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TMC Travel Management: Merging TMC and Non-TMC Travel Data to Improve Business Travel Management

September 21, 2022
Travelers walk through a busy airport.

It is common for medium-to-large businesses to have an established travel program in place, which encompasses a travel policy (mandated or guidelines), a designated Travel Management Company (TMC), a preferred supplier program (air, hotel, and car), and often a duty of care provider for larger or more complex businesses.

Small-to-medium size businesses, on the other hand, usually have a  corporate travel policy in place, but they’re often unmandated and might be fragmented in terms of how business travel is sourced, booked, and supported. 

Businesses of all sizes can benefit from using Traxo to merge TMC travel management data with less organized travel data like bookings and receipts to get the full picture of what travel looks like in their company. 

What Is a TMC? A Quick Refresher

Designated TMCs play an important role in ensuring travelers have a one-stop-shop where they can search for a business trip that has your company’s guidelines established in an online booking tool. With a TMC, travelers can easily identify and book preferred suppliers without any hassle, allowing program managers to get a pulse on upcoming travel plans. Our blog about managing multiple TMCs offers a more thorough explanation, if you’d like to learn more before moving on.

TMC & Non-TMC Travel Data: Traxo’s Travel Dashboard

Traxo supports businesses of all sizes, regardless of the current state (or lack thereof) of your travel program or policy. Traxo’s ability to consolidate and normalize data from your designated TMCs and non-TMC sources, such as supplier-direct bookings, allows you to get a holistic view of your program for improved travel management. Capturing pre-trip data, from the time of reservation, is simplified when Traxo is incorporated into an organization's travel program.

Traxo gives Travel Managers peace of mind by making  data readily available in a user-friendly dashboard, and providing quick and reliable insights on employees’ whereabouts and their upcoming trips while maintaining the appropriate amount of protection around private and personal data.

Air Traffic graphic depicting numerous flights that could be tracked through TMC travel data

The Impact of Travel Leakage on Program Reporting

On average, 4 in every 10 bookings are made outside of company-designated or preferred booking channels. These transactions are commonly booked through supplier-direct websites or OAC channels, meaning travel managers are flying blind until these travelers file their expense reports post-trip.

With a lack of data access, countless bookings are simply not captured, resulting in diminished traveler support. When faced with a crisis, it could be next to impossible to locate your travelers’ whereabouts efficiently.

Combine TMC and Non-TMC Travel Data Sources to Create a Holistic Data Set

Providing travel managers with pre-trip visibility (details captured at the time of booking), allows more control over travel behavior, the ability to correct non-compliant trips, and a shift in spend toward preferred suppliers. Pre-trip booking data also enables you to act proactively versus scrambling when incidents occur.

By combining TMC booked itineraries with program leakage data, you can create a holistic travel data set before the trips begin — so that no one has to sift through expense reports weeks after travel ends. 

This requires no action on behalf of your traveler, and there are no training or change management components involved. Traxo parses the itinerary data based on the employee’s unique email address, and booking data appears in your dedicated Traxo portal, providing you with access to pre-trip data reporting and a dashboard, regardless of the original booking source.

Finally, comprehensive travel management can be achieved by consolidating all travel data sources into one reporting tool.

Port Travel Data into Any Data Analytics Tool  

All data collected and parsed through Traxo is portable, giving organizations the flexibility they need. Traxo’s data can be easily ported into popular tools such as Microsoft Power BI or Tableau to further customize reports and dashboards.

Share TMC and Non-TMC Data Sets with Travel Management Partners

Similarly, sharing your data set with your TMC and duty of care provider is easy and ensures that your business travelers are protected wherever their trips take them and however they booked their itinerary. And, finally, if your company wishes to further optimize its travel program,  Traxo partners with price assurance providers, who provide cost savings by using price monitoring tools starting from the time of booking.

Improve Travel Management with Traxo

Traxo continues to be the global leader in corporate travel data capture and pre-trip auditing, as well as detecting and eliminating travel program leaks regardless of the original booking source.

If you’re ready to aggregate your TMC and Non-TMC travel data in one place, contact us today to start building a modern travel program for your organization.

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This especially rings true for hotel programs, which are usually on an

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To introduce flexibility and reap additional savings,

Insights

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This especially rings true for hotel programs, which are usually on an

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