Indonesia corporate travel: The need to shift from travel agents to a travel management system

Last Updated on: Juni 4, 2023 at 1:57 am

Based on some of the most recent stats, Indonesian companies still rely on online travel agents and destination management companies like Traveloka and Travlindo for their business travel needs. While this solution may be seen as efficient by most companies, it’s already quite outdated in comparison to the most modern ones that are available to organizations today. 

Indonesia is no longer the type of country that people around the world only see as a tourist destination. It’s gradually becoming an important business hub in South-East Asia. This also means that Indonesian businesses must take all the necessary actions to stay up to pace with the competition. This includes managing their travel operations in ways that are as cost-effective and result-oriented as possible. 

In this article, we’ll provide some considerations on why we believe that implementing modern Indonesian corporate travel solutions should be the may goal for those in charge of a company’s travel management operations.

Enhanced Travel Policy Customization

Every company has its unique travel requirements, and a great feature of business travel management systems is that they offer far greater flexibility in customizing travel policies based on specific needs and preferences. 

When using a travel management system, users can define policy parameters such as preferred airlines, hotel options, and travel class, thus ensuring that employees have access to the most suitable options while maintaining cost control and compliance. A TMS allows an organization to create a set of guidelines for booking, approving, and managing travel, thus ensuring that business travellers remain within the approved framework. 

Furthermore, travel management systems tend to come with a range of pre-set templates and workflows for policy customization, which helps companies turn their travel policies into actionable guidelines with ease. 

The systems offer comprehensive reporting tools for tracking travel spend, identifying trends, and highlighting areas of overspending, thus enabling companies to optimize their travel budgets and make data-driven decisions. 

Streamlined Expense Management

Another great feature of business travel management systems is that they integrate expense management functionalities, thus enabling employees to submit expense claims directly within the system. This feature helps streamline the reimbursement process, reduce manual paperwork, and enable faster expense reconciliation. 

Moreover, with a TMS, you can obtain comprehensive visibility into travel expenses, making it easier for finance teams to analyze spending patterns and identify areas for cost reduction. This way, finance teams can swiftly identify overspending or non-compliance situations and take corrective measures to ensure travellers adhere to company policies and budgets.

With travel management systems, businesses can automate expense tracking and approval for travel expenses, thus making reimbursements way quicker and easier to manage. A TMS can also interact with the organization’s accounting software, which transfers data directly to the company’s general ledger. This automation reduces the workload for accounting departments, which will have to manually review and verify the expenses.

Centralized Travel Data and Vendor Management

Another important factor to highlight is that corporate travel systems provide way centralized travel data and management capabilities that you simply can’t get from online travel agents. These systems consolidate all travel-related information, delivering a comprehensive view of all travel activities throughout the organization. Centralization provides various advantages, including enhanced vendor management.

Using a travel management system, companies can negotiate favourable agreements with preferred suppliers and more easily monitor vendor performance. Moreover, access to unified travel data allows businesses to assess cost efficiency and optimize their travel budgets more effectively. 

Thanks to the central repository of travel data, companies to use their travel volumes as leverage when negotiating superior rates and incentives with vendors, potentially resulting in significant organizational cost savings.

Moreover, travel management systems allow companies to automate the entire travel booking and expense management process, further improving the efficiency and accuracy of travel-related information. With all data stored in a centralized database, businesses can access crucial information in real-time, enabling stakeholders to react more swiftly to evolving circumstances.

Cost Optimization

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, travel management software offer comprehensive tools and features designed to optimize travel costs. Travel managers can gain real-time visibility into travel expenses, enabling them to set budget limits, track spending, and identify saving opportunities.

One key feature of these solutions is policy enforcement, which ensures travellers adhere to the company’s travel policies. This includes setting restrictions on travel classes and accommodation options. By setting these policies, companies can ensure that travel expenses are under control and within budget.

Furthermore, business travel management systems offer negotiated rates with preferred travel suppliers. Travel managers can negotiate discounted rates with airlines, hotels, and car rental companies, which can lead to significant savings for the company. Travel management systems store these preferred supplier rates, making it easier for employees to book within policy and save on expenses.

Another crucial feature of travel management systems is expense management, which enables employees to submit expense claims directly within the system. These systems consolidate and track all travel-related expenses in real time, which makes it way easier for organizations to identify potential savings.

Travel management systems also come with reporting tools that help companies analyze spending patterns and identify areas for cost reduction. 

Data Security and Confidentiality

Another great advantage of using corporate travel systems is improved data security and confidentiality, essential features for organizations that value their sensitive information. 

These systems incorporate strong security measures such as encryption, user access controls, and secure data storage. Once user travel data is input, entering it for every booking is unnecessary. 

This mechanism provides high protection against potential cyber threats, thus allowing businesses to shield corporate data, worker information, and financial details.

This assurance is particularly crucial when considering the potential financial and reputational damage caused by data breaches, as well as the impact on customer and employee trust.

Furthermore, travel management systems are designed with compliance in mind, ensuring that companies comply with data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, among others. These systems are adept at handling sensitive and confidential information, earning the trust of businesses across various industries worldwide.

Boost Your Indonesia Corporate Travel with TruTrip

In conclusion, it’s our belief that modern Indonesia corporate travel solutions should be a top priority for travel managers and business owners who want their organization to stay competitive within the fast-growing region. 

By shifting from traditional online travel agents to travel management systems, companies can enjoy numerous benefits ranging from enhanced travel policy customization to streamlined expense management to centralized travel data and vendor management, as well as cost optimization and top-notch data security.

As a popular and cutting-edge corporate travel management company in South-East Asia, TruTrip is uniquely positioned to help Indonesian companies take advantage of these solutions. With TruTrip, organizations can streamline their entire travel process, gain real-time visibility into travel expenses, negotiate discounted rates with preferred suppliers, and safeguard sensitive information against potential cyber threats.

Jadwalkan demo or start a percobaan gratis of TruTrip today to experience the power of a modern travel management system. Our friendly and knowledgeable team of experts is always available to answer your questions and guide you through the implementation process.