If corporate travel programme falls under your responsibilities, you may be wondering if your current solution is truly working for you. After all, outsourcing travel management should lighten your load—not add to it.
Yet, change can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re uncertain about its necessity. From mergers and cultural shifts to embracing new travel tech, there are many reasons why your corporate travel programme might need a refresh.
Keep reading to uncover the key signs that it’s time for a change and discover how to elevate your corporate travel management programme for greater efficiency and impact.
How to spot an ineffective corporate travel management solution
Sign #1: Lack of visibility over travel spend
A successful travel programme thrives on clarity, and that starts with having access to detailed, actionable information. But raw data alone isn’t enough—it’s the insights and guidance that truly make a difference. A reliable travel partner doesn’t just deliver reports; they help you interpret them, spotlight opportunities, and craft strategies to save.
Imagine knowing exactly where your employees stay during their trips. This knowledge could empower you to negotiate better rates with frequently used hotel chains, driving significant cost savings.
If your current travel solution fails to provide both visibility and expert analysis, you’re likely leaving money on the table. It’s time to demand more from your corporate travel programme.
Sign #2: Navigating travel challenges during mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions are transformative moments for any organisation—full of potential but not without challenges, especially for your corporate travel programme. While these transitions may bring exciting opportunities like expanded resources or new assets, they can also expose gaps and inconsistencies in your existing travel management.
As you integrate workforces and adapt to new policies, you might discover a fragmented travel system spread across multiple TMCs, overlapping tech platforms, and conflicting processes.
Left unchecked, this disarray could lead to inefficiencies, compliance risks, and mounting frustrations.
Sign #3: When employee travel becomes a chore
Imagine you’ve got an important business trip coming up, but when it’s time to ask for volunteers, crickets. It’s not a long, dreaded trip, but no one seems excited to take it on. Despite offering incentives, the reluctance continues, and productivity is taking a hit.
While some employees may naturally be less enthusiastic about travel, a consistent lack of volunteers suggests there’s an underlying issue with your current travel policy. It might be restrictive budgets, complicated procedures, or other roadblocks that make travel feel like a hassle.
Take the time to check in with your team to understand what’s really holding them back and use that insight to design a travel policy that’s easier, more flexible, and motivating.
Sign #4: Your travel budget keeps getting exceeded
If your employees are consistently exceeding the travel budget, it’s a sign that something isn’t quite right—and it usually boils down to one of three issues.
First, your travel budget may be too restrictive, leaving employees unable to cover necessary expenses. Second, employees might not feel accountable for staying within the budget, especially if there are no consequences for overspending. Lastly, employees could be unaware of the travel budget or the guidelines set for spending, making the policy ineffective altogether.
To address this, take a closer look at how your employees are managing the budget. Identify where expenses are getting out of hand and consider adjusting your policies to ensure they are both realistic and clear. This will help create a more efficient and accountable travel programme for everyone involved.
Sign #5: Your travel programme is driving away top talent
If your travel programme is overly complicated, time-consuming, and frustrating, it’s no surprise that your employees aren’t thrilled about it. When they’re unhappy with how things are handled, word spreads fast, and negative feedback about your travel process can quickly tarnish your company’s reputation.
This can be a major turnoff for high-performing candidates who might be hesitant to join an organisation with a travel programme that doesn’t meet their needs.
When morale dips, it’s time for a refresh. Engagement surveys are a great tool to understand how your team feels about your travel process and pinpoint areas for improvement. Although it’s hard to predict when exactly you’ll need to make changes, staying proactive helps you address concerns before they escalate, ensuring that your programme supports both your current team and the talent you aim to attract.
Sign #6: When your travellers are unhappy
It may seem obvious, but traveller satisfaction is one of the most telling signs of whether your corporate travel programme is truly working. Unfortunately, only 61% of employers measure traveller happiness. Their feedback is invaluable—so why not tap into it?
Consider creating a short survey for your frequent travellers to gauge their satisfaction and pinpoint areas for improvement. Are they frustrated by booking processes, flight options, or hotel accommodations? If your travel provider isn’t able to address these concerns, they may not be the right fit for your business.
Remember, a happy traveller isn’t just more productive; they’re also more likely to comply with travel policies, keeping your programme running smoothly and efficiently.
Sign #7: Low adoption of online booking tools (OBT)
If your company’s corporate travellers aren’t adopting the online booking tool (OBT) as expected, it’s a sign that something’s off. Encouraging your team to book their travel online can lead to significant cost savings, but for this to work, two key factors must be in place: first, your travellers need proper training on how to use the OBT, and second, the tool itself must be intuitive and easy to navigate.
Research shows that nearly 50% of corporate travellers prefer to handle their bookings themselves, so if your OBT is clunky or difficult to use, you risk frustrating your travellers. A confusing interface can lead to inefficiency, and worse, travellers may bypass the tool altogether and book through consumer sites.
Not only does this prevent you from tracking and managing their bookings properly, but it also puts your company’s spend and duty of care at risk. If your OBT isn’t meeting these needs, it might be time for a change.
Sign #8: When employees book outside your corporate travel programme
If employees are consistently booking travel outside of your corporate programme, it’s a sign that something isn’t working. Start by assessing the cost differences—are the alternatives they’re choosing more affordable or offering better perks? If your employees prefer their own arrangements, it could also indicate issues with tracking travel spending, compliance, or visibility into expenses.
It’s important to evaluate whether employees are finding better deals, loyalty rewards, or a more seamless experience elsewhere. If poor service from your travel management company is contributing to this, it’s time for a change.
Ultimately, a poorly structured system could be driving them away. If you’re ready to streamline the process, improve employee satisfaction, and ensure better compliance, it’s time to revisit your travel programme.
Easy solutions for better corporate travel management
1. Clarify priorities for everyone involved in the travel process
Business travel can be one of the most complex and costly parts of any organisation. Every trip has its own set of objectives, and each person involved has unique priorities. Understanding these from the start can help you create a smooth, efficient process that meets everyone’s needs.
For example:
- The business traveller is looking for an itinerary that minimises stress and doesn’t disrupt their rest, a comfortable hotel room with WiFi, and perhaps a chance to add a “bleisure” element— turning a business trip into personal travel for a bit of sightseeing.
- The office manager needs a travel policy that’s clear and a travel management solution that doesn’t eat into their time. The booking process should be straightforward—no endless tabs or confusing back-and-forth with agents.
- The finance manager needs real-time access to travel expenses so they can manage budgets and identify cost-saving opportunities on the fly.
Depending on how your company operates, you may have other key players to consider. Before you overhaul your travel management process, take the time to outline these priorities in detail to ensure you’re meeting everyone’s needs.
2. Streamline travel with self-booking options for employees
A successful travel management programme is built on meeting the needs of your business travellers. If they’re unhappy, your travel booking process needs an upgrade.
One feature that travellers appreciate most is the ability to book their own travel arrangements without having to second-guess company policies. With the right platform, they gain the freedom to manage their travel plans with ease, enjoying several key benefits:
- No need to rely on the office or travel manager for simple bookings.
- Avoiding the hassle of complicated emails or forms with multiple options.
- Choosing their preferred travel options, whether it’s flights, car rentals, or even trains.
- Selecting preferred airlines and accommodations.
- Tracking their frequent flyer points for future benefits.
A well-designed online booking platform tailored for business travel not only gives travellers more control but also helps ensure compliance with company policies.
Self-booking saves both time for travellers and administrators, allowing employees to quickly select their preferred options within the approved travel budget. To keep everything in check, opt for a platform that allows travellers to book within policy automatically or submit their preferred trips for approval. This way, travel managers can review and finalise bookings directly within the platform.
3. Optimise your travel policy and approval workflow
One of the biggest advantages of a corporate travel booking platform is the ability to seamlessly integrate your company’s travel policy and approval process. By automating the system, you ensure that every employee’s trip aligns with company guidelines without the hassle of manual intervention.
When setting up your platform, ensure that you cover key policy areas such as:
- Price limits based on the destination
- Travel insurance requirements
- Guidelines for specific traveller groups (e.g., teams, roles, or regions)
- Approval protocols based on trip price or duration
- Identifying the approvers (team leads, project managers, or travel managers)
By consolidating the entire process into one platform, you can simplify the booking, management, and reporting of business travel.
While some companies allow flexibility, where employees can book outside the policy and notify an admin afterward, others, especially in traditional industries, have stricter rules requiring admins to manage bookings directly.
Finding the right balance between flexibility and control is crucial for a successful travel programme. Your platform should support this balance, enabling you to streamline your process, collect data for ongoing improvements, and keep everything running smoothly.
4. Prioritise clear communication across all stakeholders
For a corporate travel programme to be successful, clear and consistent communication is essential across all teams involved. Whether it’s business travellers, office managers, HR teams, or finance departments, each person should be well-informed and aligned. Here are a few tips to ensure smooth communication:
- Make sure everyone understands their responsibilities in the travel process, from booking to approval to expense submission.
- Ensure that your travel policies are straightforward, accessible, and well-communicated so that employees know what’s expected of them.
- Set up a simple, easy-to-follow approval workflow to avoid delays and confusion.
- Provide finance teams with up-to-date data to track spending and ensure budget compliance.
- Offer training on your booking system and policies so travellers know where to go for help and how to book efficiently.
When communication is clear and consistent, you eliminate potential roadblocks and ensure a smoother travel experience for everyone involved.
5. Take charge of your travel expenses
Managing travel expenses can be tricky, especially when real-time visibility is lacking. When finance teams don’t have immediate access to up-to-date travel data, it becomes difficult to make informed budget decisions. Here’s how to optimise your travel spend:
- Use a travel management platform that provides instant access to current travel bookings and expenses. This empowers finance teams to make immediate budget adjustments, avoiding delays and costly oversights.
- Ensure your platform allows detailed breakdowns of travel spend by project, team, or office. This granular view helps track KPIs, monitor expenses, and identify areas for cost savings.
- Monthly and quarterly reviews are still essential. A good platform will offer historical data to assess spending patterns, sustainability, and ROI on corporate travel.
- Real-time data also streamlines reimbursement processes by giving finance teams the tools they need to track expenses accurately and efficiently.
With the right platform, you’ll gain better financial control, reduce the risk of overspending, and make more informed decisions about your travel budget.
Transform your corporate travel with Holiday Tours
Transform your corporate travel with Holiday Tours Your travellers want an easy booking process, your administrators need a seamless way to enforce company policies, and your finance team requires real-time insights into travel expenses.
With Holiday Tours as your TMC partner, we provide the perfect solution to streamline your travel management. Our tailored services, from policy creation to expense management, help save time, ensure policy compliance, and make booking a breeze.
Turn travel challenges into success and unlock the full potential of your business travel experience with Holiday Tours.
SIMPLIFY YOUR CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT WITH US TODAY. REACH OUT TO US AT +603 2303 9100 (PRESS 3) OR [email protected].
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