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A Superior Alternative to Using a Travel Agency or Online Agency for Large Business Travel Operations

Corporate Travel Departments:  Companies with over $1 million in annual air expenditures can now maximize cost savings and service quality by replacing their travel agency with their own airline-accredited travel operation, called a CTD (Corporate Travel Department).  In contrast to the price versus service trade-off inherent in most business decisions, CTDs are unique in that they simultaneously maximize:

• Cost Savings (through the elimination of costly agency fees and through supplier cost reductions)
• Service Quality (the travel program is specifically designed for the company and its staff serves only one master)
• Program Control (direct relationships are forged with suppliers versus those filtered and diluted by travel agency interests)

Travel Consultants Group was formed in 2001 for the exclusive purpose of developing and supporting CTDs. It has over a dozen clients with annual travel budgets ranging from under $1 million to well over $40 million.  Implemented programs include:

•  Standard CTDs
• ARC-accredited independent entities (travel departments authorized to book travel for external clients)
• Hybrid CTDs (integrated CTD and agency-hosted travel operations)

Our clients' CTDs have operated as low as $2.11 per airline ticket issued, far below any other travel management alternative including online agencies. While the primary focus for CTDs is on operational cost savings, supplier cost reductions resulting from the elimination of travel-agency preferred supplier influence has often dwarfed the operational savings. One CTD client reduced their total spend 26% based on equivalent trip count and our largest client is saving over $2 million annually on their $40M T&E program. CTD agent productivity for our clients has been at least 20% higher than with their previous agency-hosted operations and most of this has resulted from the same agents.

Travel Consultants Group is now working on a program to leverage the collective purchase volume of its clients for the procurement of essential travel services and automation.