Corporate Travel Management: 5 Reasons Companies Need It

As the country opens up a little more and businesses get back to work, corporate travel is once again at the forefront of many folks' minds. After all, business travelers believe that they can lose up to 42% of customers without in-person meetings, according to the U.S. Travel Association. These types of customer relationships are becoming more strained than ever after such a long stretch with minimal personal engagement. 

Companies are projecting increased travel spending throughout the next year, reaching between 65% - 80% of 2019 travel spend by Q4 2022, according to research from Deloitte (Aug. 2021). But the question becomes: Do businesses have the best travel management company and corporate travel software they need to get the job done when they are regularly back on the road again?

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Corporate travel management is the process by which a company enables its employees — corporate travelers — to book hotels, flights, rental cars and more; track expenses for the duration of their travels; and ensure compliance with all company policies, budgets, and other requirements.

Corporate travel management software offers a digital solution that integrates booking systems, health and safety checks, expense visibility and reporting, and travel policy compliance, so that both corporate travelers and travel budget owners are content that the trip will be a smooth, effective, safe, and budget-friendly experience for everyone.

Whether your company includes corporate travel novices, jet-setting regulars, or a business comprised of both, here are the top 5 reasons to consider updating your corporate travel software with solutions from a corporate travel management company you can trust. 

1. Easier, faster booking for corporate travelers

2. Personalized corporate travel experience

3. Travel support from mobile devices

4. Expanded traveler safety and duty of care

5. Improved adoption, compliance, and savings

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1. Easier, faster booking for corporate travelers

Corporate travel software aims to solve myriad problems, creating efficiencies and optimizations throughout the entire travel experience. Still, none of those would matter if the software itself isn’t easier, faster, and more convenient for corporate travelers to use, and this starts with booking.

Google’s ITA search engine — an embedded feature of the Etta platform from Deem — gives corporate travelers more airfare options, dynamic sorting, and quick response times. Users are able to view available seats, compare fare tiers and flight costs on one screen, and even get pre-approval on their itineraries with ease. Travelers making routine trips don’t need to spend time contacting their corporate travel management company: They can use our Book Again feature to very easily duplicate a frequently made journey without needing to input every detail from the beginning. Once travelers book a trip with Etta, they’ll wonder how they ever survived the experience without robust, mobile corporate travel software. 

2. Corporate travel software personalizes the corporate travel experience

Good corporate travel software gives travelers a VIP experience. And with Etta, business travelers get a seamless, streamlined user experience whenever they have to make travel accommodations. Corporate travelers can easily personalize Etta with their preferences for seats and meal choices on flights; they can add their frequent flyer and hotel loyalty information; they can customize notifications to keep assistants, co-workers, and family members informed.

Better yet, corporate travel software like Etta can alert your travelers to any risks or concerns about the neighborhood they’ll be visiting. With the award-winning Travel SafetyCheck, your travelers can ensure a bon voyage with up-to-date details that matter to them personally, including hotel neighborhood scores for nighttime and women’s safety, LGBTQ+ community safety, basic freedoms and more.

3. Corporate travelers get support in the palm of their hand

As a 15-year pioneer in the corporate travel software space, Deem knows that control matters to travelers before, during, and after their trip. With Etta, corporate travelers can book, change, or cancel trips from anywhere, any time they’re connected to the internet, on iOS  and, soon, Android devices. When travelers need a little assistance, the HelpMe feature in Etta guides travelers through tasks in the software so they’re moving ahead again quickly.

A single point of reference for all stages of the corporate travel experience, users can interact with reservations for flights, hotels, rental cars and more. Travel booked through Etta is even able to sync automatically with a corporate travelers’ calendars, so they can review details in the apps and browser views they live in most.

4. Corporate travel software improves traveler safety

For a corporate traveler, researching the Covid-19 status and related travel policies at their destination can be a tedious process. Curating the data from sources like safety protocols for various airlines and car rental services, or even hotel neighborhood safety after dark or neighborhood theft reports, takes longer than you’d think. That’s why we added Travel SafetyCheck to Etta.

Embracing the capabilities of corporate travel software can help corporate travelers feel safer, with far less investment of time and anxious energy. Health and safety information is built right into the booking flow for Etta, delivering all the expertise of a corporate travel management company right at the corporate traveler’s fingertips.

5. Good corporate travel software improves adoption, compliance, and savings

Without question, the biggest risk to overdrawing the corporate travel budget is corporate travelers booking travel outside approved policy. But when the same corporate travelers enthusiastically adopt a corporate travel software solution that has set policies built into every step of their journey, adherence becomes a non-issue. Travel managers using Etta can easily apply comprehensive travel policies for different groups of corporate travelers within the tool.

At Deem, we believe the best technologies are the ones that are invisible. Rather than forcing corporate travelers to navigate complex software on their own, Etta offers an elegant, intuitive experience that prioritizes the right options for them at the right time. Improved adoption of the software means higher compliance with corporate travel policy. Etta even connects seamlessly to nearly all external expense platforms, gives real-time access to travel spending, and unlocks TMC-negotiated rates for additional savings on every trip booked.

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The long and short of it is that the right corporate travel software gives corporate travelers an effortless and intuitive experience in which they have the freedom to book the flights, hotels, and ground transportation they want. At the same time, companies get the tools they need to set policy for even complex travel programs, an easy way for corporate travelers to adhere to the rules, and overall an easier, good-for-everyone way to control spending. A strong corporate travel management system benefits everyone, and it can be more easily managed with the right software platform.

Why Deem? Deem has pioneered corporate travel management software for more than 15 years, with the corporate traveler’s experience at the heart of our business. We know that when travel is better for your people, it’s better for your business. We start with understanding traveler needs before we develop our corporate travel software, and continually innovate our products to meet ever-changing circumstances. Our global engineering team is continuously evolving our technologies to make sure corporate travelers get the smoothest experience possible. And the companies funding them get all the benefits that corporate travel management promises, without busting the budget.

Ready to learn about our innovative corporate travel software?

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