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What is a travel management company, and how does it work?
An overview of how TMCs help businesses manage, control, and optimize corporate travel.
Managing corporate travel involves complex logistics, costs, policy, and safety. As travel activity increases, businesses face booking inefficiencies, policy violations, and limited visibility into spend and traveler data. A travel management company (TMC) centralizes how businesses plan, book, and manage travel, providing structure, control, and data.
This guide explains what a travel management company is, how it works, the benefits, and how to choose a TMC for your business. It also shows how mobile data solutions, such as Holafly for Business, complement TMCs.
Business travel made easy
Understanding TMCs: Role and services
A travel management company is a specialized B2B provider that helps businesses plan, book, and manage corporate travel. As alternatives to traditional travel agencies, TMCs enforce travel policies, track expenses, provide analytics, and offer 24/7 support for changes, disruptions, and emergencies.
Modern TMCs operate through platforms that automate workflows and provide real-time reporting. These platforms connect bookings, approvals, expenses, and traveler data in one system, with supplier access to support domestic and international travel.
Core services provided by TMCs
Travel management companies provide services that centralize and control corporate travel.
- Booking and reservations: Centralized platform for flights, hotels, car rentals, and rail, with automatic policy enforcement.
- Travel policy management: Creating and enforcing policies through approval workflows, spending limits, and preferred vendors.
- Cost management: Negotiating rates, tracking spend in real time, identifying savings opportunities, and maintaining budget oversight.
- Reporting and analytics: Dashboards showing spend by department, employee, vendor, and route for optimization.
- Duty of care: Location tracking, safety alerts, emergency assistance, and 24/7 support. TMCs typically provide the logistics infrastructure that a broader travel risk management program sits on top of.
- Expense integration: Automated synchronization of bookings with expense systems to automate receipt capture.
How do travel management companies work?
Travel management companies follow a four-step workflow that standardizes the planning, booking, and management of corporate travel.
- Onboarding: The TMC learns your company’s needs, budgets, and travel policies; sets up the business profile; connects preferred vendors; and integrates existing systems.
- Booking process: Employees book travel through a portal, app, or agent, while the TMC manages approvals and enforces policy rules.
- Technology platform: An integrated platform combines booking, expense management, analytics, and traveler tracking.
- Ongoing support: The TMC provides 24/7 assistance and conducts regular business reviews for optimization opportunities.
Key benefits of using a travel management company
The benefits of a travel management company include reduced costs, improved control, and faster growth.
- Cost savings: Negotiate better rates through volume, enforce policy, and identify savings through data.
- Time efficiency: Centralize travel management, automate routine tasks, and free employees from booking logistics.
- Policy compliance: Ensure bookings align with company rules, preferred vendors, and budgets.
- Traveler safety: Fulfill duty of care through location tracking and emergency support — a core part of any corporate travel security strategy.
- Data insights: Get visibility into travel spending, benchmark against industry data, and inform budget decisions.
- Scalability: Accommodate growth in travel volume without adding headcount.
Is a TMC right for your business?
A travel management company is a good fit when travel creates operational strain, cost risk, or visibility gaps.
- Company size: TMCs serve all sizes, with small businesses benefiting from expertise and negotiated rates, and larger organizations requiring comprehensive travel management.
- Travel volume: Indicators include frequent trips per year, rising monthly spend, and a growing number of traveling employees.
- Complexity: Multi-destination travel, international trips, complex itineraries, or compliance requirements increase the value of a TMC.
- Pain points: Common signals include policy violations, budget overruns, booking inefficiencies, lack of spend visibility, and traveler safety concerns.
Choosing the right travel management company
Selecting the right corporate travel agencies — and, where safety is a priority, travel risk management companies — requires evaluating technology and service fit.
| Evaluation factor | Description |
|---|---|
| Technology platform and integrations | The platform should support end-to-end booking, policy enforcement, reporting, and integrate with existing expense, HR, and finance systems. Some organizations also pair their TMC with dedicated best travel risk management software for enhanced traveler safety and threat monitoring. |
| Global coverage and supplier network | A strong TMC offers access to airlines, hotels, and transport across regions. |
| Service levels and support availability | Support should be available 24/7. |
| Industry expertise and references | Proven industry experience helps ensure the TMC understands your vertical’s compliance needs and common risks. |
| Pricing structure and transparency | Fees should be transparent, without hidden costs. |
| Scalability and contract flexibility | The TMC should support company growth, seasonal changes, and evolving travel needs. |
Questions to ask TMCs:
- How long is the implementation?
- What are pricing models and hidden fees?
- What reporting tools are available?
- Can the platform accommodate our policies?
- What support hours do you offer?
- How do you handle travel disruptions?
- What supplier relationships do you have?
A TMC implementation for a small-to-mid-sized business typically takes 4–12 weeks. Large, global enterprises may require 12–24 weeks. The process begins with policy setup and system integration, then moves to user onboarding and optimization.
How Holafly for Business complements travel management companies
Travel management companies handle bookings, policy enforcement, expenses, and reporting, but they don’t solve mobile connectivity challenges. International roaming often creates high costs, administrative complexity, and reliability concerns, especially when employees visit multiple countries during a trip.
Holafly for Business delivers corporate eSIMs in 160+ countries, cutting roaming costs and centralizing connectivity management via the Holafly Business Center. Paired with TMC services, this creates an integrated travel ecosystem where TMCs manage logistics and policy while Holafly for Business ensures seamless connectivity and reduced telecom expenses for traveling employees.
Business travel made easy
Request a demo to see how Holafly for Business can support your business, or explore Holafly Plans for Business. Choose Always On (€9.95/year) for light usage, Unlimited (€57/month per eSIM) for frequent travelers who need uncapped data and built-in security, or Enterprise (custom pricing) for organizations that require tailored solutions.
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I am a Liverpool-based SEO content specialist with years of experience crafting content that connects. I combine my love for clear communication with a passion for travel and languages (currently diving into Japanese!). At Holafly, I'm here to help you understand everything about staying connected abroad, turning technical jargon into straightforward advice you can actually use.
