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We are Business Travel Desk

We are Business Travel Desk and we can’t wait to show you the corporate travel experience that you’ve been missing out on all this time. Professional, simple, sustainable, fun travel arrangements from a group of like-minded corporate travellers who have had enough of the irritating, polluting ways of the past. 

Next-level corporate travel that’s exciting AND eco-friendly?

Scintillating, Sustainable, Straightforward Business Travel

Calling all personal assistants, executive assistants, travel bookers, office managers, directors and anyone else who has to book travel and accommodation arrangements on a regular basis.  We don’t know about you, but as corporate travellers ourselves we were getting so fed up with the endless dramas that come with corporate travel agencies that we decided to do something about it.  So, say goodbye to multiple different bookings and reservations, bid adieu to never being able to speak to customer services, and wave farewell to polluting the planet. Business Travel Desk will take care of your every travel need; we’re on hand 24/7 should you need us, and we always strive for sustainable travel, meaning you can carry on living your best life and do your bit for the planet too.  Sound like your kind of company? Get in touch – we’d love to share our philosophy of corporate travel being fun, friendly, and fuel-efficient with you.

About us: Humble beginnings, big ideas

Two friends who love travel walk into a bar. Well, it was a school, actually, but those were the foundations for what would become Business Travel Desk. And we haven’t looked back since.

Humble Beginnings

Our founders, Max and Sebastian first met in school. Their shared passion for travel and environmental issues meant an instant bond was formed and an idea began to take shape…

1:1 Experience

Fast forward a couple of years and Business Travel Desk is founded on the ideals of a personal 1:1 experience and sustainability taking precedence above all else.

Well Trusted

We launch our in-house review database, which is full of authentic reviews from our own travel counsellors and clients, giving us the perfect reference points to help us do our work.  

Eco-Friendly

We introduce more eco-friendly options, including hotels with green accreditations, and start producing sustainability reports so you can see exactly how green your trip will be.

2,000+ Consultants

We now have over 2,000 personal travel consultants from all over the world who are trusted by our clients to book their corporate travel arrangements for them. We do a little happy dance.

Independently minded but with a franchise reach

Whether you’re booking travel arrangements for one person, the sales team, or the entire board of directors, our expert travel assistants can find the perfect solution to your individual needs. We’ve got great working relationships with lots of different travel partners, and because we’re an independent company, we can bring you the very best deals without being restricted by the limitations that the big franchise travel agents are bound to. 

So, whether you’re looking to book 5-star luxury accommodation and travel or just a budget flight and a place to get a few hours' sleep before heading home, we know of all the best places at the most competitive prices.

Tell me more!

We know that ours is a pretty revolutionary way of doing things for a corporate travel agency, so when it comes to our business travel model, we understand that you might have some questions. We’ve answered some of the most common ones here, but if you have any more then please just speak to the team and we’ll be happy to help.

What are your fees? How do you make your money?

We are Low Fee No Fee. Essentially, we don’t charge you anything at all for our services! Our fees are based on our commissions from airlines, so it doesn’t cost you a penny extra to book with us.

How can you help us book business travel in a more sustainable way?

We have a fantastic working relationship with lots of different companies, providers, and suppliers throughout the travel industry all across the world, so we prioritise those businesses whose eco ethics match our own. We also have an entire database full of reviews from clients and our very own advisors and the ability to produce carbon footprint reports, so we have plenty of resources to draw upon when we’re looking to book you the most eco-friendly trip possible. 

Do you offer full reporting and MI?

Yes, we do. It’s important to us that we live up to our word to bring you a more personal experience without sacrificing the planet in the process, so in the interests of transparency, full reporting is available for you to view.

What if I have a problem outside of normal office hours?

Our helpline is open 24/7/365 and we have multiple forms of communication that you can reach us on (WhatsApp, email, phone call), however, the person or team that is assigned to you will always try to be available first should there be a problem.

What our clients have to say

“ Will definitely use you next time I travel ”

Was very good, Lana was very helpful changing my flight too. Will definitely use you next time I travel.

“ He will go above and beyond ”

Seb is always so helpful and approachable. He will go above and beyond to get the job done. Thanks for everything!

“ Amazing service from the guys ”

Always an amazing service from the guys. I'd have no hesitation in recommending the guys for any business in need of booking business travel and accommodation.

“ Amazing customer service ”

The Travel Counsellors team has been a massive help in regards to our enquiry for a uk break away, we got given different options and amazing customer service in regards to the different options given to us to choose from.

“ He pulled through with great options ”

Josh was just brilliant at sourcing the exact holiday we needed, I gave him some quite specific requests and he pulled through with great options. We've chose one and are really excited for our holiday!

“ Very helpful and responds quickly ”

Max is very helpful and responds quickly. I would definitely recommend him to anyone.

1:1 personalised sustainable travel without the luxury price tag

Got any questions? Great, we love to talk about corporate travel! Hit the button below to speak to us directly or fill in the form opposite and we’ll be in touch ASAP.

Download Our Brochure on Sustainability and Diversity in Travel

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The 2024 guide to corporate travel management

What is corporate travel management, what does a corporate travel manager do.

• Booking trips for travelers (not only c-suite executives, but employees in any role)
• Helping individual departments track their travel spend so they can stay under budget.
• Providing travel support to travelers before, during, or after their trip.
• Selecting and managing any travel vendors or travel tools used.
• Working to negotiate corporate rates on hotels that the company uses often.
• Booking group travel.
• Organizing ground transportation like rental cars or rail
• Analyzing company travel spend, or delivering travel spend reports to the CFO for analysis

What does a travel buyer do?

Stakeholders in the travel management process.

• In-house corporate travel manager
• Office manager or office team
• Head of operations / COO
• CFO and finance managers
• Panel of frequent employee travelers
• Current corporate travel agency or company

What solutions are companies using to book their business trips?

Consumer booking sites, traditional travel agencies, travel management software.

Save your company time and money on business travel

What are the drawbacks of each solution.

• Need to compare various websites and pay out of pocket in order to secure the best price
• Many hidden costs, with fees for cancellations and changes
• Many back-and-forth emails when booking for companies
• Need to pay upfront
• No support for issues on the road
• Time-consuming manual reimbursing and expense tracking
• Impossible to ensure compliance with company travel policy
• Online booking tools are typically buggy, with bad UX
• Employees end up calling support or book, when they’d rather save time by booking for themselves, with the options they want
• Costly service
• Above-market transport/accommodation prices
• Company policy compliance is difficult to guarantee
• Lack of travel inventory and options
• Clunky user experience that travelers don’t enjoy
• Offshore customer service, typically ranked as the top frustration in customer reviews
• Often overly complicated and feature-laden
• Impossible to control travel when travelers can’t or won’t use the tool
• Lacks low-price flights and hotels available online
• Impossible to guarantee company policy compliance

The pillars of modern travel management:

• Trust – Trust travelers to book using the approved process and policy, and make it easy for them
• Transparency – Let travelers see what they’re allowed to spend and choose accordingly, and let finance and administrative teams see what is being booked and why.
• Simplicity – Create a process that works and meets everyone’s needs.
• Impact – Measure the impact of business travel on the company and reduce unnecessary trips that leave travelers exhausted and businesses with needless expenses.
• Duty of care – Ensure a thorough duty of care strategy is in place to mitigate risks for employees when traveling
• Sustainability – Being aware of the impact of travel on the environment and adopting good practices to reduce the effect

How can a good corporate travel program help companies to save money?

Ensuring compliance with company travel policy, access to more affordable flight options, stay on top of travel spending trends, six steps to managing corporate travel effectively.

• Choose a smart booking tool
• Assure 24/7 travel support
• Create policies and approval workflows
• Organize and utilize travel spend data in real-time
• Improve collaboration between admin and finance
• Reduce your company’s carbon footprint

1. Choose a smart booking tool

• Self-booking within policy – Trust your travelers to book what they need, and set up policies and parameters
• Consolidated invoicing – The ability to get one monthly invoice for all travel from one vendor, instead of having it spread across the web
• Travel spend reporting – Easy access for all finance and administrative team members who need to track travel itinerary details and spend by cost centers, tags or labels
• Easy booking process that travelers love – Invoice consolidation and accurate reporting are impossible if employees want to cheat on the approved tool, so choose a tool that’s easy to use with consumer-grade UX. Make their entire travel experience, from booking to coming home, as easy and smooth as possible. Introducing a mobile app is just an added bonus!
• Great inventory – Inventory is not a side note. Make sure the platform you use has every available option you can find online and that the company is committed to adding more inventory
• Travel support – You need travel assistance that’s available 24/7 in your native language so that employees can get help even when the internal admin team is unavailable

2. Assure 24/7 travel support

Here are the requirements to look for in travel support:.

• Available 24/7
• Easy to reach a real human
• Guaranteed follow-up and follow-through
• Native language support
• Fast escalation for big issues

3. Create policies and approval workflows

• Maximum cost of airfare
• Maximum cost per hotel per night
• Minimum amount of days booked in advance
• Hotel star rating
• Flight class allowed

Travel Management: The Ultimate Guide

Approval workflows.

• No approval required for any trip
• Approval required for some trips
• Approval required for every trip

4. Organize and utilize travel spend data

• Cost centers – Does your company use different payment accounts for different geographical regions? How many cost centers does the company have? Make sure that travel spend is getting charged to the right accounts and that you're making accurate expense reports.
• Tags and labels – Beyond cost centers, are there any important filters that the finance team would have to have when viewing travel spending reports? For example, would they like each trip tagged by team or by project? Decide upfront so that the tagging system can be implemented clearly from the get-go.
• Keep all travel in one place – to get accurate travel data, you need to keep all travel in one place—whenever possible. Work with a travel management solution that integrates with providers that matter to your company, such as budget airlines, AirBnb or European train lines. If your company has negotiated hotel rates, you want your corporate solution to be able to book those rates for you, so you don’t lose the travel data by booking directly.

5. Improve collaboration between admin and finance

• Streamlined approvals process – If your approval process requires action from the admin and the finance team, try to make this as seamless as possible.
• Easy access invoices – The finance team needs to grab all invoices quickly so they can reconcile expenses and set clear reimbursement processes. The best way to do this is to use a platform that consolidates travel spend into one monthly invoice.
• Ability to track spend instantly – Consolidate all travel spend into one platform so that they can generate reports on what is being spent, by who, and why (when using tags and labels). Same as with the invoices, determine whether you need to send them a monthly report, or if they want to download it themselves.
• Cost savings on trips – Fixing travel isn’t just about saving time. Many businesses are still using travel booking platforms that were built in the 80s and 90s. This means that they markup the inventory so that the company is paying more than a consumer would! Impress the finance team by reducing travel costs and introducing consumer-grade prices for trips.

6. Reduce your company’s carbon footprint

• Work out your starting point by calculating your company’s travel carbon footprint
• Design a green business travel program, which creates data-driven strategies to increase employee commitment
• Choose economy class
• Reduce your fuel consumption where possible
• Pick low-emission airlines and avoid layovers
• Vet your accommodation for sustainability practices
• Utilize green travel tax breaks

The bottom line: it's time to upgrade your travel management

Let’s bring it all together.

• Choose a smart booking tool – Meet everyone’s needs
• Share the burden of travel support – Don’t try to do this alone
• Set up cost centers and labels – Let the tool reflect the business
• Create policies and approval workflows – Put the policy inside the booking process
• Improve collaboration between admin and finance – Grab invoices and reports

Make business travel simpler. Forever.

• See our platform in action . Trusted by thousands of companies worldwide, TravelPerk makes business travel simpler to manage with more flexibility, full control of spending with easy reporting, and options to offset your carbon footprint.
• Find hundreds of resources on all things business travel, from tips on travelling more sustainably, to advice on setting up a business travel policy, and managing your expenses. Our latest corporate travel resources and blog posts have you covered.
• Never miss another update. Stay in touch with us on social for the latest product releases, upcoming events, and articles fresh off the press.

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