Travel desk

A dedicated service (in-house or via a TMC) that helps employees arrange trips and resolve issues on the road. It acts as a point of contact for questions the self-service tool can't answer — complex itineraries, urgent changes or unexpected disruptions. Larger companies may run their own in-house travel desk, while others rely on their TMC's support team.

A travel desk typically handles requests such as booking complex multi-city routes, arranging group travel for conferences, finding alternatives when flights are cancelled, extending hotel stays or changing return dates. It may also assist with special service requests and urgent bookings outside office hours. For employees, the travel desk is the human safety net behind the booking tool — the people to call when something does not go to plan.

An in-house travel desk gives the company full control and deep knowledge of its travellers, but it requires dedicated staff and is difficult to run 24/7. Outsourcing the travel desk to a TMC or platform provider offers round-the-clock coverage and experience with a wide range of situations, while the company's own travel team focuses on policy and budgets. Response time is one of the most important quality indicators for any travel desk. Clear escalation rules and a single point of contact help employees know exactly where to turn in any situation.

Tumodo provides this service as part of its platform. The 24/7 support team helps with bookings, changes and unexpected situations before, during and after the trip — for example, quickly finding and rebooking a new flight when the original one is postponed. Clients also get a dedicated account manager for setup, integrations and ongoing questions, so the company does not need to build and staff a travel desk of its own.