Corporate Travel Agent: Your Solution for Efficient Business Travel?

Traditionally, businesses have used corporate travel consultants to manage their travel programs. They handle every aspect of business travel, making them extremely popular. Let us explore the advantages and disadvantages of using their services:

 

Many businesses conventionally book their work-related travel through third-party portals. This can, however, lead to several challenges, like paying higher costs or non-compliance. In order to avoid these, it is advised to use a comprehensive travel management platform. Such platforms help find budget-friendly options while ensuring that they are fully compliant with the company’s policies.

 

So, let us understand why companies hire a travel consultant (corporate) and how they can streamline their official trips:

 

Who is a Corporate Travel Agent?

A travel agent works in corporate travel agent companies. They are professionals who help businesses book their work trips. Their primary duties include:

 

• • Researching cost-effective travel options.
• • Creating a travel itinerary.
• • Making hotel and flight bookings.
• • Providing effective business travel consulting.
• • Offering visa and passport guidance.
• • Offering answers to business travel-related queries.

 

The services of a business travel consultant thus include offering personalized services concerning the travel needs of a corporate traveller and their company.

 

What Does a Corporate Travel Agent Do?

A travel agent (corporate) helps business travellers manage their corporate travel arrangements. Taking the travel criteria defined by a company, travel agents assist business travellers- pre, post, and during their trips. Their function can therefore be synonymous with a travel manager’s as they take over the role of administering-

 

• • Timely bookings of flights, hotels, transportation and more.
• • Proper issuance of visa
• • Providing travel support to employees travelling.

 

Hence, they ensure that every trip fits the employees’ pocket or the company’s budget and is safe. They smoothen every travel step, ensuring frictionless bookings and more.

These travel agents can either work individually or as part of corporate travel agent companies. Regardless, they smoothen the booking and management processes, tackling rising costs and unorganized trips.

 

Limitations of Corporate Travel Consultants:

While the corporate travel agent definition covers many aspects of organising and managing business travel, there are certain drawbacks to using their services. Let us explore these in detail:

1. Increase in Costs: When dealing with different corporate travel agents in India, businesses can end up incurring huge costs. The additional costs implied on every booking inflate the company's travel budget. Most travel agencies charge- 
   • Commissions,
   • Annual fees, and 
   • Transactional costs

   every time an employee uses their services to book their travel.

   
   
2. Lack of Control: As an independent travel consultant (corporate), they are not under the direct control or supervision of the businesses they work for. They use their relationships with suppliers to secure the most competitive rates on behalf of their clients. However, there may be no means of validating the authenticity of their claims.
3. No Transparency: Using the services of travel agents often guarantees no transparency into the travel processes. There is no way to measure the success or failure of opting to book through them. As a result, there are no additional insights as well, hampering future decision-making. 
4. Lack of Availability: A regular complaint customers have while employing the services of a travel consultant is that they are not available when you need them the most. Working only during business hours, they are unable to address the issues faced by the travellers 24/7. This leaves the employees feeling helpless when they need assistance during business trips. 

 

Why Using a Corporate Travel Management Platform is Better?

Even though the best corporate travel agents have advantages to offer, the drawbacks associated with solely using their services can be too many. These cons can, in fact, hamper the company's travel planning and budget.

 

Modern travel management tools are an easy alternative to efficiently planning a company's travel budget and employees' trips. myBiz by MakeMyTrip removes manual interventions by automating the entire travel booking and management process. Compared to a corporate travel consultant's rate, an automated platform can also find more cost-effective bookings. It can even provide exclusive deals and offers, increasing overall savings on corporate travel.

Here are the primary ways why choosing myBiz can streamline your overall business travel:

 

• • Enables quick and easy bookings.
• • Provides the largest inventory for endless booking options.
• • Offers better-negotiated rates compared to a corporate travel agent.
• • Provides access to a one-stop booking and management platform.
• • Integrates booking with travel policy for higher compliance.
• • Automates workflows for easy approvals.
• • Provides priority support to travellers at every step of their business trip.

 

Hence, an efficient travel management solution is crucial for a business. myBiz effortlessly combines all the benefits of a good corporate travel consultant with a travel management platform’s comprehensive solution to streamline every employee's journey.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Corporate Travel Agent 

 

Q1. What are the different types of travel agent?

Ans. Corporate travel agents can either work independently or work in an agency. Some travel agents also work online, while traditionally, most agents work offline.

Q2. What is the difference between travel agency and tour operator?

Ans. While a tour operator creates packages for the customers, a travel agent sells those packages on behalf of the tour operator.

Q3. What do travel agents do?

Ans. If you are wondering ‘how to become a corporate travel consultant,’ a travel agent helps plan, book, and manage the travel arrangements of individuals or groups.

Q4. What should I look for in a corporate travel agent?