Is it Time to Re-evaluate your Business Travel Program?

Does your company have employees who travel for business? If so, you need to ask yourself these important questions:

• Are we getting the most value for money from our travel program?
• Are we taking advantage of all of the latest technology?
• Are we getting the most from our deals with hotels and airlines?
• Do we have an effective travel policy and are our employees complying with it?
• Is our travel management company "managing" our travel program or just issuing tickets?
• Is our travel management company doing everything it can to prepare us for all of the new developments in the travel industry?
• Does our travel management company provide us with the relevant data we need to make effective decisions about our travel program?
• Finally, and maybe most importantly, do you know where all of your travellers are today and would we be able to assist them if they had an emergency?

If you hesitated at all in answering even one of these questions, perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate your business travel program. The travel world is changing so fast and the array of new tech tools becoming available for travellers can be really confusing. There is no doubt that some of these tools can help make the business travel experience easier, safer and more cost-effective for your travellers and for your company. However, all of this new technology is only as good as the experienced and professional customer service that backs it up.

Managing an effective business travel management program requires intelligence, experience and, most importantly, “balance”. At Global Travel, we need to make a profit but we need to earn that profit by delivering real value to our clients. We need to balance enforcing the corporate travel policy with making certain that travellers are satisfied and not being “policed”. We need to balance keeping travellers safe and well informed without becoming intrusive. We need to balance using the latest in travel technology without losing our focus on the all-important customer experience and the human touch. We need to balance finding the lowest fares and room rates without compromising the traveller’s comfort, safety and ability to do their jobs effectively.

Global Travel manages the business travel programs for over 600 local and global companies here in Singapore. Since 1975, we have been providing the most well-balanced and intelligent travel management solutions available in Singapore. We are not so big that your company becomes a number that is fit into a mega TMC’s “one size fits all” approach to travel management and we are not so small that we cannot offer a complete range of traveller technology and services supported by a global network.

If you are involved with the business travel at your company, you need to be aware of all the new and exciting developments in our industry. If you can spare me 30 minutes for a friendy conversation, I can show you the different options you have and how easy it can be to get your business travel program finely tuned and ready for the future.

John Thornton / [email protected]