The complete guide to business travel reporting and analytics
Without clear business travel reporting and analytics, making educated decisions on business travel strategies is difficult. This guide will cover how the right TMC can elevate your entire travel program.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- What data is used in travel analytics? Information to help you better understand analytics and reporting.
- The differences between managed and unmanaged business travel.
- Who benefits the most from improved reporting and analytics.
- 5 useful benefits you can enjoy by improving how your business travel analytics work.
- How your data powers the insights gained from travel spend analytics.
- About some additional resources that you may also want to check out.
Why business travel reporting and analytics matter
When it comes to corporate travel management, there are plenty of moving parts. From making sense of your travel spending to making sure your business travelers are safe while they're on the road. It's a big job, but it doesn't have to be a daunting one.
Thorough, personalized business travel reporting and analytics are essential to protecting your company’s bottom line. Using data-driven insights, you can identify trends in travel spending patterns and traveler behavior – empowering you to improve decision-making and optimize your company’s travel program.
Consolidating your travel operations with a single vendor streamlines data collection for your reports and travel analytics, allowing them to be as versatile as you need them to be.
Turn travel data into actionable insights
From missed savings to booking behavior, our platform shares the insights you need to stay in control and ahead of your budget.
Understanding business travel analytics and reporting
Corporate travel data logging isn’t a one-size-fits-all effort. Each business has its own goals, and they need the right data and travel management software to help get them there.
Melon, our business travel analytics and reporting tool, comes with pre-built reports that can be easily reconfigured to only show the information that you actually need:
- Travel and expense reports: Know exactly where your money is going, so you can quickly identify areas to save money and make more well-informed budgeting decisions on future business trips.
- Compliance reporting: These reports improve business travel performance by helping you identify deviations from established policies, by monitoring travel activities and expenses.
- Carbon reporting: This type of business travel report allows you to track your travel program's carbon emissions and environmental efforts.
- Traveler tracking: Keep an eye on safety concerns for different destinations. This makes sure you don't send travelers into health hazards or areas with social/political unrest.
Managed vs. unmanaged business travel
Companies approach business travel in one of two ways: unmanaged or managed.
Unmanaged travel
Often referred to as DIY, unmanaged is when an organization handles its own business travel needs in-house. Travel tasks and responsibilities, such as managing data and reports, are typically delegated to a travel booker, manager, or even an internal HR representative (sound familiar?).
Unmanaged travel is often tacked onto a team member's regular duties and leaves them to navigate travel expense reporting and analytics through multiple programs. It can be overwhelming - and very time-consuming.
Managed travel
On the other hand, managed travel refers to any business travel program that’s supported by the travel management software and/or the expertise of travel managers. Not all TMCs give you the best of both worlds, though.
At Corporate Traveler, you can look, book, and report on all your travel needs from one platform. Since every business’s needs are different, we pair that with a dedicated team of travel experts to help you identify data, travel spend analytics, and reports that you can drill down to the most important metrics.
What's in the best interest of your travelers and your company's bottom line? Let's explore:
- Travel policy and bookings.
- Trip approval processes.
- Preferred suppliers and travel technology.
Who benefits most from business travel reporting and analytics
There are a number of different teams within your organization that can benefit from better travel expense reporting. Travel managers and procurement agents can quickly identify wasted business travel spend, improve supplier negotiations, and optimize the efficiency of your travel policies - so that things always stay compliant and on budget.
Finance and accounting teams will appreciate the additional spend visibility, the savings, as well as higher levels of accountability for bookers and travelers who are making off-policy arrangements. Not to mention your travelers themselves, who will enjoy higher levels of safety, comfort, and duty of care on trips.
Five benefits of business travel reporting
Reporting is more than just navigating numbers – it’s a catalyst for business growth. From consolidated data to predictive analytics, with the right business travel reporting and analytics tools, you’ll gain insights that drive efficiency, cost savings, and sustainability.
You’ll also want support from dedicated travel experts, who can really help you dig deep into your analytics and optimize your travel program, because they know the ins and outs of your business travel strategies.
1. Turning travel analytics into actionable insights
Predictive analytics allow for proactive decision-making, while simultaneously analyzing travel patterns and compliance to ensure your policies are effective.
Businesses can make accurate forecasts and actively shape their travel policies by leveraging the insights gained from robust travel reporting tools. It helps negotiate better deals, enforce travel policy compliance, and most importantly, improve overall travel experiences for employees while also optimizing costs and efficiency.
2. Measuring travel policy effectiveness
A common challenge companies face with their travel programs is booking leakage, where employees make travel bookings outside of their approved channels.
With consolidated travel data, you can more effectively monitor business travel spend by identifying and targeting booking, supplier, or channel leakage – all while finding opportunities to improve your travel policy.
Combine your reporting with data analysis from our business travel experts for more valuable insights.
As a global leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing polyolefin staple fibers, FiberVisions is always looking for ways it can improve its business. Their travel program was one, and we helped them achieve a 12:1 ROI. More than they even anticipated.
Want to see how we helped them do it? Read on.
3. Simplifying travel expenses and budgeting
The cornerstone of effective reporting? Budget management. Comprehensive travel expense reports are the key to understanding where the budgets are being allocated and make sure those expenses align with corporate objectives.
The bottom line is to ensure finance teams know exactly where money is being spent - and where overspending could be happening.
4. Ensuring traveler safety on business trips
Get a precise view of who is on the go, where they are in the world, and when they will arrive at their destination.
Comprehensive business travel analytics tools are invaluable to your business. It gives you real-time safety information from hotels and flights, and delivers instant alerts when a disruption occurs.
This proactive approach empowers travelers and travel managers alike to make more well-informed last-minute decisions and ensure that travelers take the necessary precautions while on the road.
5. Measuring the sustainability of business travel
From departure to arrival and everything in between, Melon will calculate the end-to-end carbon footprint and impact of your journey in real-time. Get access to personalized CO2 emissions reports that measure the impact of your business travels in real-time.
Our reporting dashboard can help you make informed choices for any journey with on-demand tracking, no matter how you’re traveling.
With business travel data at your side, you can keep an eye on safety concerns for different destinations. This ensures you don't send global business travelers into health hazards or areas of social/political unrest.
Pest management product firm Pelsis Group is on a mission to have a more sustainable travel operation and offset its flights. With the help of Corporate Traveler and partner Trees4Travel, the group is on its way to a more carbon-balanced program.
Check out the Pelsis Group story.
How business travel data powers reporting insights
When you start focusing on key analytics like your booking activity, travel expense reporting, and supplier data from a centralized dashboard, it gives you the power to generate insights unique to your business.
It’s an invaluable tool for strategic planning, in addition to empowering your travel manager to more easily track program performance, policy compliance, and identify personalized cost-saving opportunities for your team.
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See how better travel reporting improves your program
Better business travel reporting and analytics mean more opportunities to maximize the efficiency of your travel program. Partner with Corporate Traveler and you’ll get the best that travel tech and human support has to offer, including:
- Designated Travel Manager
- Intuitive all-in-one travel platform
- Search, book, and report in minutes
- 24/7 emergency support & live-chat
- Traveler tracking & duty of care dashboard
- Melon Exclusive Deals, negotiated rates, and more!