travel programme, including:
- Travel booking
- Travel supplier management
- Approval workflows
- Corporate travel policy enforcement
- Real-time traveller tracking
- Expense management
- Reporting and analytics
These travel management solutions aren’t just confined to desktops! They’re also offered as user-friendly mobile apps, allowing employees to book and manage their business trips without a travel agent or manager.
In short? You get full visibility and control over your bookings, policies, expenses, and reporting, all in one place.
REMEMBER: Don’t just pick any OBT. Look for a solution that connects every part of your travel programme. The right tool won't just handle bookings; it'll bridge the gap between teams, keep your policy on track, and make cross-department collaboration a whole lot smoother.
What is a corporate travel management system?
This is a holistic tech stack that consists of software solutions that work together to provide end-to-end corporate travel planning. Such a cohesive system gives you the ability to streamline approvals, stay connected to employees wherever they are, and improve business travel compliance.
By integrating different software solutions such as online booking tools, expense management systems, and travel risk management platforms, companies can create a comprehensive travel programme that enhances the traveller experience, reduces costs, and improves compliance.
With a travel tech stack in place, companies can also gain greater visibility into employee travel spend, track traveller behaviours, and make data-driven decisions to optimise strategies for their travel programme.
Introducing Melon
Our corporate travel platform, Melon, is a lot like having a travel expert with you at all times. One that not only knows corporate travel basics in-and-out, but can manage large-scale requests, complex itineraries, and maintain traveller wellness and duty of care. Melon lets you book, manage, track, and report - from a single, easy-to-use location.
How Melon works
Using Melon is a simple process, where you first make a booking through the platform. In–policy bookings can be set to automatically approve, while off-policy requests require manual approvals.
Once booked, the itineraries are integrated into your expenses and visible in upcoming trips. In transit, travellers can access 24/7 emergency support in the event of a disruption on the road - anytime, anywhere.
5 key components of an effective corporate travel management programme
No matter the size of the organisation, number of stakeholders, or software employed, an effective corporate travel management programme typically consists of several key components:
1. Inclusive corporate travel policies
This one might seem obvious, but it can’t be stressed enough. Your travel policy is an extension of your travel programme and company culture. A travel policy is the glue that holds your travel programme together – from approvals, expenses, booking processes, and emergency contacts.
Having a travel policy helps you:
- Control travel costs
- Determine how reimbursement works
- Compile a list of trusted and approved travel vendors
- Manage an employee’s travel experience and safety
- Cut rogue bookings and simplify approvals
- Budget, report on travel expenses and activity, and reconcile bookings
As a company, your travel policy helps centralise your travel programme, makes data and tracking more accurate and easier to navigate, and saves time and money. Plus, if you take the time to craft your policy in an intentional and inclusive way, you’ll have a policy your travellers are happier to follow.
Want to learn how? Check out our guide to corporate travel policies.
2. The “right” corporate travel booking tool
Not all online booking tools are created equal.
Look for a travel platform that helps you develop processes that simplify:
- Travel policy compliance: You've gone through the trouble of building a policy that meets all your travellers' needs. How can you make sure your travellers follow it? A corporate travel management platform, like Melon, allows you to outline your travel policy in the platform, as well as alert bookers when they’re selecting options that fall outside the travel policy guidelines.
- Centralised booking: Booking across different websites and compiling them into one organised itinerary is tricky. Melon brings all the available booking options, including flights, hotels, and transportation, into one platform.
- Preferred vendor integration: Have a preferred airline? Enjoy a specific hotel bed the most? Collecting rental car loyalty points? Melon delivers your preferred vendors first, so you always find what you're looking for. You'll rest easy knowing your travellers are choosing from the negotiated rates and exclusive deals that protect your bottom line.
- Approval workflows: Stop wasting time on exhaustive approvals. With Melon, you can set up a custom approval workflow to make sure that travel requests are routed to the appropriate managers for review. Once approved, Melon takes care of booking the rest.
- Ready-to-scale: Whether you’re growing slowly or at breakneck speed, Melon has a global customer base and purchasing power. It can support you not only in creating a personalised travel programme, but also by providing travellers with 24/7 real human support by phone or live chat - no call centres or chatbots!
3. Consolidated reporting and expense management
It’s hard to think strategically about your travel programme when your travel spend data is split up amongst several places. This is where consolidating your data into a single travel management company is extremely valuable:
- Centralise your data management: The sheer volume of incoming travel data can be overwhelming. You can spot trends and opportunities to cut travel costs, as well as enhance your travel programme, from a single dashboard.
- Leverage the right tools: TMCs offer a range of tools for various aspects of travel management. With the right TMC, you can consolidate the tools you need for reporting, so that you can quickly track everything from travel expenses to carbon emissions.
- Nothing will get past you: One of the most common basic corporate travel challenges companies face with their travel programmes is booking leakage, where employees make bookings outside the approved channels. By consolidating your travel data, you can more effectively identify and target booking, supplier, or channel leakage and plug it.
4. Corporate travel discounts & rates
Business travel isn’t cheap. And if it is not managed effectively, it can be a black hole for your company’s budget.
Corporate travel rates are special deals that are offered to companies by travel service providers. These rates are specifically designed to cater to the travel needs of individual businesses, giving them access to more economical options and perks that might not be available to the average solo traveller.
Why? Essentially, travel services providers want to give businesses like yours a more attractive rate, so that they can gain your loyalty and secure a higher volume of business. This includes air travel, hotels, car rentals, and rideshare accounts.
While DIY booking can seem tempting sometimes, booking directly via airline or hotel sites keeps costs and policy checks separate. A corporate travel team centralises rates, support, and policy compliance, making it easier to leverage insights and build travel strategies based on your data.
So how can you benefit? That’s easy – invest in a full travel management package.
When you partner with us, you can expect greater choices without missing out on business travel savings. With a network spanning 90+ countries and counting, Corporate Traveller can hook you up with ALL the rates.
5. Proactive duty of care
Duty of care is a company’s moral and legal obligation to monitor its employees' safety and security. And when your employees venture beyond the borders of their familiar workspace, their health and safety take centre stage.
Most incidents that occur on business trips are not a matter of life-or-death, but they can still be pretty inconvenient. From a stolen phone to food poisoning, small incidents may add up to lost workdays, wasted business trips, and unhappy employees.
To keep your travellers safe, they need support and assistance - no matter where they are. This not only ensures that they’re always safe, but also that they feel safe. The safer your team members feel on their travels, the more relaxed and productive they’ll be - improving staff retention and streamlining their travel experiences.
The best way to ensure your traveller’s safety? Preparation when planning for your business trips. Put a plan in place to reassure your travellers and give them a game plan for every potential situation. With the right prep, you’ll know exactly where all your travellers are and how to reach them at any point in their journey.
Your business travel matters, make it count
Business travel that actually works? That's what Corporate Traveller is here for.
From booking flights to managing budgets, the team takes the hard work off your plate so you can focus on the trip, not the admin. Think tailored solutions, expert support, and a travel programme built around your business.
Travel expertise? Anytime. We get you and your travellers where they need to go. You can depend on a team of real people to support you, 24/7.
Latest tech? Always ahead. Innovative booking solutions, real-time updates, and on-demand reporting to take visibility to the next level.
The best fares and rates? Of course. Access the widest range of travel options with the most perks, with superior value, choice, and savings that add up quickly.
More savings? Yes, please! Access all the available content from negotiated fares, custom deals, perks, and Melon exclusive rates.
Business travel is an investment, and it should feel simple. Take your corporate travel planning to the next level, and enjoy exceptional service every step of the way.
With a blend of knowledgeable travel experts and seamless digital experiences, we’ve got you covered from door to door.
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