Corporate Travel Management

Most companies do not have in-house travel agents that work for their companies to make travel arrangements for executives going out of town on business.  Usually, the administrative assistant for an executive makes the travel arrangements, which may include calling the airlines to arrive flights, making hotel accommodations and doing an itinerary.  If your business has an arrangement with a corporate travel service, you probably have a travel manager that takes care of your company's account and the assistant can call the manager to make her boss' travel arrangements.

A travel manager, who works for a corporate travel management company, not only oversees your company's travel arrangements whenever they need to be made, but they also implement travel policy for your business, negotiate rates with airlines and hotels for your employees and keep track of all of your travel expenses and records for your business.  They usually help set policy for the use of corporate travel credit cards and decide which class employees are allowed to use when they have to fly out on business.

Travel expense costs are some of the highest controllable expenses for a company, usually only second to employee salary and benefits.  The corporate travel manager helps to set the expense accounts for employees to help control what they spend while they are on business trips. That may not only include negotiating rates with airlines and hotels, but also with:

• car rental agencies
• controlling food and drink expense
• client meeting arrangements 
• office supplies and services   
• setting gratuity policies 

Utilising corporate travel management can help your business control its travel expenses and set policies for employee travel so they what they can and cannot do while out of town on business.