Corporate Travel for SMEs in India: Setting Up a Managed Program Without a Travel Desk

Most small companies never decide to run an unmanaged travel programme. It just happens. The founder books flights on a personal card, the sales team uses three different apps, and finance only sees the full bill at quarter-end, buried in a pile of reimbursement claims.

You don't need a dedicated travel desk to fix this. Effective corporate travel management for an SME comes down to five things: a short policy, one person who owns travel, a single booking channel, a clean payment and approval process, and reliable support when trips go wrong. This guide shows how to set up each one, step by step.

Why SMEs Can't Leave Travel to Chance

Smaller firms travel more than people assume. A 2025 Euromonitor report commissioned by Navan found that businesses with 1 to 200 employees made up 26.1% of the business travel market in 2024 and are expected to grow faster than any other segment through 2029, at 7.1% a year. The same research notes that SMEs have one of the highest travel frequencies per employee.

Yet most spending still sits outside any managed system. Euromonitor found only 35% of global business travel spend is booked through a travel management company. India-specific data tells a similar story: in a 2025 GBTA and Visa study, 30% of organisations reported using no corporate payment method for travel within India.

The market itself keeps growing. GBTA's 2026 index puts India eighth globally, with business travel spending of about $46.9 billion. For a small business, that growth usually shows up as rising fares and hotel rates, which makes unchecked spending harder to absorb.

Setting Up a Managed Programme in Five Steps

You do not need a full travel desk to bring structure to business travel. These five steps can help an SME build a simple managed programme with clear ownership, better control, and less administrative work.

Step 1: Write a One-Page Travel Policy

Skip the 20-page handbook. A single page that people actually read works better. Cover:

• Who can travel and who approves trips
• Cabin class rules for domestic and international flights
• Hotel budget bands by city tier
• Advance booking expectations, such as booking flights at least a week out where possible
• What gets reimbursed and what doesn't

Step 2: Give Travel One Owner

Without a travel desk, someone still needs to own the process. In SMEs, this is often an office manager, an executive assistant, or someone in finance. In our experience, the role works well part-time once booking is consolidated. The owner's job is approvals, supplier queries, and a monthly spend review, not making every booking themselves.

Step 3: Consolidate Bookings Into One Channel

This is where most of the control comes from. Pick one route for all business travel and make it the default. Your realistic options are:

1. Self-booking on consumer apps. Cheap to start, but data stays scattered, and there's no one to call at midnight.
2. A corporate travel management system. Software gives you policy controls and reports, though your team still handles disruptions.
3. A managed travel partner. A TMC books, supports, and reports for you, which suits teams without in-house travel staff.

Even consolidated programmes leak. Euromonitor found that around 10% of bookings still happen outside approved channels at companies that use a TMC. Make the approved channel the easiest option, not just the mandatory one.

Step 4: Fix Payments and Approvals

Personal cards and reimbursements create delays and blind spots. Move to company-paid bookings with consolidated invoicing wherever you can. Then keep approvals light:

• Pre-approve routine domestic trips within policy
• Require manager sign-off only for international or out-of-policy travel
• Review a monthly spend summary instead of individual receipts

Amy Butte, CFO at Navan, noted in the Euromonitor release that CFOs are "looking to simplify cost management." For an SME, simpler often means fewer payment methods and fewer manual steps.

Step 5: Plan for Disruption

A cancelled flight or an unsafe late-night cab is where unmanaged travel hurts most. Decide in advance who travellers call, how you'll know where people are, and what extra steps apply to employees travelling alone at night. Good corporate travel planning answers these questions before anyone needs them.

Software, a Partner, or Both?

There's no single right answer, but here's a practical way to decide.

Many growing SMEs end up combining the last two. The software handles routine bookings while a partner covers complex trips and emergencies.

Where SKIL Travel Fits

SKIL Travel is a Mumbai-based travel management company that, according to its website, provides tailored solutions for businesses of all sizes. It reports a 20+ year legacy, more than 1.5 million bookings executed, 350+ corporate clients, and coverage across 100+ countries.

Its services cover most of what an SME without a travel desk needs: air ticketing, global accommodations, visa assistance, corporate cabs through Cabi by SKIL, and MICE and events through SKIL Events, supported by a 24/7 team. One client testimonial on its site describes starting with a three-month trial on senior management bookings before making SKIL its official travel agency. For an SME testing business travel management for the first time, a pilot like that is a sensible way to start with any provider.

A 30-Day Rollout Plan

Here's a timeline we'd suggest for a small team. Adjust it to your size.

1. Week 1: Pull six months of travel expenses and identify your most frequent routes and cities.
2. Week 2: Draft the one-page policy and name your travel owner.
3. Week 3: Choose your booking channel and set up company billing.
4. Week 4: Brief employees, share the support contact, and run the first monthly review.

Final Thoughts

A managed travel programme does not need a dedicated travel desk or complicated processes. SMEs can start with a clear policy, one travel owner, a single booking channel, and simple payment and approval rules. As travel volume grows, a partner such as SKIL Travel can provide the booking support, reporting, ground transport, and traveller assistance needed to manage the programme more efficiently.