Travel Management Blog

‘Off-policy’. Two little words that send a collective shiver down the spine of travel managers everywhere.

While it sounds fairly innocuous, corporate travellers playing fast and loose with their travel plans, and booking parts – or all – of their trip somewhere other than via their employer or travel management company’s chosen GDS has long been a problem for the industry. The reasons are obvious: not only does it pose problems for traveller tracking and duty of care; it also represents a crucial source of lost revenue.

Today, the means to travel are more accessible than ever. Unlike only 25 years ago when walking into a high street travel agent was the norm and surfing the web was a slow process, travellers can now book travel plans in a matter of minutes online and quickly find competitive deals.

Wearables are enjoying a surge in popularity, with smartwatch unit sales growing to 141 million worldwide in 2018 – an increase of 136 million from 2014 .

Business travel is often considered one of the most glamorous ways of living out of a suitcase – with expenses paid for and chauffeuring between locations, it can be pretty good opportunity to explore new parts of the world .

According to TMC Finder (yes, there really is a search engine for everything), there are more than 150 travel management companies in the UK alone. However you slice it, that’s a lot of competition for any TMC, but are there simple ways to distinguish your business from the rest of the field?