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Any company with teams that travel knows that travel planning often feels like a necessary headache. Sending employees to different locations on short and long-term projects is expensive and making reservations that fit your company’s travel policies can be time-consuming and complicated.
COVID-19 has significantly increased the challenges surrounding workforce travel lodging. The pandemic has heavily impacted the economy and travel in the US, forcing businesses to adjust workforce travel programs to ensure their employees’ safety and cut costs.The COVID-19 crisis has impacted businesses across sectors, and especially those with teams that travel frequently under normal circumstances. Here are just a few of the moving parts that travel managers may have to reconcile as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Changing company budgets and cuts: Companies across various industries have lost business throughout the pandemic. Many businesses have been forced to furlough or lay off employees or make other massive budget cuts to adjust for this loss, meaning that the budget for company travel may be different than previous years. Travel managers will have to work with quickly changing, and most likely shrinking, budgets as they book their workforce travel lodging.
- Travel advisories: The CDC has released guidelines that businesses will need to consider before sending employees on the road. Some states may require masks, that travelers quarantine in the state, or mandate that those who recently traveled to stay home for up to 14 days. Travel managers will have to stay up to date on these changing guidelines and may have to alter or cancel reservations based on these advisories.
- Employee safety: The American Hotel & Lodging Association recently released “Safe Stay Guidelines” for hotels, focused on meeting new health and safety challenges. Travel managers are tasked with ensuring their employees are staying at hotels that are taking necessary steps to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to keep guests safe.
All of these moving parts are added to existing challenges like finding places to stay with availability in new job locations and managing the unpredictable nature of projects that cause drastically varying lodging needs. Some stays may be short-term and transient, while new or unexpected projects can send employees to a longer-term job site without much notice.
Companies need a versatile lodging program that scales to fit quickly changing needs. Most in-house administrative teams don’t have the resources or purchasing power to get the savings, locations, or flexibility that might be out there.
Additionally, more than 25% of hotel invoices have errors, but many companies don’t have the internal resources or budget to perform audits and may overpay for their lodging program.
The solution? A workforce lodging program that scales to fit individual company’s unique needs.
Optimize your workforce lodging program and control costs with a streamlined, scalable program.
A comprehensive lodging solution can help businesses invest more wisely in their workforce travel, even when the economy isn’t thriving. CLC Lodging, America’s workforce lodging leader, protects companies’ investments in employee travel by streamlining what is usually a chaotic and costly reservation and reconciliation process.
Features of CLC’s comprehensive lodging solution include:
Cost control - CLC clients gain access to our network of discounted hotel rates and centralized lodging. Depending on travel needs, we also offer a more robust programs specializing in longer term and project-based needs that offer unlimited distribution, project specific negotiations, full-service support, duty of care, crew rooming list management, customized billing, travel policy adherence assistance, and if applicable, corporate apartment options. CLC continually negotiates lodging costs to ensure our clients receive the lowest, unrestricted rates available and travel policy controls resulting in a comprehensive expense management solution.
Accurate, centralized billing and auditing - CLC’s streamlined lodging management tools and technology platform gives companies added visibility and control over lodging spend with insights and analysis. Our lodging experts audit 100% of invoices received to ensure there are no unauthorized charges.
Traveler support and safety - 1.2 million travelers rely on CLC’s US-based Traveler Support Center - available 24/7. In a time when travel is changing more quickly than ever, employers can be confident that their workforce has expert support, so you never miss a traveler’s call. Clients can also view critical reservation activity insights using their online reporting for added duty of care - helping to quickly locate team members in case of emergency.
Tackle today’s changing market with CLC Lodging.
CLC’s scalable lodging program offers companies predictability and savings. Learn more about CLC’s streamlined solutions during CLC’s BIC webinar on September 16. To start optimizing your employee travel today, visit CLC’s website.
Attend the upcoming free webinar. Register here.