The new role of the travel manager within an organization

 As business is recovering, the role of the travel manager is evolving. Today, the travel manager is responsible for more than just booking travel. They are also responsible for managing budgets, developing policies and procedures, and ensuring compliance with regulations. In order to be successful in this role, the travel manager must be knowledgeable about the latest technologies and trends in the travel industry. They must also be able to effectively communicate with other members of the organization, as well as with travel service providers.

What is it?

Travel management is the set of specific activities, processes, and procedures, that a company has in place to organize and facilitate the business travel of its employees. This includes various processes related to budgeting, planning a trip, booking multiple services, paying for everything necessary, and the approvals and documents needed to ensure compliance with company rules.
Planning, managing, and controlling the use of resources related to travel within an organization is not an easy job. You have to know about managing budgets while also managing people, and balancing these two aspects can be difficult. It becomes especially difficult when the person in charge of these duties is not a specialist, as often they are a management assistant or a member of the administrative staff.
To get an overview of all these activities, companies allocate them to a designated role inside the organization that keeps close to the travel management company to deliver the needed services.
A travel manager’s role involves directing, operating, and administering travel programs and travel services for a business. But given today’s corporate ecosystem, their role is nuanced and ever-evolving.

The scope

The job of a travel manager goes beyond just doing reservations for hotels, transport, and others, for business trips. Among other things, they must optimize hotel and transport expenses, optimize travel policies and ensure compliance by employees, develop performance indicators, and manage meetings and events.
The travel manager is responsible for all aspects connected to business travel inside the organization. They are the go-to person when it comes to all travel-related queries, internal communication, traveler education and engages with different suppliers for proper fulfillment.
While in the past, the role of a travel manager was fulfilled either by an office manager or someone within the HR department on top of their other responsibilities. Nowadays, more and more companies of all sizes are seeing the benefit of hiring a dedicated resource as a travel manager.
The main activities performed by a travel manager focus on monitoring travel expenses, securing the resources, designing & adapting the company’s travel policy, managing travel services bookings, and looking out for the well-being of business travelers. This is connected to the travel regulations that we all need to be aware of when traveling. A very important aspect is linked to what happens after trips are made, the travel manager is responsible for analyzing the data and using it to streamline and improve future travel.

New responsibilities

Nowadays a very important part of their job is the duty of care aspect that as an employer every organization has to ensure. It is now more important than ever to have a comprehensive travel risk management and employee well-being policy.

Here is a list of the travel manager’s new duties:

• Assess the needs of the staff regarding mobility for visiting customers or project-related travel;
• Keep close contact with the travel management company in order to have the latest updates on travel conditions on domestic, regional, and international travel;
• Identify suppliers for PCR tests or clinics that support this new task;
• Monitor and track main destination countries for information on entry requirements;
• Adapt constantly the travel policy and communicate it internally;
• Re-examine the approval flows and travel allowance;
• Provide employees with guidelines to follow when planning and arranging a business trip;
• Keep management informed about the travel experience of the employees;
• Assist team members with getting travel approvals;
• Work with HR to ensure how duty of care is performed properly.

Costs related to business travel are often the second-largest expense for companies, following employee salaries and benefits. Though COVID-19 led to a significant reduction in business travel in 2020, the industry is recovering at a fast pace and is expected to fully recover in the next few years. Both of these points mean that travel will continue to play a major role in a company’s expenses.

That’s why it is a good idea for corporate travel to be managed professionally.

As travel managers are increasingly taking on a more strategic role within their organizations, it is becoming even more important for them to be able to analyze data and understand how it affects travel policy and spending. They must also be able to build good relationships with suppliers in order to get the best rates and service for their organization. With the right skills and management style, a travel manager can be a valuable asset to any organization.

If you are looking re-shape your travel program, we’ve got you covered. As a full-service travel management company, Go Travel has over 30 years of expertise in managing business travel and MICE for over 6100 companies nationwide through its 3 branches in Bucharest, Constanta and Chisinau. We are well equipped to provide your organization the services you need to manage travel efficiently. Let’s talk about your challenges and how we can support you. Get in touch now!