What is a Corporate Travel Department (CTD)?
You may have already had your fill of acronyms in the travel industry, but there's another one we'd like to hone on in just in case you run into it. CTD. Now, what is a CTD or corporate travel department?
If you've visited HAR's website, you probably know that we focus mostly on host agencies and the independent contractors (ICs) who work for them. But of course there's a whole lot of other constellations in this expansive (and expanding!) galaxy we call travel and they are important to identify and understand. We just like you all to be in the know, ya know?
So, let's get started.
What is a Corporate Travel Department (CTD)?
Imagine you work for a large company with a worldwide reach, such as IBM. You've scheduled to attend a leadership conference in Chennai in September, Sao Paolo in October, and come January, you'll be in various cities in China. You fill out a form here, and get your seat assignment there. But mostly you just make sure your notes and class roster are in order and you've downloaded your boarding pass for scanning at the airport.
EVERYTHING ELSE, including the paperwork for entering these countries, the airline booking, hotel, taxi to fetch you, the conference center where your class is held, and more -- this is all taken care of. How does this magic happen?
Enter (drum roll please . . . ) the Corporate Travel Department, also known as a CTD!
A corporate travel department (CTD) is an in-house travel agency for a company that makes bookings solely for their company, not the general public or other companies. A CTD typically makes bookings within the GDS, or global distribution system.
So what sort of things does a CTD do?:
- The company's travel policies and budget
- Booking and reservations
- Accounting and expense reports
- Coordination with the conference centers, universities, auto rentals, and other vendors involved
- Support to employees during the trip (Your luggage got stuck in Atlanta . . . or you did!)
- Assessment and handling of risk (God forbid you get mugged on your trip, but if you do. . . )
- Data analysis (what was cost-effective and compliant, what wasn't)
- Communication to employees of policies and support (they check in that your passport isn't up for renewal when you have to fly to Beijing!)
Long story short, these large companies have different and larger travel needs that merit an entire internal travel department, particularly because of the volume of air/car/hotel bookings needed. It's a classic case of economies of scale. When your travel spend reaches a certain point, cost savings can be had by creating your in-house travel department.
Accreditation for Corporate Travel Departments
When it comes to accrediting a travel agency, there are multiple travel agency accreditation options. However, corporate travel is a whole different beast than their leisure peers. some of the companies that issues accreditations have a special path for a corporate travel department, simply because of the scale and policies involved.
For example, the Airlines Reporting Commission (ARC) or the International Air Transport Association (IATA) both have a separate application process for CTDs.
Here's one of our podcasts going over the difference between a CTD and the VTC (verified travel consultant) accreditation:
What's the Difference Between a TMC and a CTD?
A CTD is similar to Travel Management Companies (TMCs) in that they book corporate travel but a corporate travel department is internal to one particular company and it only books that company's travel. However, a CTD might hire out a task here or there to a TMC if they need to.
Travel management companies typically have multiple companies they book travel for and market themselves as an external solution for companies looking to have their business travel managed.
Wrapping Things Up
A corporate travel department is a great route for companies with huge travel spends who can create some cost savings by bringing things in house. For those companies that aren't quite at that level, a travel management company is a fantastic alternative to handle all things related to your corporate travel.
If you're learning the ropes and your attempt to understand all the travel acronyms landing you on this article, we've got a few resources you might enjoy: