A Complete Guide to Corporate Travel Management

Corporate travel management is a crucial component of company growth. When properly managed, business travel can offer companies a significant return on each dollar spent. The trick, of course, is developing business travel management policies that provide this value, rather than forcing your team to slog through financial and logistical dilemmas that can drain valuable time and resources.

Business travel management dilemmas

Company owners and managers often find themselves making travel decisions outside their expertise and the mission of their primary business. These decisions go beyond how to book corporate travel and involve significant concerns, including:

• Capturing and compiling invoices

• Ensuring the safety of employees while they are on the road

• Determining which booking sites offer the best rates or negotiating rates with the hotel

• Canceling rooms, often at the last minute, when travel plans change

• Understanding corporate travel performance metrics

What is a corporate travel manager?

Many company owners realize that investing in corporate travel management is the best way to cut costs while maximizing the safety of their traveling teams. In some cases, this means hiring or appointing a corporate travel manager who can centralize business travel management services within the company.

The person who holds this position will oversee the development, implementation, and compliance with a corporate travel policy. The travel manager may also be in charge of selecting travel vendors, booking travel, and processing expense reports. Travel managers may also have the responsibility of quantifying the overall value of business travel to the company.

As you might imagine, the responsibilities of a corporate travel manager often become increasingly complex. Not all businesses have the resources to hire an employee dedicated to travel. Companies with multiple employees on the road at a given time might find that centralized travel booking is inefficient, mainly if the travel manager is also responsible for policy enforcement and performing high-level analysis of financial reports.

Outsourcing corporate travel management

Many companies now realize that corporate travel needs specialized attention: As a result, they are working with business travel management services such as CLC Lodging. These companies may outsource travel entirely to the service or negotiate a hybrid approach in which the company travel manager takes on the policy enforcement and reporting roles while outsourcing booking and traveler support to the service.

How CLC Lodging supports your business

CLC Members who take advantage of corporate travel management solutions get access to a proprietary network of over 45,000 pre-negotiated and discounted hotels for deeply discounted lodging rates and negotiations for business travel projects. Read more about the CLC hotel network here.

But the real savings for members come with CLC’s package of customizable solutions and features to save your business time and money in ways that standard hotel booking sites can’t.

These Solutions Include:

• 24/7/365 Traveler Support – Support for reservations and for travelers during their stay, no matter the time of day

• Duty of Care - Locate employees with Traveler Tracking reservation mapping to ensure your teams are safe

• Accurate, Consolidated Billing - Prevent errors and unauthorized charges with audited invoices

• Comprehensive Reporting - Track, analyze and improve every aspect of your lodging with customizable reports

• Centralized Lodging Platforms - Make lodging requests, track reservations, view invoices, and monitor spending

With comprehensive lodging solutions, CLC members saved a combined $420 million in the last year. And best of all, the more companies that join, the more purchasing power CLC has to leverage better deals. Members get savings and a great customer experience, and hotel partners get more guests. It’s a win for everyone. 

Become a Member

Corporate lodging management should be tailored to the needs of your business. You know your business best, while we know travel. By partnering with CLC Lodging, you’ll be able to focus on your company and your people. We’ll handle travel arrangements, keeping your employees safe on the road, and critical reporting. 

CLC Lodging is committed to simplifying workforce lodging for its members. To gain access to the pre-negotiated discounts, controls, and insights needed to streamline your corporate lodging program, join CLC Lodging today for free