Tourism insiders once suggested that the companies involved in travel industry should become more aware of the importance in business of travel management for the industry keeps developing.

According to statistics released by leading tourism management company CITS- American Express Business Travel, China is one of the largest business travel markets in the world.

As travel helps organizations develop and expand by building relationships, it has become an essential and critical part of operations in business in today’s fast-changing business world.

Companies need to have broader insight on factors such as business imperatives, external environment impacting corporate travel, marketability of their travel program and key areas causing concerns amongst their key stakeholders so as to build an effective travel management program. For business travel planners and travel management companies, a number of key essentials to consider can be listed as below:

•Prioritize and identify your goals

•Collect and analyze travel data

•Designate a travel manager

•Identify key suppliers and establish a preferred program

•Increase monitoring and tracking of policy compliance

•Designate a travel management company

•Utilize technology to drive process efficiencies and traveler satisfaction

•Create and implement a formal travel policy

Companies can not only maintain control but also optimize their investment in business travel so as to maximize savings if they follow these key factors to establish an effective travel management strategy. The organization should create a policy providing clear and concise information regarding how to arrange travel to best suit the company’s culture and business needs. Policy success is built on six fundamental considerations known as “the six Cs”:

•Culture－This is influenced by management goals, the company’s industry, the regions in China and across the Asia Pacific region where the organization operates and overall economic climate.

•Control－Here we look at the enforcement principles and penalties for non-compliance. Control measures the strength and effectiveness of the specific policy language, the methods in place for monitoring compliance and enforcement strategies used in dealing with non-compliance.

•Content－The pace of technological change and the global environment in which we live dictates the range of topics needed t be addressed. This is a constantly evolving aspect of policy.

•Comprehensiveness－This addresses the level of detail that needs to be provided under each topic.

The 20- minute rule, which is, if a traveler plans to commit 20 minutes to reading a policy, he or she should be able to answer the majority of questions likely to be posed in relation to travel management. This is a good rule of thumb for any policy.

•Communication－This shows the way in which policy is distributed. It is necessary for organizations to measure the extent of the policies distribution, how the policy is distributed, how often it is updated and the level of traveler awareness and knowledge of the travel policy. Critical here, too, is that senior management is seen to actively endorse the policy being communicated.

•Compliance－This looks at how well travelers follow policy. It is important to remember that simply having a travel policy is not enough. Policies must be regularly reviewed, clearly communicated employees and consistently enforced. As policies are not explicitly defined, non-compliance frequently occurs.

Companies will be able to establish travel and entertainment authority and better control their travel spending if they put the right travel management and policies in place.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

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