Selecting a corporate travel agency.

• Author: Barrus, Jeff
• Position: Includes business service guide of travel agencies

Selecting a Corporate Travel Agency

As a service to our readers, Utah Business publishes a service guide each month. This issue we feature travel agencies from across the state (see pages 38-39). In addition to contact information (phone and fax), the directory lists agencies' services in six categories of interest to businesses. All agencies listed responded to a questionnaire sent out by Utah Business.

"Many agencies today are billing themselves as |leisure travel specialists,' refusing to admit that business travelers are their bread and butter," says Michael Cameron, president of Christopherson Travel. The sentiment is echoed in newspaper travel sections across the nation; yet American firms spend over $100 billion a year on business travel, and business travelers occupy more than half of all nonresort hotel rooms and domestic airline flights. Though Utah firms account for a relatively small percentage of this national traffic, they do own a lion's share of the Intermountain West regional market. Travel agencies may not advertise to business travelers, but, make no mistake, competition is fierce for the commissions they represent.

The Bid for Business

In choosing a travel agency, large firms often have a few more options than their smaller counterparts. Chief among these is the ability to send out a request for proposal (RFP) to interested agencies. Essentially a bid solicitation, the RFP is sent by companies for travel accounts in excess of $100,000. Qualified agencies receiving the RFP respond with a proposal, complete with vendor and corporate references. Firms should investigate these agencies before they make commitments.

Smaller businesses selecting agencies without this formal bidding process should still request vendor/corporate references directly from the agency. While they won't get the large volume discounts offered to big corporations, these smaller firms can still expect to find agencies willing to help them save on their frequent travel.

Large companies also have the option of hiring two or more travel agencies to handle their needs. Jon Jones, president of The Travel Zone, says, "Large corporations can and should use two agencies to foster competition, then leave the choice of agency up to individuals. This gives the corporation a way of measuring and comparing service." Or separate agencies may be given separate divisions of the same corporation. In either instance, the company benefits from the competition for its...