4 Organizational Tips for New Travel Coordinators: Corporate jobs are demanding, but out of them, there’s one that is certainly not meant for everyone. That’s the world of travel coordinators.
A travel coordinator is a professional responsible for everything related to a company’s travel activities. Back in the pre-internet days, these men and women were ever on the move, ever on the phone with piled-up desks.
While a lot has changed now with the availability of convenient software and stuff, travel coordinators still have their hands full because their job description demands it.
Duties of a Travel Coordinator
Table of Contents
Before we jump into the organizational practices of travel coordinators, it’s worth mentioning what they actually do that makes staying organized a bit tricky, especially for the newbies.
- Booking domestic and international flights
- Handling travel reports
- Organizing travel-related activities
- Researching suitable accommodations
- Creates and distributes travel itineraries
- Requests travel and flight approvals
- Manages and reports on company credit cards
- Processes travel expenses
Having multiple responsibilities makes it necessary for a travel coordinator to stay organized to maintain smooth travel activities.
For new travel coordinators, things could get out of hand fast without a proper organizational system.
These tips can help new travel coordinators stay organized:
Keep a To-do List
Unless you’re a genius, there’s no way you’re going to remember everything. If you try to make mental notes as a travel coordinator, sooner or later, some things will slip through the cracks.
A to-do list makes it easier to stay on top of your duties. You want your list to have everything to the smallest detail to avoid minor but crucial mishaps.
There was a time when professionals like yourself planted sticky notes on every available surface. It worked, but it contributed to clutter.
Today all you need is a good to-do app to keep you on track, and regardless of your platform of choice, you’ll find plenty of options.
Here are some of the best to-do apps you can use:
- Habitica: an easy-to-use task manager available on major platforms
- Any.do: available on most platforms
- Todoist: available across multiple platforms
- OmniFocus: available on iOS and macOS
Use a Travel Management Tool
Managing travel activities is not just tedious; it’s time-consuming and filled with multiple mini-tasks that require real-time attention.
As a new travel coordinator, you need to begin right off the bat with travel management software. It’s a necessary tool that eliminates scattered duties and brings all your tasks to a central point, allowing you to manage things on one dashboard.
With a travel management tool, you get to track individual or group itineraries, monitor expenses, catch receipts and invoice errors, and, most of all, automate mundane tasks that would otherwise bite into your time.
Some of the best travel management tools include:
- Resfinity
- Zoho Expense
- Expensify
- Spendesk
Time Yourself
Time management is a problem for many, but when you master your time, everything else will fall into place.
You see, it doesn’t matter how good your work is. If you have trouble keeping time, you’ll drop the ball.
As a new travel coordinator, keep a timer on your desk. Start and end your time with every task to get a feel of the amount of time spent and if there’s a need for changes.
Plan in Advance
Planning is vital in business travel.
Picking suitable dates, booking flights, and securing the right accommodations and transport are not things you want to put off till the last minute.
Plan ahead of time and make sure you have all the info you need to facilitate efficient travels.
It’d help to develop a foolproof system to ensure you’re not missing out on anything. If your system isn’t efficient enough, make changes until it fits your working style.
Remember, it’s easier to stay organized when you have an effective routine.
For more on corporate travel best practices, this Hotel Engine post has you covered.
Conclusion
As a new travel Organizational Tips, you may be struggling to get the hang of things. Perhaps you’re new to your current role or working with a different company. All of these can throw you off balance a bit.
While developing a working system to get things done, the organizational tips we shared will help you fight clutter and mishaps, allowing your work to run smoothly.
