If you are responsible for managing your company's travel programs, you know how difficult it can be to expedite travel-related processes without additional support. This is where a travel management company (TMC) can help. From booking to expense management and purchasing, TMCs provide online booking solutions and direct business travel support in one convenient location.
Below we look at the best corporate travel management companies in South Africa and explore the benefits of using a travel management company to help you get more money for your business travel.
What are the benefits of using a travel agency?
There are many benefits to working with travel management services. For starters, they simplify end-to-end solutions and save costs at every stage of the booking process.
Business travel agencies often provide their own travel consultants and experts, who bring a global network and years of travel experience. TMC is known for negotiating the best prices . As a result, they offer cost-effective savings for your business in travel and accommodation expenses.
TMC also has experience working with clients in emergency situations . An effective travel app will always keep you up to date with the latest news of your destination, keeping passenger safety in mind.
TMCs are often well equipped with easy booking mechanisms that give your employees the freedom to book their own travel. Many travel management companies also allow you to implement integrated travel policies . Basically, it helps to comply with your company's travel policies.
Features to look for when choosing a travel management company
When choosing a travel company, note the following features: These may vary according to your business travel needs.
VAT declaration
Unrecognized VAT costs are a large part of the company's profit. Control your travel costs by choosing a TMC that ensures your business receives as much VAT as possible.
Carbon disorders
A travel management company that offsets the carbon footprint of your travels and controls CO2 emissions equals sustainable travel for generations to come.
Reporting skills
TMCs offer reporting capabilities that allow you to track and report on employee travel trends, such as transportation modes and cancellations. They also generate reports on your journeys, and identify areas of cost-effective savings for your business.
Centralized billing
A centralized invoice management organization improves financial tracking of company travel expenses. Providing your employees with a single point of invoicing means a more efficient approach to processing and reporting travel expenses.
Great tourism stock
The TMC you choose should have access to exceptional prices as well as a wide variety of accommodation and transport options.
Flexible travel options
While traveling can be a stressful process, canceling and returning your trip doesn't have to be. A travel management company that offers flexible travel options gives you peace of mind that your travel budget will not be wasted.
Duty of care
Despite your best efforts to ensure the safety of your employees before you go, unexpected risks can arise at any time. TMC offers comprehensive maintenance solutions to locate personnel and provide rapid support in the event of security threats.
Customer service
Whether you need to get employees away from their destination quickly or make an emergency travel change, our 24/7 travel management company supports every detail of your employees' business trips.
Integration with third-party software
Your existing integration with third-party software plays an important role in the operation of your company. The TMC you choose should offer seamless integration with your current third-party software.
The 5 best travel management companies in South Africa
1. TravelPerk
TravelPerk's comprehensive platform provides a seamless travel management experience and enables you to book, manage and report on your business travel in one place.
Travel managers have access to the world's largest list of flights, accommodation, car hire and trains. With many flexible options, TravelPerk also offers essential solutions for every stage of your employee's journey. From employee tracking to post-trip reporting, the platform enables informed business travel decisions while ensuring employee safety.
Other key features are:
- Includes travel management reports and advanced travel management data and graphics
- Carbon offsetting and CO2 reporting with GreenPerk
- 24/7 business travel support with 15 second response time
- VAT solutions to maximize your VAT refund
- Book a business trip up to two hours before departure with a guaranteed 80% refund through FlexiPerk.
- Event management covering all aspects of business travel
- Numerous third-party software integrations to suit your travel needs
TravelPerk also makes it easy to integrate existing travel policies and approval flows into the system. With automatic travel restrictions and approvals, TravelPerk lets you define and customize business trips in less than two minutes.
See how TravelPerk takes the stress out of business travel
2. Travel wealth
Travel Manor, a corporate travel management company, assigns a senior account manager to companies to support you on your journey. In addition to the usual business travel services, the company also extends to individual employees participating in leisure travel.
Travel Manor also offers online capabilities using booking tools such as Sure Travel Connect and the Amadeus Corporate Tool (ACT).
Other features include:
- Route management
- Travel management reports and analysis
- Cost reporting and management
- Fee negotiations
Travel Manor offers its clients a wide variety of options, both for business and leisure. However, it offers minimal online booking capabilities, meaning your employees miss out on the benefits of a single platform. Additionally, their website does not clearly define booking and service fees, nor does it list travel information related to the pandemic.
TravelPerk's comprehensive platform provides the ultimate corporate travel tool and is the perfect choice for end-to-end travel support. The simple yet intuitive functions make it easy to book business trips and report expenses with many online options.
Want to print numbers? TravelPerk's transparent pricing structure clearly and thoroughly defines what is and isn't included in each tier.
3. Thompson's journey
Acting as your one-stop travel agent, Thompson Travel offers its clients the experience and dedication of travel experts, including key account managers. Thompson Travel's expert visa consultants also assist your employees in preparing documentation to meet international travel requirements
Thompson Travel also specializes in leisure travel, allowing your employees to add a few days off to their business trip. Additional benefits include total travel costs and cost analysis reports by region, cost and flight route.
Other features include:
- Personalized corporate travel technology
- Flexible 24/7 customer support, including after hours
- Security services for passengers, such as arranging repatriation flights
- Opportunities to implement travel policies and approval processes
Although Thompson Travel offers its customers easy point-to-point travel bookings, it lacks flexibility regarding cancellation dates. Their terms state that the sooner you make these requests, the more likely they will facilitate that request.
For many business travelers, cancellations are often unplanned and unexpected. It can be difficult to communicate to your travel management company. With TravelPerk, you and your employees can cancel travel arrangements up to two hours before departure with an 80% money back guarantee.
4. XL Turners Trip
XL Turners Travel offers corporate travel solutions to South African and African clients and has a diverse offering. Not only do they offer their customers the benefits of business travel, they also offer sea and ocean travel and rental services.
Their main features are:
- Flexible payment options
- Manage your traveler profile
- Quality management reports
- Master account management
Despite the wide range of travel solutions, XL Turners Travel encourages its customers to pay with the accommodation's travel credit card. Although debit cards offer a simplified payment method, they can present privacy and data protection issues for your business.
Various payment plans are available with TravelPerk, giving you the flexibility and freedom to choose the payment method that best suits your needs. Our full features list clearly shows each plan's inclusions and exclusions, as well as specific suggested add-ons such as due diligence and group bookings.
5. Corporate traveler
Corporate Traveler prides itself on making business travel easier by providing an integrated 'human services' approach. Travel Group includes booking, policy control, reporting and expense management through a single online booking tool, in addition to the CT mobile app.
Some of their main features are:
- Corporate rates are negotiable
- Passenger Tracking Solution
- Concierge services
- Implementation of the Travel Policy
Unfortunately, Corporate Traveler does not allow booking system or app users to create traveler profiles like TravelPerk. Their solutions also do not offer third-party integration with other commonly used applications and services.
TravelPerk offers a wide range of integrations including expense management, duty of care and security solutions. Explore our marketplace and customize your integrations to fit your travel needs today.
See how our platform can take your business travel management solutions to the next level. Schedule a personal TravelPerk demo today.
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