The ultimate guide to corporate travel management

Published: April 9, 2024

The days of businesses operating and growing within a small city radius are long gone. In today’s fast-paced and tech-savvy business world, companies have easy access to global talent and clientele.

As such, transporting stakeholders long distances is standard practice. Recent forecasts project that there will be more than 470 million domestic business trips taken in the US alone in 2024.

While corporate travel is a necessary part of operating a modern business, it can also be logistically difficult and costly to manage—especially as your business scales. This article will help cover what you need to know to improve your corporate travel management operations.

What is corporate travel management?

Corporate travel management is the process of coordinating, analyzing, and managing a company's business travel needs.

Effective corporate travel management is crucial for keeping business trips organized and efficient, ensuring that travel arrangements align with the company’s policies, helping to enhance the safety and comfort of travelers, and adhering to budgets.

What does a corporate travel manager do?

Here’s a closer look at the top responsibilities of a corporate travel manager and how they accomplish their duties.

Craft and implement comprehensive corporate travel policies

Corporate travel managers develop detailed travel policies that align with the company's unique goals and needs.

For example, a travel manager would establish policies for:

Booking procedures. Define processes for booking rides, flights, and hotels.
Travel class guidelines. Set standards for business or economy class based on distance, duration, or employee level.
Accommodation standards. Specify the type, budget, and class of accommodations allowed (for instance, hotels or home rentals).
Expense reporting and reimbursement. Set limits on daily allowances for meals and incidentals, and establish procedures for tracking and submitting travel expenses.
Technology use. Implement travel management software or apps to simplify travel arrangements, data analysis, and reporting.

Orchestrate seamless experiences

Corporate travel managers oversee the coordination and execution of business travel plans for employees. They either directly arrange all aspects of travel themselves, manage an internal team of travel coordinators, or work with third-party travel agents.

Today it’s also essential to adopt corporate travel apps, as they assist managers with streamlining travel plans across their organization. A corporate travel app helps with the following:

Automated expense tracking. Eliminates the need to save hard copies of receipts by automatically adding to the system the trips and meals to be expensed.
Centralized control from a dashboard. Provides complete visibility into travel policies, procedures, expenses, budgets, and plans.
Real-time reporting and tracking. Offers a comprehensive look into customized travel programs with real-time updates for travel, meals, incidentals, and more.
Simplified travel management. Includes flexible and customizable limits for booking rides, buying food, and processing payments (such as charging to a personal card for reimbursement or to a business card).

Control the budget for optimal financial outcomes

Travel managers navigate the line between providing comfortable travel experiences for employees and sticking to the business’s travel budget.

To do this, managers research cost-saving opportunities, identify the most cost-effective times to travel, and negotiate discounts with travel vendors.

A travel manager might, for instance, identify and book off-peak flights for a team attending an international conference. They could also track rideshare prices to find optimal travel times and book hotel rooms with corporate discounts.

Analyze data to inform future travel policies

Corporate travel managers are also responsible for monitoring travel data. Keeping a close eye on travel analytics helps with:

Tracking expenses. Examining corporate travel expenses reveals spending patterns and shows where the company can reduce costs.
Identifying travel patterns. Historical travel data helps managers find patterns and trends, which helps with forecasting future travel needs and preferences.
Benchmarking against industry standards. Travel managers compare their company’s travel spending and policies against industry benchmarks to better understand performance.
Analyzing supplier performance. Evaluating data about suppliers can uncover their reliability, service quality, and value.

Managers capture this data with feedback surveys from employees, travel industry reports, travel management software, and third-party travel platforms.

Prioritize duty of care for employee well-being

Corporate travel managers work closely with HR managers to develop duty-of-care protocols for their employees.

Duty of care in corporate travel includes:

Ensuring the health of employees. Maintaining the well-being and health of traveling employees and making sure they have access to necessary healthcare and support.
Providing for basic needs. Arranging for essential amenities like quality food and beverages, and comfortable accommodations.
Protecting employees. Keeping travelers away from situations where they may experience harassment, stress, or discrimination.

Collaborate with industry partners

Corporate travel managers’ duties don’t start and stop with coordinating and managing business travel. They’re also responsible for building relationships with top industry partners and vendors.

This includes establishing discount and comfort agreements with airlines, negotiating deals with hotel chains, and selecting the best rideshare apps.

They also work closely with internal teams and senior management to ensure that travel strategies and contracts align with overall business goals.

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Challenges within corporate travel management

Successfully managing corporate travel requires so much more than simply booking plane tickets and hotel rooms for employees. Below are some of the top challenges corporate travel managers face.

Cost-benefit analysis

In corporate travel management, this involves quantifying all costs associated with travel and weighing them against the benefits, such as networking opportunities, employee development, client relationships, and successful sales.

Imagine a scenario where a company is considering sending an employee to an international conference that costs $3,000 in total. The corporate manager would need to research the potential benefits (such as networking, business development, and employee growth) of spending that $3,000 and determine if it’s worth it.

Cost-benefit analysis can also be nuanced. Consider this data point, for example: 48% of business travelers say their last work trip was too long. If an employee can accomplish what they need to in 2 days of travel and a manager books a trip for 4 days, it results in 2 extra days of employee time and corporate travel budget.

Cost-benefit analysis, in this instance, would involve analyzing past data, including post-travel feedback surveys, to understand how long employees need to travel to accomplish goals while optimizing the travel budget.

Traveler satisfaction

Research shows that 60% of employees say business travel positively affects their satisfaction with their job. And Slack’s 2023 “State of Work” report found that most employees say feeling happy and engaged at work is a key motivator. What’s more, when employees are happy and productive, businesses thrive, according to The Economist.

The tricky part for travel managers is accommodating employees’ diverse travel needs and preferences within a corporate (not a luxury vacay) budget.

To keep employees happy and productive, travel managers must understand what satisfies employees while they travel and then develop a plan to deliver a positive experience while working within a corporate budget.

Adapting to changing business needs

Shifts in business priorities, such as targeting new international markets or altering strategic partnerships, directly affect travel requirements.

A shift toward more in-person client meetings, for example, can increase travel frequency. Corporate travel managers must adapt policies and budgets to align with evolving business needs.

And efficient corporate travel management requires monitoring shifting political, economic, and health climates worldwide and being ready to respond and adapt. Travel needs can change in an instant, and corporate travel managers must remain adaptable to adjust travel strategies as necessary.

Environmental sustainability

A 2023 Deloitte study reported that climate concerns will likely limit corporate travel growth in the coming years. Deloitte found that “4 in 10 European companies and a third of US companies say they need to reduce travel per employee by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets.”

This statistic highlights the growing pressure on corporate travel managers to devise travel strategies that meet the needs of a growing business while being efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible.

4 tips for managing business travel

Now that we’ve discussed some of the job responsibilities and top challenges of corporate travel managers, let’s cover the best tips for managing business travel.

1. Establish clear communication channels

When employees don’t know your travel policies and procedures, it’s impossible for them to comply.

In other words, they might not know how much they can spend at a corporate dinner, whether they should take a taxi or use a rideshare app, or what safety and security policies they need to follow when traveling for business.

Consider establishing a clear communication channel where every employee can access critical travel information. This could be a dedicated travel portal or intranet page, regular email updates, or travel management software that provides real-time communication.

2. Conduct regular training sessions

Another way to fine-tune communication and increase awareness about travel policies is by conducting regular training sessions.

Create a live or digital training course that covers the following:

Travel policies: Review company-specific travel guidelines and booking procedures.
Safety measures: Explain all protocols and emergency procedures for travel. Draw special attention to areas people may be visiting that are undergoing political or civil unrest.
Changes in procedures: Provide updates on any new or altered travel-related processes. This is especially important during health crises.
Duty-of-care responsibilities: Educate on and provide clear definitions of the company’s commitment to traveler safety and well-being.
Per diem amounts: Outline the daily allowances for expenses while traveling. Include a definition of what is and isn’t allowed. For example, is alcohol part of a per diem or excluded from corporate expenses?
Expense reporting: Give instructions on how to accurately report and submit travel expenses.

3. Adopt travel technology

When you’re managing travel for multiple employees across different offices, it’s challenging to educate everyone, track expenses, and ensure compliance with travel policies. To organize and streamline everything, you may consider a travel management system (TMS).

A TMS is a comprehensive travel platform that helps companies book, track, and report travel activities. It typically also provides real-time data and analytics, helping you monitor travel spending and optimize your travel strategies.

4. Evaluate and update travel procedures and policies

Any changes in technology, the world economy, political climates, global health status, and industry have a profound effect on business travel.

As such, it’s essential to establish a process for continually evaluating and updating travel procedures and policies.

This could include:

Reviewing policies to make sure they’re relevant, cost-efficient, effective, and safe
Surveying your employees to see how happy they are with your travel policies
Evaluating your TMS data to identify where you can optimize travel, innovate, and improve processes

Move your business forward with Uber for Business

In today’s fast-paced business world, getting corporate travel right is more important than ever. Adapting to changes quickly and embracing new technologies are key to staying ahead in managing business trips effectively.

You may also consider leveraging Uber for Business, a game changer in managing your company’s travel needs. It simplifies the entire process of corporate travel management with features like automated expense tracking and centralized control, making it easier to stick to policies and budgets.

With Uber for Business, you’re not simply organizing travel. You’re also saving time and money while giving your team a smoother, more efficient travel experience. Learn how to get started.

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