Why use a business travel agency?
According to the European Business Travel Barometer, the trend is becoming clearer. An increase in business travel is forecast. According to the study conducted by American Express Global Business Travel, France may still be lagging behind, but it is still affected by the rise that is affecting all European countries.
These studies show that controlling the cost of business travel on a company-wide scale is the main concern of the vast majority of Travel Managers. Whether you're a very large company or an SME, the concern is the same. Controlling expenses linked to employee business travel is a real challenge.
With this in mind, the business travel agency has positioned itself over the last few years as a key player in the business travel market, offering increasingly sophisticated tools.
The question nevertheless arises. Why use a specialized business travel agency, especially since most companies now have a travel department?
Benefit from recognized expertise in business travel agency ticketing
A productive business trip is one that is well organized. While it's easy to plan a trip for one employee to one destination, the situation becomes more complicated when there are several employees and multiple destinations. Indeed, business travel means transportation, accommodation and even local means of transport.
In this respect, entrusting the organization of employee business trips to an agency has multiple advantages. The first is cost. Train or plane tickets are very often negotiated at the best rates, as are accommodation and various on-site amenities, such as car rentals.
The second advantage for companies is time and efficiency savings. All logistics are handled by the business travel agency. This allows the travel manager to concentrate on the internal management of business travel within the company.
Agents trained in business travel issues
This is the other major asset of a business travel agency today. They have increasingly qualified staff who can provide solutions to customers' needs. Agents are trained to provide concrete answers to all customer travel-related problems. This makes them not just advisors, but guides. They literally accompany the customer throughout the entire process. Before, during and after the trip.
What's more, they've been trained in the latest technologies in business travel planning and trends, so their expertise is your guarantee of optimized services.
Last but not least, dealing with people, and not just software, brings a human touch to business travel agency support. After all, it's important to remember that technology is only a tool that makes work much easier. Being in contact with an attentive and competent advisor can be particularly reassuring, especially in a crisis situation.
More and more services available to you from the business travel agency
Choosing to entrust the logistical management of your employees' business trips to a travel agency means guaranteeing them security and peace of mind. Indeed, most travel agencies, like CTA Business Travel, have the necessary resources to accompany employees or professionals on business trips.
The first aspect of this support is linked to the booking process. CTA Business Travel provides customers with a genuine tool that enables them to make the best choice in terms of value for money for train or plane tickets, as well as accommodation. The company's parameters are stored in the database, enabling employees to make their choice in line with their company's travel policy.
The second aspect concerns business travel itself. The travel agent's work doesn't stop once the reservation has been confirmed. In the event of an incident (flight cancellation or delay, on-site administrative problems, natural disasters or even accidents, among others), the travel agent is the person the company can turn to for assistance. The company is thus assured of excellent after-sales service thanks to the business travel agency.
The creation of an online tool enables both travel agencies and customers to optimize the management of business travel. Employees can manage their travel space independently. The company has access to centralized invoicing. In the end, this gives the company greater visibility over its employees' expenses during business trips. This limits false charges, and above all guarantees transparency of the process.
Finally, as a member of TourCom, a network of independent travel agencies with a turnover of nearly 8 billion euros, CTA Business Travel offers you negotiated rates with partner service providers all over the world.
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