Business travel procurement aims to optimize the company’s travel program by ensuring cost-effective transportation, accommodation, and other travel expenses. The corporate travel procurement process involves the selection of travel suppliers and negotiating for the best deals.
Traditionally, employees make bookings and pay for travel expenses and get reimbursement on submission of expense reports by attaching payment receipts. The process may not be cost-effective as employees cannot access the best supplier rates. Allowing employees to purchase travel will affect their core job functions, as travel booking is a complex and time-consuming task.
What is business travel procurement?
Practically speaking, the travel procurement process is enabling employees to undertake business trips by booking flights, trains, hotels, and local transport.
Business travel procurement is more than finding the most cost-effective travel option like flights, train journeys, hotels, and local transport. Travel procurement meaning covers aspects beyond the price factor to include travelers’ satisfaction, safety, and well-being.
The ideal travel procurement management is more than negotiating with travel suppliers for the best travel options. It involves an in-depth travel spend analysis to design cost-effective fund management strategies.
Business travel procurement must enhance the productivity of business trips by ensuring that employees are fresh on arrival and can reach business locations at the right time. Choice of flights and hotel location plays a crucial role in enabling employees to dedicate maximum time to doing what matters the most.
How to implement travel procurement by enhancing travel management
Ensuring an effective business travel procurement without hampering employee travel experience is a challenging task. Travel managers and employees may not access the best deals on flights and accommodation, as they must focus on travel management and business generation activities. Negotiating rates and managing travel suppliers need the support of third-party services.
Travel management companies can successfully ensure supplier sourcing besides ensuring the best rates for travel and accommodation for business travelers. TMCs can also take care of travel risk management because of their expertise in selecting the best quality travel vendors.
1. Policy-oriented approach to drive travel cost efficiency
A systematic travel program that incorporates policies and workflows is essential to improve the efficiency of business travel. Systematic travel management can also streamline the company’s travel program to ensure employee satisfaction and higher productivity on business trips.
Business travel policies drive cost efficiency by providing travel booking guidelines to employees and TMCs. SaaS-based online travel management platforms allow the integration of travel policies to ensure cost-effective bookings.
Having systematic workflows and clear travel policies can speed up the travel management process to save valuable time for business travelers. Automation can streamline travel management and improve the productivity of business trips.
2. Leverage travel management companies
Involving a travel management company can simplify corporate travel procurement, as these providers offer the following advantages:
- Better expertise to negotiate with suppliers: Travel management companies have proven expertise in negotiating a cost-efficient contract because of their vast experience in dealing with travel suppliers.
- Save money: Companies can ensure cost savings by working with travel management companies because they can assure the best pricing for corporate travel.
- Help with travel policy adoption: Organizations can leverage travel management companies to develop and implement travel policies without impacting the efficiency of business travel and employee experience.
3. Automate travel management processes
Choosing a SaaS-based travel management platform helps companies ensure cost-efficient travel procurement by providing all benefits that one may get by hiring a travel management company. Business travel procurement tools drive automation to get the best deals on business travel and help implement a travel policy for seamless compliance.
Online travel management solutions allow employees to access self-booking facilities for greater satisfaction. Integration of travel policy and workflow automation avoids deviations when employees book travel.
Conclusion
Online travel management platforms like Paxes provide multiple benefits to boost the business travel management process. The AI-enabled global travel management platform boosts ROI by ensuring seamless travel policy compliance and expediting travel management processes through automation. The automated travel management solution allows access to LCCs and GDS suppliers for cost-efficient travel procurement. Travel managers and finance teams get real-time insights into travel expenditures for tracking, monitoring, and controlling budget utilization. The real-time data visibility across employee levels and departments improves negotiations and savings.
Corporate travel is a vital element of business, though it accounts for a major component of the company’s controllable expenses. Using smart strategies like leveraging TMCs and implementing SaaS-based travel solutions helps drive cost savings without impacting employee experience and productivity.
Suggested Read: Best Ways To Enhance Corporate Travel Booking Process
Travel Procurement FAQs
What does travel procurement cover?
Travel procurement comprises booking hotels, flights, train tickets, and other travel needs of business travelers.
What are the three goals of travel procurement?
Travel procurement aims at ensuring cost savings, quality control, and risk mitigation.
What is the Key Performance Indicator for travel procurement?
The Key Performance Indicator for business travel procurement measures costs, quality, and quantity of travel purchases.
What are the latest procurement trends of 2024?
The 2024 travel procurement trends include a greater focus on risk management, the adoption of automation, and better supply chain visibility.
Why is travel procurement important in business travel?
Travel procurement is vital as it ensures cost reduction and employee satisfaction, and assures risk management.
