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Breaking Down Workforce Travel: What Makes Crew Travel So Unique

Aug 21, 2025

Corporate travel and crew travel. Ever wonder what the distinction is between the two?

When most people think of business travel, they imagine corporate trips for sales meetings, conferences, or team-building retreats. But while corporate travel is critical for growth and relationship building, it’s only part of the bigger picture.

For industries like construction, energy, utilities, and transportation, there’s another form of business travel that keeps projects moving: crew travel.

Workforce travel is about more than flights and hotel rooms. It’s about safely and efficiently moving large groups of skilled tradespeople to remote worksites for extended stays. And that requires an entirely different approach to travel management.

At a Glance: What is Corporate Travel?

Corporate travel typically involves individual employees or small teams travelling to urban centers for short-term business needs such as:

Sales meetings and client presentations
Conferences and networking events
Training programs or internal off-sites

Because these trips are usually solo or in small groups, accommodations are easy to find, transportation is straightforward, and expenses are billed to a central corporate travel budget.

DEMOGRAPHIC CRITERIA	CORPORATE TRAVEL	CREW TRAVEL
Travel Personnel	Corporate employee	Workforce crews, tradespeople
Travel Purpose	Meetings, conferences, networking events	Work on projects where daily commutes are unrealistic
Number of Travellers	1-2 people	5-50 people
Travel Location	Major urban areas	Secondary/tertiary markets
Length of Stay	1-2 nights	5-45 nights, often with days on/off
Travel Frequency	1-5 days per month	15-20 days per month
Accommodations	General hotel amenities	Crew-specific amenities
Oversight	Less flexibility, but greater financial visibility	Greater flexibility, but less financial visibility

2. Remote Locations & Limited Supply

Crews often work in regions without established hotel infrastructure, which means finding properties with enough capacity — and the right amenities — is a challenge.

3. Extended Stay Accommodations

Workers need lodging with kitchenettes, laundry, quiet hours, and truck parking. Flexible booking options are essential to accommodate rotating shifts and longer project timelines.

4. Complex Expense Tracking

With multiple teams, contractors, and rotating schedules, expense management becomes much harder. Without a central system, companies risk losing visibility into travel spend.

3. Negotiate the Best Rates

Save hours of manual searching with pre-negotiated supplier agreements
Ensure fair, cost-effective rates for long-term stays

4. Search by Crew-Specific Amenities

Filter properties by quiet hours, truck parking, or shared-room flexibility
Match crews with the accommodations they actually need

5. Simplify Invoicing & Reporting

Consolidate expenses into one invoice
Gain real-time visibility into travel costs with detailed reporting

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Simplify Corporate & Project Team Travel in One Platform

Sep 8, 2025

From crew lists to complex reservations, LodgeLink helps you manage business travel and project accommodations efficiently, cost-effectively, and stress-free.