Corporate travel planning is no small undertaking, especially in today's precarious economic and socio-political climate. Businesses are balancing multiple stressors, including financial constraints, a hybrid or remote workforce, increasing prices, complex visa regulations, and continued pressure to drop CO² emissions. No longer are corporate travel planners simply tasked with booking a venue, arranging transport from one location, and securing the necessary accommodation.
Corporate travel planning has become a complex scheme that requires professionals to be on top of their game. In fact, they need to wear many hats at once if business trips are to be successful and remain on budget. Corporate travel planners must consider many elements when planning a trip, including:
- Multiple departure locations.
- Visa and Covid-restrictions.
- Carbon emissions from each departure point.
- A whole host of miscellaneous costs that crop up as the planning phase commences.
This is why corporate travel planners need to stay ahead of the curve and utilize innovative technological tools that can optimize the planning phase and ensure less error.
What is the role of a corporate travel planner?
A corporate travel planner is responsible for arranging travel logistics for employees or executives of a company. This may include booking flights, hotels, rental cars, and other transportation, as well as planning itineraries and coordinating schedules.
The role of a corporate travel planner is crucial in ensuring that business travel is efficient, cost-effective, and safe for the company's employees.
Corporate travel is a significant contributor to the global economy
According to a report by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), corporate travel is a significant contributor to the global economy, with an estimated value of £1.4 trillion in 2020.
The report also highlights the importance of corporate travel planners in managing the risks associated with business travel, including safety and security concerns, as well as ensuring compliance with company policies and regulations.
What are the skills of a corporate travel planner?
Corporate travel planners must possess excellent organizational and communication skills, attention to detail, and a strong understanding of the travel industry. They must also be able to manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing circumstances quickly.
In addition, they should be familiar with travel technology and software, which can help streamline the planning process and enhance the overall travel experience for employees.
Tips to Become a Successful Corporate Travel Planner
Here are five tips that can increase everyday planning endeavors.
1. Know travel-related policies like the back of your hand:
There needs to be a thorough understanding of a company's travel policies. These policies can be understood as the regulations that stipulate all travel rules within the business. This includes booking procedures, budget allocations, invoicing regulations, sustainability goals, travel insurance information, reimbursement processes, and preferred vendors. Before a corporate travel planner enters the planning phase, they need to clearly comprehend the travel rules and adhere to them.
2. Remember that location is king:
Corporate travel planners need to have an in-depth understanding of attainable location points. This means keeping their finger on the pulse with viable destinations, new airlines with cheaper flights, and visa regulations for all constituents. Talented corporate travel planners need to identify affordable meeting venues, considering all meeting constituents and their varying locations. For large enterprises with hundreds of stakeholders and numerous departure points, this can be a significant task.
3. Build meaningful relationships with vendors and organizations:
Corporate travel planners are also big relationship builders. They have a solid network of vendors and can rely on their services at a moment's notice. Better relationships can result in excellent negotiations, meaningful cost savings, and flexibility in terms of changes or cancellations.
4. Consider existing real estate and ask questions:
Successful corporate travel planners must think out of the box and always be several steps ahead. Not only do they have to plot and plan the best meeting point and all associated details, but they also need to consider what they've got at their disposal. Many companies have gone fully remote or hybrid, meaning that there is a lot of empty real estate waiting to be optimized. They also need to ask important questions: How can companies maximize their real estate? Should they transform offices into high-end meeting spaces to bring people together? They need to find the missing value in existing resources and utilize it to the business's advantage.
5. Streamline the process with smart technology:
Smart corporate travel planners use technology to their advantage, realizing that meeting planning software can expedite the planning process and achieve better results. Data-driven software can save travel planners a monumental amount of time and produce accurate results within moments. With TROOP, you can simply enter the varying departure points, and the meeting planning software can produce numerous feasible results of potential meeting points in minutes. On average, using a corporate travel planning program could save you as much as 40 hours per average work week for every meeting organized. Over the weeks, months, and years, this results in tremendous savings.
Save money, time, and stress with TROOP
TROOP is the ideal meeting planning program for busy corporate travel planners, streamlining the process and ensuring every element of the planning phase runs optimally. The software identifies locations based on costs, CO² emissions, travel time, and convenience. With less time and other resources, companies need to utilize self-service solutions. Smart travel planning professionals rely on intelligent technology to get the job done!
