It is without a doubt that the business travel industry is continuously growing. The global business travel market is expected to rise above $2001 billion by 2028. Therefore, small and large enterprises are looking for efficient ways to accommodate their increased business travel volume.
One effective way to manage your company’s increasing travel needs is to partner with a comprehensive travel management company (TMC). A TMC manages all aspects of your company’s business travel needs. Unlike traditional travel agents, good qualities of a TMC provide many services beyond booking flights and hotels. These services include expense management, travel policy compliance, and duty of care solutions, offering a complete travel management solution.
A good TMC should provide comprehensive travel solutions, have robust technology platforms, offer 24/7 support, and possess strong industry expertise to help streamline your travel management effectively. If you, as a travel manager or a company owner, want to optimize your business travel process, mentioned below are some of the good qualities of a TMC:
9 Good Qualities of a TMC Companies must look out for:
When selecting a company, it is crucial to evaluate its qualities to ensure they align with your company’s goals and requirements. A good TMC should simplify the booking process and enhance the travel experience.
Here are nine essential qualities to look out for in a TMC to make an informed decision:
1. Wide Range of Travel Options
When planning a business trip, travel managers and employees can only secure the best hotels and flights if they can access a wide range of suitable options. Booking through third-party websites often requires browsing multiple platforms to find the right choice. This can be time-consuming and limiting due to the restricted inventory available on these sites.
One of the good qualities of a TMC that you should look out for is its extensive travel inventory. Most modern TMCs source their travel inventory from the Global Distribution System. The GDS is a powerful tool that gathers, combines, and analyzes data from various travel vendors, providing various travel options. This allows your team to explore a wide range of flights and hotels, saving time and guaranteeing the best options for your business trips.
Additionally, TMCs provide a self-booking tool that consolidates hotel and flight options into a single platform. This integration allows users to find the best options without visiting multiple websites, saving time and streamlining the booking process.
2. Assists in Travel Costs Reduction
Optimizing travel expenses is essential for organizations with employees who frequently travel for business. Booking flights and hotels through online travel agencies (OTAs) may not always yield the most cost-effective options. Identifying cost leakages can also be challenging, especially when multiple employees travel simultaneously.
One of the TMC’s strengths is its ability to reduce business travel costs. TMCs negotiate directly with hotel and flight vendors to secure better rates and exclusive deals. Additionally, these corporate travel agencies often have access to Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs), providing more budget-friendly travel options.
The best TMCs leverage advanced travel technology, including AI-powered virtual travel consultants. For instance, itilite Mastermind uses artificial intelligence to analyze your travel and expense data, benchmarking it against industry standards. This virtual consultant identifies potential savings opportunities and suggests areas where prices could be further minimized.
By utilizing the company and its advanced tools, your organization can gain significant savings on business travel, streamline expense management, and ensure you’re getting the best possible rates.
3. Crafting a Comprehensive Travel Policy
Creating an effective travel policy is a cornerstone of efficient business travel management. However, travel managers and organizations often face challenges in drafting a policy that balances cost-effectiveness with employees’ travel needs.
For instance, opting for budget accommodations or flights might not always align with employee comfort preferences, while choosing more luxurious options can significantly increase travel expenses.
Developing a robust travel policy is one of the good qualities of a TMC which you must look out for. TMCs have specialized teams that thoroughly assess your company’s travel management practices, review guidelines, and analyze employees’ travel patterns. They use this information to create a policy that addresses employee preferences, ensures safety, and controls overall travel prices.
By leveraging the expertise of a TMC, you can draft a well-rounded travel policy that meets your organization’s needs while maintaining budgetary constraints and employee satisfaction.
4. Round-the-Clock Business Travel Support
Safety is a significant concern for business travelers, with nearly 45% citing it as a major issue, according to GBTA. From the risk of pickpocketing and pandemics to lost luggage and weather-related travel disruptions, the range of potential challenges is vast. Female business travelers, in particular, may face heightened safety risks.
Providing adequate travel support for employees can be challenging, especially when dealing with off-hours or time zone differences. Hence, one of the good qualities of a TMC you should look out for is round-the-clock travel support.
A TMC offers 24/7/365 support, ensuring that employees receive assistance whenever needed, regardless of the time of day or location. TMCs have dedicated support teams equipped to handle various travel-related issues. Employees can reach out for help through various channels, including chat, phone, and email, ensuring they have access to timely and effective support in emergencies.
By leveraging a TMC’s round-the-clock support, you can enhance your employees’ safety and well-being and provide them with peace of mind while they travel for business.
5. Offers Tailored Travel Experiences
As business travel becomes more frequent, employees increasingly desire travel experiences that cater to their personal preferences and offer greater comfort. However, aligning these preferences with policy-compliant options can be challenging for many travel managers. For example, finding a hotel close to the airport that meets both the company’s travel policy and the employee’s preferences can be difficult. This leads to compromises that may not satisfy the traveler.
Personalizing the travel management process is also one of the good qualities of a TMC. Advanced TMCs utilize travel management software with predictive analytics to analyze travelers’ past preferences and patterns. This technology allows the company to recommend options that are both policy-compliant and tailored to individual preferences.
By integrating these personalized recommendations, a travel agency helps you find suitable travel options without sacrificing employee satisfaction. This enhances the overall business travel experience and ensures that employees can travel comfortably while adhering to company policies.
6. Ensures Robust Traveler Data Security
Data security is increasingly critical for employees and companies, especially when managing sensitive information related to business travel. Travel managers handle many personal data, including email addresses, home addresses, ID cards, credit card details, and phone numbers. Any breach of this information could pose significant security risks to the company.
This is where a TMC plays a crucial role. Modern corporate travel agency utilizes cloud-based travel management software designed with advanced data security features. This software ensures that both company and employee data are securely protected. It employs encryption to safeguard information, making it accessible only to authorized users.
Additionally, any unauthorized access attempts trigger immediate alerts, minimizing the risk of data leakage and ensuring high security for sensitive information.
7. Provides Access to In-depth Travel Data Analytics
Tracking employee expenses and spending habits is essential for making informed financial decisions. Detailed travel data provides valuable insights into spending patterns, out-of-policy bookings, and potential budget savings. Companies must monitor key travel metrics such as department-specific spending and individual trip expenses to optimize financial performance.
A corporate travel agency can facilitate this by offering advanced business travel analytics. Many companies employ Travel and Expense (T&E) management software that consolidates all travel data into a user-friendly dashboard. This allows you to view, analyze, and manage expenditures easily. Hence, one of the good qualities of a TMc you must look for is access to travel data. Additionally, you can generate automated reports tailored to various needs, including departmental spending, expense categories, and time-specific data, helping you stay on top of your travel budget and financial performance.
8. Accelerates Expense Reimbursements
Expense filing and reimbursement can be cumbersome, particularly with traditional methods that require employees to collect physical receipts and submit them individually. Finance teams must meticulously review each claim to prevent out-of-policy or fraudulent reimbursements, making the entire cycle complex and time-consuming. These delays can lead to employee frustration and inefficiency.
One of the good qualities of a TMC is that it streamlines the expense filing and reimbursement process. Advanced T&E management software provided by some companies simplifies this process by allowing employees to quickly scan and upload receipts, generate expense reports, and submit them for approval. The software’s auto-flag feature alerts employees to any out-of-policy expenses or receipt errors, and approvers receive instant notifications via email.
Additionally, the finance team can efficiently review submitted bills and process reimbursements promptly through Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers, significantly speeding up the entire reimbursement process.
9. Mitigates Travel Expense Fraud
Expense fraud poses a significant challenge for organizations globally. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reports that companies lose at least $40,000 annually due to expense fraud. Employees may engage in fraudulent activities such as submitting duplicate expense reports or manipulating receipts, leading to substantial financial mismanagement.
A corporate travel agency can help safeguard against travel and expense fraud. Hence, one of the good qualities of a TMC. Many companies utilize T&E management software equipped with advanced fraud detection features. This software scrutinizes expense reports upon submission, identifying and flagging issues such as out-of-policy expenses, duplicate or incomplete receipts, and miscategorized charges. By implementing these safeguards, a TMC helps ensure the integrity of your expense management process and prevents financial losses due to fraud.
Enhance your Travel Process with the Help of a TMC
We hope the above-mentioned good qualities in a TMC will help you choose one. A partner such as itilite ticks all the 9 qualities.
itilite is a new-age corporate travel management company that leverages SaaS-based T&E software solutions for seamless business travel. Our state-of-the-art features, such as robust data security, in-depth travel data analytics, 100% policy compliance, round the clock travel support, and many more, will help companies manage their business travel seamlessly.
Book a free demo to learn more about itilite and its advanced features.
FAQ’s
A good travel company offers extensive travel options, reduces costs, ensures data security, provides 24/7 support, and more. It provides personalized experiences backed by advanced technology and expert service.
A travel company aims to provide efficient, cost-effective, and enjoyable travel experiences. It offers many travel options, ensures satisfaction, and leverages advanced technology to streamline travel management processes.
The most important quality of a travel company is its ability to deliver exceptional customer service. It must ensure travelers receive reliable support, personalized experiences, and seamless travel arrangements.
