Proving TMC Value in an Era of Budget Scrutiny and Market Uncertainty
Corporate travel budgets are under newfound pressure in 2025. Recent global trade and policy shifts including the implementation of tariffs and new cross-border policies and entry restrictions are fueling high levels of uncertainty, which in turn is diminishing the corporate travel outlook.
Recent GBTA data shows only 31% of global industry professionals remain optimistic about the overall industry outlook compared to 67% in November.
To navigate this dramatic shift from growth expectations to contraction requires not just different tools, but a fundamentally different approach to travel management.
At Grasp, we've designed our technology solutions specifically to uncover value in uncertain times—enabling our partners to transform data visibility into tangible savings, policy compliance into competitive advantage, and payment controls into strategic assets.
Grasp’s solutions address these challenges through four powerful capabilities:
Data Consolidation & Visibility
Fragmented travel data creates costly blind spots. Grasp's consolidation capability brings all spending information together, revealing savings opportunities hidden in siloed systems.
Compliance Monitoring
As companies tighten travel policies amid economic uncertainty and new tariffs, automated compliance tracking becomes essential. Grasp enables TMCs and travel managers to measure policy adherence and calculate the financial impact of exceptions. This transforms policy discussions into data-driven conversations about concrete savings – particularly valuable when 54% of industry professionals cite "higher costs" as their primary concern.
Supplier Negotiation Intelligence
With a third of buyers now expecting 20% spending reductions, TMCs need leverage in supplier negotiations. Grasp provides detailed insights into travel patterns and vendor usage, enabling TMCs to secure better rates based on actual data rather than forecasts.
Enhanced Financial Control
In today's cost-conscious environment, payment methods have become critical control points. Grasp's virtual payment platform gives travel managers unprecedented control through single-use virtual cards with precise trip-specific limits. Those spending limits help enforce policy at purchase. Virtual cards include time-based controls preventing unauthorized charges and come equipped with merchant category restrictions for approved vendors only – to ensure your travels are booking approved properties only, for example.
TMCs implementing virtual payment solutions like graspPAY can significantly reduce out-of-policy spending – the difference between maintaining viable travel programs and facing budget elimination.
Becoming an Indispensable Partner
Against this backdrop of uncertainty—driven by economic concerns, new tariffs, and cross-border policy changes—TMCs face a pivotal moment to redefine their value proposition.
The most successful TMCs now position themselves as strategic financial partners, not just booking agents. With the industry shifting from growth to contraction within months, TMCs must deliver meaningful cost savings and financial insights to prove their value.
With the right solutions, TMCs can not only survive this difficult period but emerge as indispensable partners in their clients' financial success and business continuity strategies.
“The most successful TMCs are responding by transforming themselves from booking agents into strategic financial partners through advanced data analytics and spend optimization—precisely when companies need this expertise most.”
– Chris Wilson, CEO, Grasp
