Your business travel needs can be handled by a third-party service, such as a corporate travel agency or a travel management firm. To ensure that your workers’ business trips go off without a hitch, they offer round-the-clock assistance to those who need it. Typically, a firm will offer the services of a corporate travel agency to help its workers plan business travels following established guidelines. Here are a few duties shared by all corporate travel agents:
- Arrange company vacations
- Make sure you have a well-thought-out plan of action.
- Help with changes in bookings, refunds, etc.
- Share the discounts the company has negotiated
- Assistance with paperwork and currency conversion
Considerations for Choosing the Best Business Travel Agency
If you’re unhappy with your existing corporate travel agency or just seeking to employ one for the first time, there are a few essential factors to keep in mind. However, before beginning your search for a corporate travel agency, you must determine precisely what you require. Maybe the following questions will shed some light:
- Why bring in a third party if you can handle business travel internally?
- In what ways do you envision the agency assisting you?
- Is it necessary for you to minimise the cost of your business trips?
- Is it your goal to simplify the process of scheduling business trips for your staff?
- Have you been looking for a way to get helpful information from your trip cost and information?
Evaluating and choosing the finest corporate travel agency might be simplified if you know your desired outcomes.
Corporate travel agents should balance personal service and technology to provide a smooth trip for their employees while giving your administration complete financial control. When selecting a business travel agency, it is essential to consider the following criteria:
Expert, Individualised Assistance for Each Client
While on business, your staff members might experience unforeseen situations. While abroad, they may require information such as the most convenient method of public transportation or the quickest path to their destination office. They will require immediate, one-on-one assistance.
To that end, ensure the agency can be reached anytime, day or night, especially if your staff travels internationally for business. Particularly in crisis, they must be reachable across various channels (including chat and phone) and languages.
Simple and Easy Reservation Process
Emails and phone conversations are crucial for travel businesses to communicate with their staff and customers while planning trips. However, modern workers would instead not engage in lengthy email threads or phone calls. The platform should allow travel managers and employees to use and plan business trips independently. In addition, this would save time by eliminating the need for travel managers to contact the corporate travel agency with their questions.
The system also has to support working together to complete the task. Business travellers must easily access options for changing or cancelling their reservations.
Modern Tools for Administrators and World Tourists
Most business travel departments lack comprehensive spend tracking tools. Furthermore, the lack of unified T&E software negatively impacts worker safety and policy compliance. Choosing one with a solid technological foundation can help you meet the needs of your duty of care strategy by providing complete transparency into your company’s travel expenditures, facilitating near-perfect policy compliance with in-built policy elements, and more.
In addition, the agency’s travel and expenditure software may include advanced functions, such as a digital travel agent. A virtual travel consultant may analyse your business’s current travel and expenditure procedures and provide recommendations for saving costs without sacrificing efficiency. Applying those observations, you can easily save a lot of money on transportation costs and reduce policy breaches.
