What you should know about costs in corporate travel management

Last Updated on: March 7, 2023 at 9:25 am

Recently we explained how reducing travel risk can assist alleviate corporate travel management costs. Having established this, we will now go a step further in this article by outlining some of the key things travel and business managers should know with regard to corporate travel.

More specifically, we will look at which factors tend to involve cost and what they typically are. We will also outline how they can be both budgeted for, and in some cases significantly reduced, by employing a travel management company like TruTrip.

What is Corporate Travel Management?

For the uninitiated, corporate travel management relates to how a business oversees its strategic approach to travel. This includes everything from negotiations with all vendors and the daily operation of the corporate travel program, to traveller security, credit-card management and the date management of travel and expenses.

Clearly, all of these aspects involve business travel costs and time, some of which take place well outside the individual act of physically travelling for a corporate meeting or event. It is a complex mix, which can be overwhelming to some, and is very easy to over-capitalise on.

What to expect

When it comes to corporate travel management costs there are several factors to consider.

• Actual Travel Costs, which take into account the cost of your flight, as well as hotel accommodation, food and transportation charges from the airport to the hotel, in addition to around town.
• Direct Fees of travel that includes booking fees, per trip fees and ticketing fees, as well as associated charges for re-booking, ticket reissuing or cancellations.
• Indirect Fees like monthly or annual memberships and subscriptions,
• Supporting Software Costs such as a travel solution or duty of care solution like international SOS
• Manpower is a crucial yet often overlooked area of cost. This can sometimes involve the biggest costs of all

This was outlined in a recent article from Hospitality Net entitled ‘What Post-Pandemic Business Travel Looks Like Now For Corporate Travel Management’ which posited that:

‘Travel programs not only require manual approval of business trips, but many require manual approval by multiple people. Of those that do, two in five (42%) respondents say most of their manual processing requires multiple approvers (e.g. employee’s manager and HR employee)’.

Clearly, the booking, planning, and post-travel reporting phases of corporate travel management could all take time as a result of factors like regular policy changes or budget allotment. Interestingly, in the pre-pandemic era, only 9% of travel managers said their company had a ‘high touch’ model which involved their corporate travellers making their own ‘managed’ bookings directly with a travel agent.

The Opportunity

According to a survey, some ‘81% of respondents believe that in-person engagements with clients are vital for business recovery’.

By the same token, Craig Bradley, an Associate Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData has proffered that ‘with sustainability a major trend in tourism, and concerns with travel budgets remaining, there is a higher demand for low-cost and sustainable travel solutions’.

So what is the opportunity here?

Well quite simply, the opportunity here is to simplify your processes and reduce your business travel costs, by outsourcing this function to a specialist corporate travel management firm.

According to another survey from Hospitality Net ‘Nine in ten (94%) GBTA buyers and procurement professionals feel their employees are ‘willing’ or ‘very willing to travel for business in the current environment. While ‘Four in ten (41%) GBTA stakeholders say their company’s return to the office directly correlates to the return to business travel.

At the same time, 63% of the respondents experienced confusion about travel restrictions and documentation, while 45% admitted to being anxious or stressed about the bureaucracy involved in business travel and 36% said they had challenges navigating airports and security rules.

How TruTrip can help

Employing a travel management company like TruTrip can help your business save up to 30% of your corporate travel expenses. Not only will they provide an all-around platform to smoothly run your business trips, but it also performs heavy tasks for your employees. Leaving them free to concentrate on other pressing and more lucrative tasks within their remit, which will enhance your overall productivity and profitability.

TruTrip allows their clients to easily view the booking details that have been made by their own business travellers – inclusive of flights, hotels and car reservations. The Fit to Fly feature, which is built into the TruTrip platform, also enables travellers to automatically check their travel requirements when selecting their flight for anywhere in the world.

TruTrip also has a dedicated 24/7 customer service department which provides real-time communication and assistance to your team whenever they need it. In addition, their platform also allows you to more easily enforce your budget and policy, by providing your employees with the opportunity and means to pay the difference for any upgrades they may wish to enjoy, out of their own pocket. A measure which ensures consistency in costs across all acts of travel.

Want to cut costs and increase travel management efficiency? 

If this opportunity to streamline your processes and reduce your travel expenses for business trips has piqued your interest then it is worth contacting TruTrip.

Book a demo or sign up for a free trial to fully appreciate the benefits of TruTrip for you.