As an HR professional, your responsibilities already span across recruitment, payroll, employee well-being, and compliance. And when managing the travel team is added to the list—especially in a growing company with frequent travel needs—it can quickly become overwhelming.
That’s when the big question comes in:
“Should we manage travel internally or outsource it to a travel management partner?”
It’s not an easy decision. On one hand, keeping travel in-house feels like you’re in control. On the other, it could mean stretching your team thin—without even realizing it.
In this blog, you’ll explore the real pros and cons of managing travel through an in-house team.
We’ll walk through each aspect step by step, helping you decide what’s best for your company’s travel needs—and your own bandwidth.
Before we get into the benefits and drawbacks, let’s define what it actually means.
What Does It Mean to Manage Travel In-House?
An in-house travel team is most often part of the HR or administration department and is responsible for:
- Booking flights, hotels, cabs, and trains for employees
- Coordinating approvals from managers
- Managing travel budgets
- Dealing with reimbursements and documentation
- Handling emergencies like missed flights or last-minute changes
You might use spreadsheets, emails, online booking sites, and vendor contacts to manage all of this. It works—but only to a point.
Now let’s look at what works well in this model—and where it might create friction.
How Companies Usually Manage their Travel?
If you’re unsure which route to take, it helps to know how other companies manage their business travel.
- 37% of companies partner with Travel Management Companies (TMCs)
- 32% handle travel through internal in-house teams
- 31% allow employees to book their own travel, often using OTAs or consumer platforms
This shows that while many still rely on internal teams, more companies are now leaning toward outsourced or flexible travel models.
But flexibility comes with trade-offs. The same report highlighted key challenges companies face—especially those managing travel internally or allowing decentralized booking.
| Top Travel Management Challenges | % of Companies Impacted |
| Handling booking changes | 37% |
| Tracking travel expenses | 37% |
| Streamlining approval workflows | 32% |
| Controlling travel costs | 26% |
If you’re facing these same issues, you’re not alone. These stats confirm the growing pressure on internal HR and admin teams managing travel.
The Pros of Managing Travel In-House
If you’re already handling travel internally, you might be doing it for some of the following reasons:
1. More Control Over Every Detail
You know your employees, your budgets, and your preferences. When travel is managed in-house, you control vendor choices, class of travel, accommodation standards, and policy enforcement.
2. Faster, Direct Communication
Since it’s all internal, there’s no need to wait on external responses. You can respond to queries quickly, change bookings immediately, or coordinate directly with employees.
3. Tailored to Your Company Culture
You understand the specific needs of each department—whether it’s the frequent flyers in sales or the occasional travel from HR. Your internal team can make decisions aligned with your people and policies.
4. Cost Transparency
When you manage travel internally, it feels like you’re cutting out middlemen and saving money. You know exactly where the budget is going and can decide when to splurge or save.
But as your company grows or travel becomes more frequent, this same model can start showing cracks.
The Cons of Managing Travel In-House
Let’s be honest—handling travel in-house isn’t as smooth as it sounds when the volume increases.
Here’s where problems usually arise:
1. It Drains Your Time and Focus
As HR, your core job is to focus on people, not bookings. But managing travel demands constant coordination—vendor calls, itinerary changes, follow-ups. It can pull you away from strategic HR work like employee engagement, L&D, and retention.
2. Limited Vendor Network & Deals
You may not always get the best flight or hotel deals on your own. Travel management companies (TMCs) often have pre-negotiated rates that an in-house team can’t match, especially for last-minute or bulk bookings.
3. Risk of Manual Errors
Without a tech-enabled system, it’s easy to miss details. Double bookings, incorrect dates, missed reimbursements—these slip-ups are more common than you think.
4. No 24×7 Support for Travelers
What happens if an employee misses a connection or faces an emergency late at night? If your internal team works 9 to 6, your employees are left stranded after-hours.
5. Lack of Real-Time Data & Compliance
Managing GST-compliant invoices, policy breaches, or reporting travel spend across departments manually?
It’s exhausting. And without centralized data, you miss visibility into where the money’s going—and where it can be saved.
At this point, you might be asking…
Is an In-House Team Still the Right Choice for Us?
The answer depends on your current situation.
An in-house setup works well if:
- Your company has a low volume of travel
- Trips are mostly local or regional
- You already have a dedicated admin team with travel experience
- Your policies are simple, and your workforce isn’t growing rapidly
In this case, the in-house model gives you control without too much overhead.
But if you’ve been feeling stretched lately—or if travel bookings are increasing month over month—it might be time to rethink your approach.
When Should You Consider a Travel Management Company?
Here are signs it might be time to move beyond the in-house model:
- You’re handling 10+ bookings a week (flights, hotels, cabs)
- Your team is spending too much time on travel coordination
- You’re losing money due to missed deals or non-refundable bookings
- Your finance team is chasing vendors for invoices or GST compliance
- Employees are frustrated with delays, errors, or last-minute changes
If any of these sound familiar, you don’t have to panic—but you should consider a blended or outsourced model.
Blended Model: Best of Both Worlds
Here’s what many HR teams are doing now:
Keep the policy, hand over the logistics.
You stay in charge of:
- Defining travel policies
- Approving requests
- Communicating with employees
While your travel partner like CoTrav, manages:
- Booking & vendor coordination
- Emergency support
- Invoice management
- Real-time dashboards
- GST-compliant billing
- Automated reports for finance
This approach reduces your workload while giving you the insights and control you still need.
Need a Partner That Understands HR?
If you’re looking for a travel partner who understands your challenges and works like an extension of your HR team, CoTrav might be worth exploring.
We help HR teams:
- Manage end-to-end travel in one place
- Get GST-compliant invoices
- Access 24×7 support
- Save time, cost, and effort—without losing control
Want to learn more? Let’s connect.
Because simplifying travel means you can get back to what you do best: managing people, not tickets.
Conclusion
Managing travel in-house offers control—but often at the cost of time, accuracy, and focus. As travel needs grow, so do the challenges.
With 32% of companies still relying on internal teams and many facing issues like booking changes and cost tracking, it’s clear: the pressure is real.
If your current setup is slowing you down or impacting employee experience, consider shifting to a smarter, scalable model.
Whether that’s outsourcing or blending support with a travel partner like CoTrav, the goal remains the same—to simplify travel so you can focus on what you do best: managing people, not logistics.
Let your travel process grow with your business.
