Want to Become a Corporate Travel Manager? Start Here

Quick: What does a corporate travel manager do? If your answer is “managing corporate travel,” you’re only partly right.

In fact, this multi-layered position involves myriad tasks, requires a wide range of skills, comes with great responsibility, and can have a direct impact on the bottom line of a business. Travel management also comes with many potential obstacles. Business travel is not only one of a company’s largest line items, but it’s also one of the most nuanced, making the role both challenging and rewarding. And the continuous evolution of the business travel industry means you’ll never be bored.

If you’re interested in becoming a travel manager or transitioning into a travel manager role, here’s where to begin.

What Does a Corporate Travel Manager Do?

The function of a travel manager may seem self-evident: to help ensure the seamless execution of logistics for a company’s traveling employees. But that top-line description encompasses a raft of responsibilities.

Here are some of a travel manager’s key duties:

• Help ensure duty of care. Together with the company’s safety and security team, travel managers are responsible for monitoring the health and safety of traveling employees and making sure they have access to support at any time of day or night. They need to know where travelers are at all times, stay updated on travel regulations and warnings, and develop contingency plans in case of emergencies.
• Develop and enforce corporate travel policies. A travel policy should clearly state which employees are allowed to travel for the company and the conditions for any trips (e.g., whether business class is permitted, what the per diem is, etc.). Working in collaboration with finance and HR, travel managers are responsible for creating and maintaining a T&E policy, making employees aware of it, and policing travel policy compliance.
• Negotiate contracts with travel suppliers. Negotiating competitive rates with airlines, hotels, rental cars, and rail operators can have an enormous effect on keeping travel costs under control. The task requires developing good relationships with suppliers and working with them to secure lower rates. Travel managers sometimes work with a consultancy to build the program and negotiate on behalf of the company.
• Track travel expenses. Since companies are always concerned with the bottom line, it’s essential that managers can access real-time data on how much travelers spend, what the spend is for, and which employees or departments are spending. Managers work with finance to report expenses in real time and identify opportunities for saving. The more granular the data, the easier it is to see patterns and make adjustments.
• Monitor traveler sentiment. Smooth, efficient travel makes for happy travelers, who are more likely to abide by a company’s policies. Conducting surveys on what’s working and what isn’t can help managers make any necessary changes.

Qualities and Skill Sets

Is a travel manager role right for you? The role relies on many different types of skills, but in general, travel managers must be:

• Detail-oriented. When it comes to travel management, the devil is truly in the details. The key is tracking all of them while, at the same time, thinking big picture.
• Good listeners. The ability to communicate begins with listening — to your travelers’ joys and frustrations, the company’s overall goals, and what’s happening in the industry.
• Team players. Travel managers can’t work in a vacuum. The job requires close collaboration with departments like finance, HR, procurement, and operations.
• Problem solvers. Issues will arise on a daily basis — some big, some small; some that require other teams, some that require special tools. If you enjoy figuring out solutions, you’ll love travel management.
• Analyzers. Do you love data? Looking for patterns, finding anomalies, and distilling everything into action points? Successful travel managers rely on data to assess and reassess how their program is performing and what may need adjusting.
• Adaptable. The world of corporate travel can change quickly, whether due to shifts at the macro level (global events, economic conditions) or the micro level (changes in business priorities, new software). The ability to pivot is essential.

Navan: A Travel Manager’s Best Friend

Some companies operate with “unmanaged” travel programs — that is, employees book trips however they like and submit expense reports when they return. Other companies cobble together multiple vendors to handle the disparate tasks of travel booking, travel management, and expense management.

Both options come with their own challenges, which can bog travel managers down in logistical details or require them to spend time managing multiple vendors.

Navan offers another path. We reimagined the entire T&E process and rebuilt it from the ground up as a single, unified solution. Our goal is to make life easier for everyone involved — from travelers to CFOs to, yes, travel managers.

Our solution eases the burden of busywork so that travel managers can focus on making their programs stronger. It can be a game-changer as you ramp up your career in travel management, develop new skills, and prepare to take your career to the next level.

Explore the rest of our series, The Travel Manager’s Journey:

• Taking a Travel Management Career to the Next Level
• Success Tips and Best Practices for Travel Managers

See how Navan can help travel managers at every level. Book a demo now!