{"id":3584,"date":"2021-09-29T06:40:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T06:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itilite.com\/?p=3584"},"modified":"2024-02-16T13:10:24","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T13:10:24","slug":"managed-travel-program-help-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itilite.com\/blog\/managed-travel-program-help-you\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Managed Travel Program and How can it Help you"},"content":{"rendered":"
While many businesses feel that airfares and hotels can be found online, the cost does not constantly indicate total savings. A managed travel program balances the needs of a traveler with the goals of the company. It helps in streamlining the business travel processes and continually decreases travel spending for your company. While an employee enjoys convenience and comfort, a company can control travel expenses and meet their duty of care<\/a> obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this blog, we will discuss the difference between a managed and an unmanaged travel program and how moving to a managed business travel program can help you save.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A managed travel program is when a business outsources its employee travel logistics either through a TMC (travel management company) or a travel management solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The travel partner handles anything and everything concerning business travel so businesses can focus on other important tasks. It provides both advanced travel software<\/a> and human support for easy corporate travel management. By outsourcing a travel partner, you can simplify the T&E process for organizations and employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a lot of difference between a managed and unmanaged travel program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An unmanaged travel program is when employees book their flights, hotels, car rentals on their own usually via the consumer sites or directly from the hotel or airline they prefer. This can lead to higher costs for the company as the employees are booking what they want without any guidance or support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, there are times when they reach a bottleneck while getting approvals for their bookings which leads to higher costs as airfares and room rates increase. From a business perspective, the finance manager does not have any visibility over the travel spending until the employees submit reimbursement, post-trip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, you would require more staff (travel administrators), as the number of employees traveling for business increases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A travel managed program, on the other hand, helps address all these issues proactively. Modern travel partners handle all types of travel bookings for your employees, saving everyone time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While a TMC usually handles bookings for your employees, a travel and expense management platform such as ITILITE gives the power to your employees to book their travel via a user-friendly tool. Both ensure that the travel spending is within the policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, since all the bookings happen from one platform, finance teams have better visibility on the overall travel spending of the company – department-wise, location-wise, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are the advantages of using a travel partner for your corporate travel program: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Employees are often unfamiliar with travel policies, and therefore, adherence is spotty. With a managed travel program, you can make travel policy adherence<\/a> easier. For instance, the booking platforms used by the TMC or the travel software can apply travel policies in their tool that can alert employees every time they make out-of-policy bookings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When everyone starts booking from one place, you get consolidated travel data that will enable you to analyze the travel spending of your company. It will provide insights into travel patterns so you can make strategic decisions to help reduce costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from reporting on cost savings, you can see where there are opportunities to build better efficiencies and approaches. For instance, if you find that your employees are using a specific car rental service frequently, you can collaborate with them and ask for group discounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Modern travel partners use advanced technology that provides your employees access to the best fares and rates not available on public internet sites. Apart from this, they also provide information on flight upgrades, waitlist clearances, and preferred seat assignments for your employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there is no doubt about the cost-saving benefits of a managed travel program, there are also significant traveler and travel arranger benefits. Both TMC and T&E management software allows you to use technology to empower your employees to take charge of booking and amend their travel. They provide them with travel options that fall within their policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When it becomes easy for your employees to self-book the options that meet their needs and stay within your travel policy, compliance increases. Whether they book travel online or offline, they benefit from a vetted and efficient single-source travel booking process. Other features that a travel partner provides include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether your employees travel domestically or internationally, there are chances of risk especially post-COVID<\/a>. Risk management is necessary to monitor employees from initial trip planning through their return. A travel partner lets you include your duty of care program<\/a> for the safety of employees. You can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a managed business travel program, you can ensure that your company receives the return you make on your travel investment. With streamlined travel management, you can ensure that your travel plan is being followed by all the employees, making them more efficient and productive. And this, in turn, is effectively working to help your company grow on a worldwide stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Should you choose unmanaged or managed travel for your business? If managed, should you outsource a TMC or integrate a T&E management software? You should pick the option that keeps your employees\u2019 safety a priority and helps you save money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few indicators to look out for to know if managed travel program is right for you: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Any one of these scenarios is a good reason for you to switch to a managed travel program – the sooner the better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An integrated travel and expense software such as ITILITE will help you cut down on travel-related costs by giving you access to a global inventory of hotels & flights, dynamic pricing features, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, it will help you craft great employee experiences by automating workflows<\/a> and keeping them safe with the ITILITE Shield<\/a> feature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to know more? Book a demo with our product expert today! <\/p>\n\n\nWhat is a Managed Travel Program?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Difference Between a Managed & Unmanaged Travel Program <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6 Benefits of Switching to a Managed Travel Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Travel Policy Adherence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. All Travel Data at One Place<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Availability of Best Corporate Rates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Efficient Booking & Other Travel Technology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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5. Duty of Care & Risk management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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6. Continued Improvement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the Best Way for your Business to Handle Travel?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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