The Benefits Of Using A Travel Management Company

While the COVID-19 pandemic put a staggering halt on the travel industry and any corporate and business trips, it looks like it is all bouncing back. People may have more access to virtual meetings, but nothing quite beats face-to-face contact, especially when you’re trying to secure a deal with a potential client. 

Now that corporate travel is increasing, assistance in planning these trips is needed, and that’s why many more businesses are starting to use travel management companies. 

If you are considering hiring one yourself, you may want to learn how they can help you and the many benefits they provide. We have all the answers for you. 

What is a travel management company? (TMC)

A travel management company, or TMC, is an organisation that helps organise and manage travel for various clients. These clients are often other businesses that want to send their associates on corporate trips, but sometimes individuals who have too much on their plate will hire a TMC to help them out too. 

The main role of a TMC is to handle any trip's logistics and travel requirements while also helping ensure it fits into the client’s budget. They act like your personal travel agent, but instead of you telling them what sort of trip you want to go on, they will help you meet the best requirements for your individual needs. 
 

What role does a TMC have in corporate travel planning?
 

A TMC takes on many roles when helping a business plan a business trip or any other form of corporate travel. They will first help you create and enforce a corporate travel policy for all employees to adhere to. This can be anything from how much money can be spent on each trip to the amount of time you’re allowed to leave for at a time. 

Once a policy has been enforced, the TMC will then provide you with a personalised system where you can book travel based on your requirements. The TMC works closely with vendors around the world to help get you special rates and ensure all bookings have been secured at the lowest possible cost. You also receive duty of care support while on your trip to help your employees navigate in unknown locations. 

Travel management company benefits: 

You now know what a TMC does, so let’s outline some of the main benefits they will provide you when you hire one. 

Increase efficiency

Travel planning can be a long and stressful process, especially when you don’t know what you want or where to look. By working with a TMC, you can book your travels with complete ease and much more efficiently. The entire process is much smoother, and they also handle everything past the booking stage. 

Not only will TMCs ensure your flights and hotels are secured and work with reporting, managing invoices and VAT, and keeping tabs on your staff while they are away. Everything is done on one platform, and you don’t have to go in between different tabs and forget where you are anymore. 

Available 24/7

Nowadays, you don’t have to wait for travel agents to be open to book a trip. Instead, you can go online and start securing your flights and hotels at any time. However, if you have any queries or if something goes wrong in the process, there may not be any representatives available to help you.

With a TMC, you will receive quality and fast service at any time and any day. The customer service representatives work around the clock to help you with your bookings and travel planning, responding as quickly as possible. This is especially helpful if you have to book a last-minute trip. 

Optimise travel spending and reduce travel costs

One of the biggest things that anyone looks for when they go away on a trip is finding the best prices. Flights and hotels can be expensive, and you don’t want to dig too much into business funds to pay for them. While a TMC will often cost a fee for their services, they can end up saving you more on travel in the long run. 

A TMC has connections with businesses across the travel industry and often can make some great deals with them to save you money on expenses. They will also work with you to help you minimise your overall travel spending while you are away, so you can put more money back into the business. 

Enhanced real-time data reporting

Even travel needs to be tracked in a business, especially when it comes to expenses. Luckily, you can keep an eye on your reporting in real time as a TMC often provides you with seamless software that will consolidate all the information about your travels into a single report that is easy to understand. 

By examining these reports, you’ll see where you are spending too much money and come up with ideas of how to minimise spending in this area. The TMC will work with you to analyse all information to ensure you have the best possible travel strategy. 

Assistance with risk management

As a business, you have a legal responsibility to keep your employees safe at all times, and this includes when they are travelling. There are a ton of risks that can arise in any situation, and you want to reduce the chances of these happening or put the right policies in place to protect yourself and the worker. 

A TMC will provide you with a risk assessment of every travel plan you make and some steps you can take to manage these risks. They will often provide you with precautions to put in place to ensure the safety of your employees and travellers at all times. 

Final thoughts

There are many travel management company benefits, and you will always get a lot out of hiring one, especially if your business organises a lot of corporate trips. If you need some help finding the right TMC for you, then Trusted Stays can help you out. All you need is to get in touch with one of our representatives, and we’ll discuss the best solutions available.