How to take the pain out of corporate travel management

How to take the pain out of corporate travel management
By
Reel Unlimited

Updated today —

5 min read
How to take the pain out of corporate travel management

Take the pain out of corporate travel management with Locomote, a business travel platform that is stress-free and easy to use. Creating an effective travel itinerary for corporate travelers is difficult. It can feel like 'herding cats', from the headache of the travel agent to booking, organizing, and keeping track of flight schedules to making arrangements for travel, hotels, and meetings.

There are many moving parts if you're responsible for planning and executing a corporate business trip. You want to make sure that your travel itinerary is strategic, organized, well thought out, and fun. Below are some hot tips to help you create an effective travel itinerary and some tools we think will change how you book corporate travel in the future. 

Get to know your traveler 

When planning a business trip, you want to ensure; the destination and travel arrangements align with the employee's preferences.

Do they like inflight entertainment? Are they gym junkies? Have they recently turned vegan or have a gluten intolerance?

Knowing these details may not seem important, but they will make the trip far more enjoyable for the employee if you book a hotel with a gymnasium or submit their food preferences to a meeting organizer.

Prioritize 

Prioritizing the most important parts of the journey before the trip will make it easier to organize everything else around it.

If the trip's goal is a presentation or to attend an important meeting, make sure you allow enough time beforehand for last-minute travel interruptions. Allowing enough time means the traveler is not stepping off the plane and rushing from the airport to deliver an important sales pitch. 

Go the 'extra' mile

Outside of the key purpose of the trip, the employee may have some extra things they want to achieve while away. 

Perhaps they want to work on a key business document or use some of their free time for sightseeing. 

Find out what extra activities they might want to be included or things they would like to accomplish and allow some extra time in the schedule. 

Good planning never rarely fails 

Planning ensures all meetings, check-in times, and flights are arranged accordingly, leaving room for last-minute changes.  At least one month ahead, advanced planning will ensure that scheduling meeting times suit the traveler's other commitments. Another benefit of booking early is the cost savings on hotels and flights, and it gives the organizer a chance to check everything beforehand. 

Create an itinerary 

A summary of the trip details is essential. There are many moving parts when it comes to organizing a business trip. Start your itineraries with the most important dates and times and fill in the details. An itinerary should incorporate all relevant logistics, such as transportation, hotels, meals, and timing for each event. A travel itinerary saves the organizer and the traveler from going through multiple documents and trawling through emails to find information. 

The must-haves for a travel itinerary

  1. Travel and transport details should include a breakdown of each leg of the trip
  2. Arrival and departure times at the airport and allowing for travel time
  3. Flight and seat numbers to enable quick access upon arrival 
  4. Hotel address and reservation number for taxi drivers and reception staff 
  5. Check-in and check-out times that include early check-in, and late check-out details
  6. Car rental and parking details if the traveller will be self-driving on the trip
  7. Meeting/conference times and venue addresses for easy input into google maps or to give to drivers
  8. Tickets for conferences or events 
  9. Maps that outline where venues are and where meetings will take place
  10.  Nearby amenities such as restaurants, coffee shops, and places of interest 
  11.  Day-to-day schedule details that outline business commitments and downtime
  12.  Weather details and what to pack 
  13.  What to wear if there is little time to change between events or meetings 
  14.  Relevant contact information for business contacts 

Don't worry, be happy 

Travel apps don't just make life easier, travelers, but they also make travel stress-free. Apps such as Google maps and time buddy can show you where you are and the local time to avoid missing a meeting. Other apps such as Uber and LocalEats are also helpful so that you can book a restaurant and a car ride within minutes. Placing all of your travel apps in one folder on your device is a great time saver and ensures you can find everything you need quickly. 

Don't forget to put everything in one place

Having everything in one place makes it easier if you are the road trip and organiser and saves on frustration for the traveller if everything is easy to locate. Most travellers expect digital copies of their travel details and want everything accessible in one place. Gone are the days of having to flip through piles of paper to find reservation numbers and flight details. Travel-management software has also made organising a business trip so much easier. It is a game-changer for travellers and organisers. It allows each person to log in, check booking details and travel arrangements, and get help if needed. 

Take travel management software for a test-drive 

Locomote takes the pain out of booking corporate travel by streamlining the entire process. Everything is managed on one simple and reliable platform, from flight bookings to hotel reservations. Track spending, get approvals, and manage travel from start to finish. See how Locomote works by getting an in-depth walk-through. Book a demo today

The SEO score for this article is 63.
We hope this article is useful and helpful to you. Please share with your friends and colleagues. Our online platform offers graphic design and writing services for startups, small businesses and agencies. If you are looking for any of these services, please check out our
homepage.

More samples

How to avoid rug pulls when buying NFTs
Blog article

How to avoid rug pulls when buying NFTs

This article will explain the NFT space and how to avoid rug pulls.
Pros & cons of working & living in the same space
Blog article

Pros & cons of working & living in the same space

#WFHlife is more complex than you think; here's why:
How to improve graphic design briefs?
Blog article

How to improve graphic design briefs?

Discover how to improve graphic design briefs with our step-by-step benchmarking guide effortlessly.