A corporate travel planner is responsible for organising travel arrangements for business travel, and can offer services ranging from conference coordination, event management, incentive trips, and team building. The duties required of a corporate luxury travel consultant are similar to that of a retail travel agent, however, the emphasis is obviously not on leisure, but on making arrangements to best facilitate the client’s business needs. Every business requires detailed reports for financial accountability; business travel services should include a tailored report to suit the corporation’s needs. Travel agents, while capable of booking business travel, tend to cater more to private holiday travel.
When it comes to booking travel and events for business, corporate travel management experts are better able to meet the requirements. Business travel services are not limited to flights, but may also include transfers, accommodation, hire cars, conference venues, meals, and entertainment. A corporate travel planner can draw up a comprehensive itinerary which schedules the entire trip, to make things run more smoothly. Moreover, they may be able to advise on which hotels not to book, how to connect your flights for minimal stop over, what airlines have the most comfortable seats or best service, and whether it is worth paying an extra few dollars for an alternative option that may make all the difference between tolerable and wonderful. They may also advise if a passport or visa is required for the travel destination.
Booking travel requires coordination of flights, transfers and itinerary scheduling. This may require many phone calls, all of which take time away from a person’s regular job. By being handed off to a professional, the job is done better, and takes little time from the organiser. Any details needing confirmation can be emailed as time permits. In addition, The more detailed the itinerary, the less stressful the travel is for the clients, which means that they can focus on the reason for the travel, and increase overall productivity. With a well planned business trip, the traveller needs only to show up on time for the flight, walk out the gate to their hire car or transfer, and check into their hotel room on arrival at their destination. All details, even down to meals and dry cleaning, can be pre-arranged and booked by the expert corporate travel manager.
The more people involved in the journey, the more complex the planning. Business group travel specialists are equipped to deal with the complexity of such an itinerary. While corporations are unlikely to send a group of employees on a tour, they may send them to a conference or great holidays event. A travel agent may be able to book a bundle of seats or rooms at a discount, and can pass this discount on to their clients as part of a package deal. When booking everything at once, as a package, discounts may be applied, which will make the travel more cost effective. Using a specialist in business travel services, conference travel solutions can be found which best meet the company’s needs.
