Post-Pandemic Travel Management

Blending intuitive technology with personalised service

The pandemic has confirmed that the blend of technology and personalised service is more important than ever before, especially as companies recommence international business travel. Below we provide some insight on what travel managers should be looking for when tendering for travel management in a post-pandemic world.

How is the role of TMCs changing in a post-pandemic era?

At Corporate Travel Management (CTM), we are seeing the role of a TMC moving towards a much more consultative relationship with customers. Pre-covid, large businesses may have sourced a TMC partnership on a more transactional/fulfilment-based relationship, but in a post-COVID environment, businesses of all sizes are now seeking new services from their TMC partner. This includes highly valuable consultative services to enable Travel Arrangers and Travellers to navigate a new, more complex travel environment, especially for Australia and New Zealand-based businesses looking to restart international travel. These services include providing businesses with access to reliable and timely information relating to border restrictions, health and vaccination requirements, quarantine/isolation requirements, COVID-testing and so on. This is how CTM’s COVID Hub came about, to enable businesses to get back to global business travel as soon as possible and help to support business travel that is safe, cost-effective and drives maximum ROI for the business.

KEY TAKEAWAYS WHEN CHOOSING A TMC:

• Explore the service options available for the size/scope of your business – are they predominantly online, offline or a blend of both?
• Research what additional services have been made available by the TMC since COVID – are these sufficient for your business travel needs?

What technology exists to allow corporate programs to make informed decisions about travel in the COVID-recovery phase?

We believe it is vital that there are regular feedback loops between businesses and the TMC to identify evolving technology and service needs. This ongoing feedback ensures that solutions are providing maximum value and experience to customers. These needs are constantly evolving, are will be critical to meet evolving demands for post-pandemic travel management tools and services. 

CTM’s in-house proprietary technology enables us to quickly develop new and enhanced solutions for our customers in response to the evolving pandemic landscape. Our technology solution spans every part of the travel management process, from pre-trip planning, to booking, to in-trip itinerary updates and risk management, to post-travel reporting.

KEY TAKEAWAYS WHEN CHOOSING A TMC:

• How efficient is the travel booking process? Is it end-to-end?
• Are there multiple suppliers in the supply chain or am I dealing with the same company for all processes? More suppliers mean higher risk, higher costs and less control.

Is the divide between legacy TMCs and new tech platforms growing wider?

We believe that successful TMC models must recognise the need for both personalised customer service and intuitive technology to deliver maximum value to every stakeholder in the travel management process, from Travel Program Managers to the travel arranger and business traveller. Technology must be adaptable at speed to compliment the changing travel landscape and changing needs of customers. This has never been more important than during the COVID-pandemic.

The pandemic has confirmed that the blend of technology and personalised service is key to our customers’ needs and will be more important than ever before as businesses begin to recommence international travel. They will need to be able to navigate shifting travel requirements and have access to expert advice and support that is simply not available in a tech-only environment.