How to Choose Online Booking Tool (OBT) for Your Managed Travel Program

Picking the right online booking tool (OBT) for your corporate travel program can feel like a daunting task. However, the key lies in comprehending your program's specific needs and requirements and collaborating with a Travel Management Company (TMC) that truly understands your objectives. The TMC plays a crucial role in guiding you through the selection process, assisting in pinpointing precisely what your travel program requires both presently and in its future evolution.

Online booking tools (OBTs) empower travelers to seamlessly arrange flights, accommodations, car rentals, and rail bookings while adhering to managed travel programs and company policies. An OBT serves as a dependable resource, ensuring that business travelers receive pertinent information about the travel program promptly and through the appropriate channels, and it should be perceived as an integral component of the travel program rather than a standalone entity or an afterthought.

Before selecting an OBT, articulate your organization's needs, including content requirements, company culture, and digital strategy. Evaluate features like ease of use, multi-channel accessibility, itinerary notifications, secure online payments, responsive customer support, traveler profile management, data protection compliance, scalability, and data analytics capabilities.

BCD Travel adopts a consultative approach, aiming to understand the context of your experience with online booking programs. They offer recommendations tailored to support your corporate online booking strategies, whether through their own OBT, TripSource®, or partnering with other OBTs and global suppliers. BCD conducts cost-benefit analyses to ensure that their OBT recommendations deliver tangible savings, reduce hidden costs, improve booking efficiency, and drive operational synergies.