Hospitality Management
Article | June 19, 2023
Corporate travel and expense management is one of the cumbersome challenges for CMOs. Travel expenses are the second-highest expense and one of the toughest to control. Getting the best price for a business out of bookings is not enough for a CMO to manage travel expenses. Instead, there are other challenging factors that challenge a company. What are these challenges? Brief information on it can help you identify what your company needs to fix upon to understand this.
Lack of data collection
No proper visibility into corporate travel spend
Lack of an organized corporate travel and expense management process
Proper policies
Lack of inventory-rich management system
No accountability to services under corporate travel and expense policy
Lack of technology usage
Lack of flexibility
Lack of a stable plan for create travel management strategy
Advanced corporate travel and expense management is one of the best solutions today to curb these challenges. So, how can corporate travel and expense management help CMOs succeed in business? Before finding it, a glimpse at the management’s ability and efficiency can help you understand more about it.
Corporate Travel and Expense Management: What Do You Need to Know?
Corporate travel and expense management today has become advanced after the pandemic hit. Today, it is integrated with cutting-edge features through software and is used for mobile and desktop applications. The applications such as spend control & reporting, quick and easy booking, automated expense & reimbursement solutions with receipt capture, back up analytics capabilities, live credit card feeds, and customizable real-time reports are included. All these are powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence.
While many CMOs agree that strategizing corporate travel and expense management is helpful to save costs. They emphasize this because their companies have already practiced advanced corporate travel and expense management. Other corporate expense management companies also implemented corporate travel and expense management. And they recommend incorporating advanced management to curb expenses. If you face challenges in organizing corporate expense systems, this is the right article to learn how to cope with challenges.
Corporate Travel and Expense Management: How should you go about it?
Corporate travel and expense management are set to soar up to $1.7 trillion by 2022 globally, right after the travel companies started investing. This indicates the right time for you to start strategizing corporate travel management and its expenses by following practical steps.
Consider Technology-based Solutions
Cloud-based corporate travel expense software can simplify your corporate travel management and travel-related expense policies. It leads the entire expense management process to a higher degree of competence. The automation of the corporate travel management process also makes employees easy to file expenses on time.
For example, TripActions is a leading corporate expense management company. It provides top software solutions for corporate travel and expense management. The company promotes technology and offer solutions that come with ease of use.
No Paper Checks
Modern corporate travel and expense management saves ample time by eliminating paper checks. Paper checks make the process tiresome, and there are high chances of error. It also leaves space for employee fraud, which results in tracing difficulty. Thus, paperless work reduces the chances of data tampering and save over-pricing possibilities. Your business can be profitable if you inculcate corporate travel expense software. You can find a list of top software online. Incorporating modern corporate travel and expense management solutions can curb expenses. Practicing the best practices for travel expense management can generate higher revenue for your company.
Set an Accountable Plan on Reimbursement
The reimbursement processes can turn easy with modern corporate travel expense management. The management can help to set an accountable plan and give access to a list of reimbursements. In this way, employees can claim the existing reimbursements in one go. Following this practice for travel expense management can organize all travel and expense management services in one place. And you will never encounter any corporate travel management challenges in the future.
Offer Flexibility
Employees are the happiest when they have freedom in their work and workflow. And because of this, you need to include a broad travel inventory. Modern corporate travel and expense management offers an inventory-rich system that allows various options to check employees' booking flights, accommodation, or car rentals. For example, Expensify provides a clear insight into the entire trip's actual cost to corporate travelers. Other corporate business travel management companies also implemented advanced corporate travel and expense management systems. And they are shaping the travel industry like other industries.
Choose the Right Software
In this, you need to choose the right corporate travel expense software for your business expense management. A corporate travel and expense management software includes features to manage corporate travel and expense policy, organize travel and expense management services, create a proper travel management strategy, manage corporate travel programs, and sets corporate travel management trips. Often, it appears impossible to organize trips that change. Corporate business travel management can help ease your employees’ load. Similarly, corporate travel and expense management software offers other features, such as:
It allows corporate travel managers to keep a proper view of employees traveling on a particular day
Budget tracking and travel policy tools through apps help simplify the process of business expense claims for employees as well as the finance team
Automated receipt submission reminders help employees to submit the reports on time
Ratings of travel and expense management services include car rentals, airfare, lodgings, and accommodation
Instant price comparisons
24/7 on the go support for managing a corporate travel program and expense management
Self-booking of business trips with the help of the travel booking management software
Seamless corporate travel expense reporting
Search about Software Compatibility
When including automation, you need to research corporate travel expense software's compatibility. When you consult a vendor online or in-person and understand software flexibility for travel bookings and transportation services, you can easily select according to your business requirements. By doing so, you tend to save a lot of time and deploy corporate expense systems faster.
Consider Setting up a Budget for Corporate Travel and Expense Management
For a company, the budget plays a pivotal role before setting up a new system. Questions like what kind of corporate travel and expense management solution you wish to invest in should also be considered if you want your company to succeed. Incorporating a corporate travel and expense management system involves a series of processes such as setup, installation, support, and customization. Thus, choosing the right software or tool is a crucial matter that compliments all budgetary solutions. Set up a budget, research which software can be beneficial to you, and incorporate it to exercise fast processes of your travel and expense management services.
Tips to Create a Successful Corporate Travel and Expense Management
While there are several solutions to corporate travel and expense management and you understood how to implement it, some tips can also lead you to be successful in business by introducing advanced travel and expense management services, corporate travel and expense policy, corporate expense systems, travel and expense management resources and more. Therefore, for this, you need to:
Educate employees and help them understand the technological aspects of advanced best practices for travel expense management
Set cost-saving strategies with the help of research on what other corporate expense management companies are implementing
Be resilient and open to suggestions from your employees
Consider integrating travel management strategies with an automated travel & expense management system. In this way, your company’s corporate travel and expense management will continue to function efficiently. As travel industry leaders are changing their strategies to stand out in 2021, it is time to end fretting over manual corporate travel expenses difficulties. With the help of a dedicated corporate travel management strategy, you can succeed in achieving the goals you set for the New Year in your company.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Travel and Expense (T&E) Management?
To understand corporate travel and expense management, a few features are explained below:
Tracking of reports
Reporting
Costs management
Submission of receipts
Reimbursement
Clearing expenses
Management of corporate travel
Pricing
List of services
How to manage travel expenses in corporate?
To manage travel expense under a corporate travel and expense management system requires the following things:
Keep track of details
Submit expense report on time
Plan ahead
Organize data with details
Choose a suitable tool or software
Create a fast workflow
How to manage corporate travel and expense budget?
Some careful planning and thorough research on selecting the right tools or software can easily manage corporate travel and expense budget. With this, a business can get a closer insight into the planning of the budget, which results in building of a dignified corporate travel and expense management.
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Travel Technology
Article | May 5, 2023
Controlling how employees spend company money on travel has been one of the biggest historic challenges for finance teams. Most company spend is governed by purchase orders, with payments made in relation to specific invoices from the company’s own bank. The data is available transparent and can be analyzed to spot any inconsistencies. But controlling travel spend, which is most company’s largest discretionary spend area, is much harder.
Employees increasingly organize their own travel, empowered by corporate self-booking tools for search, booking, and payment. This can help with visibility, particularly if the corporate uses lodge or virtual cards to pay. However, pre-trip spend like air and hotel bookings only represent 50-60% of the money spent on travel. What about the rest?
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Hospitality Management
Article | July 4, 2023
It would be an understatement to say that the coronavirus pandemic has throttled the travel industry, but the luxury sector is resilient and coming back strong! As you plan safety-minded meanderings into and throughout the New Year, here are a few great options for perennial favorite modes of jet set travel.
Travel to the Bottom of the Earth
Premium private jet company Magellan Jets is working to keep its guests as safe as they are satisfied. The company has compiled a toolkit to help travelers stay healthy while navigating flu season and the continuing coronavirus crisis. Magellan Jets' curated collection of guides and expert tips outlines best practices and safety measures people should remember before taking their next flight. The healthy travel toolkit covers topics such as what travelers can do to prevent contracting the coronavirus, steps professional pilots take to ensure they don’t get sick while flying, as well as other helpful resources. Additionally, readers can learn how booking private jet travel for leisure or business can significantly decrease the risk of exposure to the coronavirus and other illnesses.
Should this inspire you to get out of Dodge, consider a trip to the bottom of the Earth! Magellan Jets is now working in partnership with the industry-leading International Yacht Company (IYC) and White Desert to offer guests the trip of a lifetime to the South Pole, by way of Antarctica, to see the Emperor Penguins. This luxury 8-night adventure takes 12 guests at a time into the heart of Antarctica before venturing off to the South Pole.
IYC and Magellan Jets are working diligently to ensure the safest, most purely private way to travel. Magellan Jets will fly guests to Cape Town, where they will spend the night at One & Only prior to departing for Antarctica with White Desert on a plane equipped with the latest avionics and ski-equipped for landing on snow.
In Antarctica, guests will stay in state-of-the-art sleeping pods at Whichaway Camp where their experienced team of chefs, hosts and guides will take care of every detail, allowing you to relax and enjoy your surroundings. At the beginning of the adventure, guests fly 2 hours along the coast to an emperor penguin colony of over 14,000 breeding pairs and their newly hatched chicks. Tourists only rarely visit this colony and, as a consequence, witnessing these birds in their natural habitat is one of the most surreal experiences on earth.
As you fly from Antarctica to the South Pole, you will experience a true sense of remoteness, for as far as the eye can see, the white horizon meets the pure blue sky. The South Pole, the bottom of the earth and the holy grail of early explorers. At the designated marker there is no more east, south or west on the planet, only north, and you will be able to walk around the world in just a few paces!
Then you will fly back to their wilderness camp at 83ºS to overnight and join the select few who have ever spent a night in the beauty of the high polar plateau. You will be well looked after as you experience camping in one of the wildest places on earth.
After a night spent as a true explorer, you will fly back to the main camp and celebrate your momentous journey. With up to only 12 clients on each adventure and professional polar explorers as your guides, the day’s itineraries are tailored to each individual. Make your choice from gentle treks and picnics overlooking the ice waves, to more adrenaline-fueled activities.
After the trials and confinement of Covid-19, there is perhaps be no better place than Antarctica to escape, reflect and reignite your passion to explore. With limited group size, strict bio-security measures and the naturally inert landscape, Antarctica is one of the safest places to visit in 2020 and beyond.
Travel Back in Time
Oenophiles rejoice! Despite the pandemic and recent wildfires, Napa Valley is open and welcome visitors. While in this revered region, do yourself a favor and book a ride on the Napa Valley Wine Train. This isn’t so much a mode of transportation but rather a time machine transporting passengers back to an era when the journey was as scintillating as the destination, itself. Particularly well-suited for couples seeking quality together time, this excursion offers an elegant sojourn through the heart of Napa Valley in a refined, history-rich atmosphere befitting the lush countryside through which it passes.
Duly complementing the drop-dead gorgeous vistas are gourmet victuals and varietals-a-plenty. The train itself is a wonder to behold. The expertly restored and maintained antique Pullman cars gleam with brass and Honduran mahogany while etched original glass and swanky armchairs evoke the early 20th century spirit of luxury travel.
One of the few active historic passenger railroads remaining in the United States, the Napa Valley Wine Train offers a tempting variety of tours, events and packages, including gourmet dining experiences for both lunch and dinner. As goes without saying, the wine offerings on the Napa Valley Wine Train are ample, and impressive given the space restraints. Or, passengers can bring their own bottle on board.
The Napa Valley Wine Train isn’t just a train ride—it’s an institution that echoes the glory days of train travel, with fine dining service, multiple course meals cooked to order, Napa Valley scenery and ultimate relaxation aboard an exquisitely restored vintage rail car.
Of course, as a result of the newly released travel restrictions, the closure of its winery partners and in the interest of the health of its passengers and staff, Napa Valley Wine Train journeys were temporarily canceled but will be back on track as pandemic conditions improve—and poised to show you a spectacular time.
Luxe Chauffeur Service Everywhere You Jet Set
Luxury, convenience and safety-minded travelers are loving Blacklane’s global chauffeur service, which brings travelers peace of mind across 50 countries. The crew’s health, safety, reliability, and technology gives guests door-to-door stress-free travel.
Blacklane chauffeurs clean vehicles and disinfect all points of contact before and after rides. They offer guests hand sanitizer, wear masks, and provide masks to guests who need them. Their chauffeurs also check their temperature daily and air out vehicles between rides. Blacklane travelers receive fair, fixed and all-inclusive rates and all rides are carbon-neutral.
Plus, all Blacklane chauffeurs are commercially licensed and insured. Airport pickups include flight tracking, meet-and-greet service, and up to one hour of free chauffeur waiting time.
Intercity rides give guests a private door-to-door alternative to short-haul flights and trains. Upgrade your travels at Blacklane.com or on the free Blacklane app.
Gift an Extraordinary Custom Car
For those road warriors who revere the open highway with the wind in their hair, there’s a much better way to bestow a vehicle on your beloved this season. Don’t just buy a car and put a bow on it, let your loved one build their dream car from start to finish and drive away with a truly customized vehicle down to the smallest detail!
E.C.D. Automotive Design (E.C.D.), the country’s leading specialist for custom restored Defenders and classic Land Rovers, has released a limited number of exclusive Ultimate Platinum Cards for the upcoming holiday season. These black stainless-steel cards are valued at $200,000, so you can gift the opportunity to build a vehicle that is one-of-one, meaning no one else in the world will have a car like the one your lucky recipient designs.
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Travel Technology
Article | May 2, 2023
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Enhancing Operations of Travel Businesses
2.1 Constant Assistance
2.2 Increased Efficiency
2.3 Travel Spend Reduction
2.4 Advice and Insights
2.5 Travel Policy Compliance
2.6 Greater Knowledge and Visibility
3. Leveraging Business Functions with Services of Agencies
3.1 Travel Management
3.2 Passenger Assistance
3.3 Consulting
3.4 Marketing and Internal Communication
3.5 Technology
3.6 Leisure Services
4. Conclusion
1. Introduction
Travel management agencies empower business travel with in-depth analysis, reporting and constant assistance. They improve efficiency in business operations and reduce travel spending through a subscription or one-off payment for their services. With their profound knowledge and vast network of service providers, they offer more discounts and offerings to the travel company’s clients. This feature enhances the visibility and customer reach of the company. They also ensure travel policy compliance, consulting, and other services for better results.
2. Enhancing Operations of Travel Businesses
2.1 Constant Assistance
It becomes challenging to manage multiple providers simultaneously, so travel management agencies fill the communication gaps and prevent confusion during travel planning. They reach out various customer support teams and keep track of all communications as an all-in-one solution for global business travel. Some TMCs also assist in day and night shifts to assist with last-minute travel booking and urgent changes in the travel plan.
2.2 Increased Efficiency
Travel management agencies help to streamline the booking process. The travel agents would design a comprehensive travel program with travel arrangements as per the requirement of the clients. In addition, they would handle the logistics of making travel arrangements for multiple clients simultaneously.
2.3 Travel Spend Reduction
Travel management agencies may charge for a subscription or one-off payment via business travel credit cards for their services. But it leads to significant investment savings, cutting costs over an extended period. They have a vast network of travel service providers offering unique discounts for multiple services. The TMC officials have sound knowledge of reservation availability during particular periods and the destinations at the cheapest fares; that takes care of complex, repetitive and time-consuming travel processes of businesses. Such services make it easy to plan trips, make changes to reservations, and get reimbursed for travel costs.
2.4 Advice and Insights
TMC professionals understand the working of the travel industry at its core. As a result, they provide valuable advice on spending the company’s money for greater productivity. In addition, they are experts with in-depth knowledge of new destinations, the best routes for intra-city travel, and general compliance with policies of national and international trips. Moreover, travel management agencies can help to ensure that travelers are fully prepared and equipped for their journey by providing expert guidance and advice on travel requirements, health and safety protocols, and other important considerations.
2.5 Travel Policy Compliance
Compliance with travel rules, regulations and policies is vital for travel expense management. It ensures transparency and safeguards the privacy of travel companies or individuals. The travel management agencies adopt a travel policy to ensure efficiency in executing travel business processes.
2.6 Greater Knowledge and Visibility
Unclear travel processes cause malpractices and conflicts between travel companies and their clients. Travel management agencies minimize these risks through transparent travel processes. They provide real-time reports of reservations and bookings. They help manage travel within strict budgets, offering travel trend analyses for better decisions. In addition, they manage travel itineraries and assist businesses in every process.
3. Leveraging Business Functions with Services of Agencies
3.1 Travel Management
Travel management is the base of organizing and handling travel business, reservation of transport tickets, searches for accommodations, car rental, etc. Still, new technologies have transformed the traditional methods of travel operations. In addition, it undertakes price comparisons or strategies for more deals and discounts.
3.2 Passenger Assistance
As global travel continues to increase in frequency and complexity, travelers are often faced with a myriad of unforeseen problems and issues that can potentially derail their plans. Such issues may include repatriation due to illness, accident, or emergency, lost luggage or documents, flight cancellations, and many others. In order to effectively manage and resolve these issues, it is essential to rely on the expertise and resources of travel management agencies. These agencies specialize in providing comprehensive travel solutions and support services to individuals and organizations alike.
3.3 Consulting
Consulting services require taking care of different aspects based on the information of interest for the traveler, like traditions of the destination country, recommendations, cultural references, mannerisms, etc. Furthermore, their efforts are geared towards minimizing costs, maintaining control, and offering up-to-date guidance on travel policy.
3.4 Marketing and Internal Communication
As a travel management agency gains expertise, it becomes proficient in furnishing robust assistance in the formulation of travel policies for businesses, along with facilitating efficient communication among employees. The process of policy preparation entails regulations pertaining to business travel expenses and management, which the agency is adept at handling.
3.5 Technology
Utilizing the most up-to-date and advanced technology is crucial for any travel company in today's world. This allows travel companies to request and compare travel services such as booking tickets, finding suitable accommodations, managing billing, and providing emergency services in a more efficient and effective manner. With the latest business travel software, the companies can leverage automation and artificial intelligence to streamline their operations and offer personalized services to their customers. For instance, chatbots can assist customers with their travel plans, provide recommendations, and handle queries in real-time.
3.6 Leisure Services
Travel management companies also offer direct discounts or revised policies for travel and leisure activities in exceptional cases for the company’s employees and relatives. They provide value-adding services meeting the current expectations and needs of the companies through a comprehensive management of corporate travel.
4. Conclusion
Travel management agencies help travel companies in every aspect of their business, from travel management, passenger assistance, consulting, marketing and internal communication, and technology to leisure services. They provide constant help, increased efficiency, valuable insights and business advice. In addition, with profound years of experience, knowledge and a solid network, they give enhanced visibility to travel businesses. They reduce travel spend and ensure travel policy compliance between travel companies and their clients, encouraging customer loyalty and trust.
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