Corporate Travel Procurement
Organise corporate travel procurement around demand, supplier accountability and a documented review cycle.
Corporate Travel Procurement guide
TRAVO BIRDS · TRAVEL GUIDES
Why use a travel management company? Test the business case
Assess a travel management company against a defined coordination problem, a written service scope and evidence from your own programme.
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Before asking why use a travel management company, identify which travel decisions you want help with. Separate booking administration from supplier selection, reporting and internal approvals. Use this guide to test a proposed arrangement, rather than to assume that outsourcing is the right answer. Keep the decision anchored to your organisation’s requirements and the supplier’s written commitments.
Build the case around a specific failure point
GBTA’s GTP content outline includes programme evaluation covering spend, travel experience, tools, cost to manage and travel and expense processes.[1] Use those areas as prompts for a short internal review. Ask arrangers to describe recent problems and finance to identify missing information. Record the work involved before deciding which activities to put into a supplier brief.
Choose a concrete example, such as a project visit involving several departments. Map the approval, booking, change and invoice steps. Mark where ownership is unclear and specify what you want a supplier to handle. Keep the current internal process as a comparison option; do not treat an external appointment as the objective by itself.
Ask for a demonstration, not a benefits list
Give shortlisted suppliers the same anonymised itinerary and ask them to explain their workflow. Request details of booking channels, support hours, escalation contacts, approval dependencies and reporting outputs. Ask how a late change would reach the traveller and the budget owner. Require a written distinction between included services, optional services and third-party charges.
GBTA’s outline includes supplier due diligence and evaluation using qualitative and quantitative responses to procurement requests.[1] Build your comparison around evidence: a sample report, a proposed implementation schedule and responses to your scenario. Ask for clarification wherever the response describes an aspiration rather than a contractual commitment.
Turn the proposal into a measurable agreement
GBTA’s outline includes developing measurable service level agreements and key performance indicators for buyer/supplier contracts.[1] Choose measures that match your original problem. For example, propose tracking approval-related rework, completeness of invoice information or handling of agreed escalation steps. Define the measurement method, reporting period and person responsible before accepting a target.
Compare the whole proposed commercial arrangement. Ask which fees apply to bookings, changes, cancellations, implementation and support outside the normal service window. Request the applicable supplier conditions separately. Avoid budgeting a saving until your own comparison supports it, and record unresolved questions before making a selection.
Why use a travel management company? Test the business case: questions answered
Should we choose a TMC mainly to reduce fares?
Start by defining the outcome you need, then ask each supplier to substantiate its proposal against that outcome. Compare fees, service scope and relevant booking conditions alongside quoted fares. Treat any savings estimate as a proposal to test using your own evidence, not as an assured result of appointing a travel management company.
How should we compare a TMC with our existing process?
Use the same representative trip and information requirements for both options. Record who handles approval, booking, changes, support and invoice review. Ask the proposed supplier to demonstrate each step and identify exclusions. Compare the proposed arrangement with the internal time, responsibilities and service requirements you have actually documented.
What should we agree before starting?
Ask for a written scope, fee schedule, support arrangements, escalation route and reporting specification. Allocate internal policy and budget decisions to named owners. Agree how service will be measured and when the first review will take place. Use the review to test delivery against those commitments and decide what to change.
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