Who is a travel manager and why does a company need one?

Large organizations can’t function without business trips — employees travel for professional development, contract signings, and other essential tasks. To simplify the paperwork and organization for such trips, you can use a travel manager’s services. We explain why they’re needed. And if you’re planning to order a group trip, open TravelHub.

Responsibilities of a Travel Manager

A travel manager is a specialist who organizes business trips, so they must perform several tasks:

• Booking tickets for employees — finding the right flight, selecting the best conditions, and purchasing the tickets;

• Hotel booking — choosing a hotel in the desired area, verifying it has everything necessary for employee comfort, and paying for the room;

• Transfer booking — sometimes you need a car not only from the airport to the hotel but also for events;

• Processing visas for business trips — gathering and certifying documents, booking appointments and submitting them when self-service is available;

• Arranging insurance;

• Preparing documents — it’s important to correctly process both the order authorizing an employee’s trip and the closing documents, including the report.

Skills and Competencies of a Travel Manager

They must be able to:

• Establish communication with both company employees and specialists from hotels and airlines abroad;

• Understand reservation systems — know when discounts are available, how to buy airline tickets profitably and find the ideal option;

• Manage time, meet deadlines, solve issues as they arise, and remain available.

The Difference Between an In‑House Manager and an External Travel Agency

Although their responsibilities are the same, there are distinct differences in how they operate.

An in‑house travel manager in a company:

• Understands the company hierarchy, grasps the specifics of different departments, and recognizes each specialist’s needs;

• Is well-versed in corporate documentation and remains in constant contact with the accounting and HR departments;

• Works in-house — resulting in less paperwork to pay for their services and eliminating the need to sign a contract with an external firm.

A manager from an external travel agency:

• Knows the travel sector’s specifics better and may have personal discounts from reservation systems or airlines;

• Has established contacts with hotel chains or transfer services;

• Becomes involved only after a contract has been signed with their company;

• Handles several clients simultaneously, so prompt action isn’t always guaranteed.

Alternative: Self‑Booking Your Trips

If business trips in your organization occur rarely and the team is small, you might not need to hire specialists. Instead, you can develop a company travel policy under which a secretary or HR employee organizes trips as needed.

Online booking is a convenient option for small businesses. It’s best to use a full‑featured B2B platform rather than separate aggregators. On TravelHub you’ll find everything needed to organize a business trip without a manager: tour options, airline tickets, hotels, transfers, and excursions worldwide. Corporate clients are offered several loyalty levels that help save money, and a convenient personal account allows you to consolidate all bookings and modify them quickly if necessary. You can choose the perfect transfer and hotel for your business trip in just a few clicks.