Travel Management Software vs. Traditional Travel Agencies
While streamlining a complex business process like corporate travel management, enterprises usually choose from two major strategies – outsourcing and automation. They avail of travel-related services provided by travel agencies while outsourcing the process.
On the other hand, they automate the process by implementing travel management software. But the surge in demand for unified travel and expense management software indicates enterprises prefer automation to outsourcing.
Your organization has the option to work with several travel agencies and implement many travel management solutions. But you must keep in mind the key differences between travel management software and conventional travel agencies to make the right decision.
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Traditional Travel Agencies
Traditional travel agencies generate revenue by offering travel and tourism-related services to individual and corporate customers. However, your organization has the option to work with either a retail travel agency or a wholesale travel agency.
A retail travel agency acts as an intermediary between your organization and travel suppliers. It earns commission by selling flights, accommodations, car rentals, and similar business travel products to your company.
On the other hand, a wholesale travel agency organizes packaged tours for your employees according to specific business travel destinations. It purchases travel products from suppliers in bulk and sells them to your company as tour packages.
Your organization can work with a travel agency to help employees access reliable travel information and complete business travel booking. However, some travel agencies these days help employees buy travel insurance and provide currency exchange services.
Travel Management Software
A travel management system belongs to the category of special purpose-software applications. It comes with built-in features and tools to streamline important steps in the business travel management process through automation.
For instance, the corporate booking tool provided by the software shows and recommends travel products according to organizational travel policies. At the same time, it helps employees save money by making them book travel products at off-market rates and using deals provided by the suppliers.
Similarly, the expense management system provided by the software helps your finance team save the time required to track, process, reimburse, and audit travel expenses incurred by employees. However, modern travel management software converts corporate travel management into a business process.
In addition to unifying travel and expense data, they gain actionable insights by analyzing the data using advanced analytics. The actionable insights provided by the software help decision-makers find opportunities to reduce the average business trip costs without impacting the business travel experience and safety.
Travel Management Software vs. Traditional Travel Agencies
Business Travel Booking
A travel agency helps you centralize business travel booking. It deploys travel agents to understand employees’ needs and complete travel bookings. The travel agent chooses products from vendors who are in partnership with the agency. But travel management software facilitates self-booking.
It features a corporate booking tool that allows employees to book their choice of travel products by accessing a customized travel inventory. Also, new-age travel management systems use AI technologies to make personalized recommendations to employees according to their travel preferences and booking history.
Travel Product Rates
A travel agency helps corporate customers reduce costs by booking travel products at special rates. But the smaller size of the travel supplier network makes it challenging for it to reduce travel product rates significantly.
The software provided by leading travel management companies helps employees book travel products at negotiated rates. At the same time, they help employees find deals, offers, and discounts provided by travel suppliers using intelligence technologies.
Travel Policy Compliance
A travel management system considers organizational travel and expense policy while showing and recommending travel products to employees. Also, it helps employees track policy violations quickly by sending real-time notifications.
On the other hand, a travel agency considers the travel needs and budgets of customers while choosing travel products. Organizations find it challenging to ensure policy compliance while working with a traditional travel agency.
Real-Time Information Delivery
Most travel agencies lack the tech solutions required to deliver crucial information to work travelers in real-time. Hence, they usually do not help employees mitigate common business travel risks. But travel management software delivers real-time information like travel regulations and flight status to employees seamlessly.
Travel Support and Emergency Assistance
Most travel agencies do not provide off-hour travel assistance to customers. A customer has to consider the agency’s working hours while requiring information and assistance. But travel management software providers enable employees to interact with customer support executives 24 hours a day.
A work traveler can connect with the executing by sending an email, making a phone call, or initiating chats. Also, travel management systems provide emergency assistance to work travelers by featuring duty-of-care solutions.
Data Security and Privacy
Travel agencies collect the personal information of employees for travel booking purposes. But many agencies do not implement strategies to safeguard sensitive customer data. Travel management software enables employees to store personal and financial information by creating individual profiles. Also, they optimize data security by installing firewalls and using encryption techniques.
Travel Expense Reporting
Travel agencies usually submit consolidated travel expense reports. The consolidated reports make it easier for the finance team to process travel expenses. But travel management software enables employees to generate automated expense reports. Automated expense reports help organizations unify the travel and expense data of employees.
Travel Expense Tracking
Unlike travel agencies, travel management software streamlines travel expense management by providing intuitive dashboards. Your finance team can use the dashboard to track travel expenses in real-time. Also, they can use the dashboard to review and analyze travel expenses by generating a variety of reports. The software makes it easier for them to audit travel expenses regularly by capturing the comments made by approvers.
Travel Data Analysis
In addition to unifying travel and expense data, a travel management system analyzes the data using advanced analytics. The analysis makes the software effective in detecting trends and patterns. Also, the software shares actionable insights that help decision-makers increase the ROI of business travel in several ways. However, an organization cannot leverage travel and expense data while working with a travel management agency.
Conclusion
Both travel management software and travel agencies help your organization streamline corporate travel management. But conventional travel agencies primarily help your organization simplify the most crucial step in the process – business travel booking.
On the other hand, a travel management system boosts business travel booking, travel expense management, and travel data analysis by providing built-in tech tools. Also, you have the option to implement travel management software provided by a travel management company or travel agency.
