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What Is Corporate Travel Management?

Things to consider in corporate travel management, options for corporate travel management.

• Challenges of Corporate Travel Management

Tips for Creating a Corporate Travel Management Policy

Budgeting and reducing costs for corporate travel, the bottom line.

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A Complete Guide to Corporate Travel Management

Organize Your Employees’ Travel Itineraries and Manage Business Travel Efficiently

Investopedia / Joules Garcia

Travel is a major expense item for many companies, and while teleconferencing via Zoom and other online platforms may have eliminated the need for some trips, it remains essential for a wide range of business purposes, such as industry conferences and trade shows, critical sales calls, and certain meetings.

Corporate travel management (CTM) is one way that companies large and small can attempt to control and cut down on their travel costs. If you’re considering implementing a corporate travel management program for your business, here is what you need to know about how it works.

Key Takeaways

• Corporate travel management is a way for companies to try to control their travel costs and cut back on them if necessary.
• Some companies handle this function themselves, while others outsource it to specialist companies.
• Corporate travel managers can be involved in setting itineraries, booking flights and hotel rooms, and managing other travel-related costs.
• Today, many companies are concerned with not only the financial costs of employee travel but also its environmental impact.

Corporate travel management refers to processes that businesses put into place to oversee their employees’ travel and entertainment (T&E) expenses and ensure that they comply with the company’s policies. That can include approving (or rejecting) travel plans, arranging itineraries, purchasing tickets, and auditing expense reports.

A large company might have a separate department dedicated to corporate travel management, while a smaller one may assign the tasks to their human resources and accounting departments. Still others may outsource these functions to third-party travel management companies.

While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant cutbacks in business travel, an October 2023 survey by the Global Business Travel Association found that 84% of companies said their business travel had “largely” or “mostly” returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Companies can choose to exert varying degrees of control over their employees’ travel, from fairly general guidelines on spending limits to very specific, step-by-step procedures, including which travel suppliers to use. Here are some of the matters they may take into consideration.

Itineraries

A business travel itinerary is a summary of a proposed trip, including travel dates and times, flight numbers, hotel bookings, meeting appointments and contact information, and so forth. Corporate travel managers may develop itineraries in collaboration with employees, making sure that each aspect complies with company policies. A written itinerary is also a handy reference for employees to bring with them on their trips.

Transportation

Corporate travel managers will often make transportation arrangements on behalf of employees, much like a travel agent might for someone’s personal vacation. Because they may control a high volume of business, they can have more leverage in negotiating with suppliers, such as airlines or rental car companies. They may also have special arrangements with certain suppliers, and the company might require its employees to use those suppliers whenever possible.

Even if they don’t have such arrangements in place or much power to negotiate prices, they may have tools at their disposal for searching out deals and discounts that individual employees don’t have. For example, they may have access to an online global distribution system (GDS), such as Amadeus, Sabre, or Travelport, allowing them to compare multiple carriers at the same time.

Accommodations

As with transportation providers, corporate travel managers can help arrange hotel bookings, often securing discounts that would be unavailable to employees individually. Hotel prices and availability are also provided on GDS platforms, which can save employees a lot of time and effort calling around to book a room.

Meetings and Events

For companies planning meetings and other events, corporate travel managers can book venues and assist attendees with their travel arrangements. Some companies may have separate travel management and event planning departments or merge the two into a single department. They can also farm out these functions to third-party companies that specialize in arranging events and have deep experience and contacts in that area.

Costs and Reporting

Since keeping costs under control is a major reason for implementing a corporate travel management program, setting spending policies and enforcing them is one of the managers’ key responsibilities. Employees must generally submit expense reports at the conclusion of their travel, which travel managers can then review.

Keeping accurate records, and receipts where necessary, is also important for tax reporting purposes. Companies can generally deduct employees’ travel expenses if they have a clear business purpose and are “ordinary and necessary” and not “lavish or extravagant.”

In many cases, companies will provide corporate credit cards for employees to use during their travels. Corporate credit cards can make it easier for companies to collect the information they need for reporting purposes, and spare employees the cost and bother of putting travel expenses on their own credit cards and having to wait for reimbursement.

Policy Compliance

Most companies of any size will have a written travel policy that they expect their employees who travel for business to become familiar with. This document will cover matters such as any required approval process before starting on a trip, spending limits, preferred travel suppliers, expenses that are reimbursable (or not), rules on the use of a corporate credit card, and how to fill out and submit an expense report at the conclusion of a trip. Written travel policies serve the dual purpose of controlling company costs and saving employees unwelcome surprises over expenses that the company won’t reimburse them for.

Beyond specific travel-related policies, corporate travel can be affected by broader company policies. For example, a 2023 Deloitte study reported, “Climate concerns will likely put a cap on corporate travel gains for several years to come. Four in 10 European companies and a third of U.S. companies say they need to reduce travel per employee by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets.”

Travel Support and Assistance

In addition to helping employees with the logistical and financial aspects of travel, corporate travel managers can provide other forms of support, including help in a medical or other emergency. Many large corporate travel departments and third-party companies have support services available 24/7, just in case.

As mentioned, companies don’t have to take on all (or any) of these responsibilities themselves but can hire another company to handle it for them. While that represents an added cost, a company that specializes in corporate travel is likely to bring greater expertise to the role and may find cost savings that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Companies can also buy travel management software programs that allow employees to book their own travel arrangements and that may link to the company’s accounting software to simplify expense reporting. Such software can also flag and even reject any expenses that don’t comply with company rules.

If they don’t have access to professional GDS platforms, travel managers can also make use of regular consumer booking sites, such as Expedia and TripAdvisor.

Challenges of Corporate Travel Management 

While corporate travel management will often benefit a company from a financial perspective, it does present challenges.

For example, because it takes away some of the autonomy that employees may have become accustomed to in planning their own trips, it can cause them to feel mistrusted or micromanaged and make travel seem like more of a burden. In addition, for corporate travel management to be effective, it requires that the people who oversee it know what they’re doing, which may require not only training but also frequent refresher courses to keep up with the rapidly changing travel industry.

A good corporate travel management policy will lay out as specifically as possible the company’s rules for arranging flights and other transportation, booking hotel accommodations, and expensing other reimbursable travel-related costs, such as meals and entertaining. Any caps on costs should be regularly revisited and revised as necessary to keep up with inflation and changes in the marketplace.

The policy should describe a clear process for having travel approved in advance, if that’s required, and submitting expense reports after the trip for timely reimbursement.

An effective policy will also strive to avoid situations in which lower-level employees feel they are subject to stricter or more penny-pinching rules than higher-ups.

Finally, it’s important that employees be encouraged to read the policy and know the rules. They may also be given the opportunity to provide feedback on ways that the rules can be improved next time the policy is revised.

Corporate travel managers not only play a role in monitoring how a company’s money is being spent and looking for ways to cut its costs. They also often have a major say in setting the company’s annual travel budget, based on previous years’ needs and anticipated pricing changes throughout the travel industry.

Today that may involve weighing in on when a virtual meeting can substitute for an in-person one. A 2023 Morgan Stanley survey of 100 global corporate travel managers found that they planned to replace 17% of their corporate travel with virtual meetings in 2024 for reasons “ranging from cost savings to lower carbon footprints.”   

Why Is Corporate Travel Important?

While many companies learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that they could sometimes substitute virtual meetings for in-person ones, they have also found that travel can more than justify its cost in many instances . As Harvard Business School Associate Professor Prithwiraj Choudhury remarked in a recent interview on the university’s website, “Even in a hybrid world, even in a world of work-from-anywhere, we still need to occasionally meet colleagues in person for social purposes.” In addition, face-to-face meetings can help establish more profitable and productive relationships with a company’s key customers and suppliers.

Who Handles Corporate Travel?

Companies handle corporate travel in a variety of ways. Many have created internal departments dedicated to corporate travel management, while others outsource that role. However, many companies still leave most of the decisions to individual employees. One 2023 survey by Morning Consult Research Intelligence reported, “Over half (51%) of those who travel frequently for work book on their own using a platform of their choice.”

What Does Corporate Travel Include?

Corporate travel can include both domestic and international trips that have a business purpose. It generally doesn’t include employees’ everyday commuting. Commuting costs are not tax-deductible for employees, but companies can choose to subsidize them up to certain limits through what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calls qualified transportation benefits. Those benefits are not taxable to the employee, but the employer doesn’t get any tax deduction for providing them.

Corporate travel is expensive, but many companies find that its benefits outweigh the costs. Corporate travel management is one way that companies can try to keep those costs under control and get the most value from their travel budgets. While many companies have embraced corporate travel management programs, others still leave most decisions to their individual employees.

Global Business Travel Association. “ Global Business Travel Industry Sees Rebound in 2023 with Shifting Challenges and Opportunities for 2024 .”

American Express. “ What Is Corporate Travel Management and Why Do You Need It? ”

Internal Revenue Service. “ Topic No. 511, Business Travel Expenses .”

Deloitte. “ Navigating Toward a New Normal: 2023 Deloitte Corporate Travel Study .”

Oracle NetSuite. “ What Is Corporate Travel Management? ”

Morgan Stanley. “ 2023 Outlook: Business Travel Bounces Back .”

Harvard Business School. “ Why Business Travel Still Matters in a Zoom World .”

Morning Consult Research Intelligence. “ Business, but Not as Usual ,” Page 18.

Internal Revenue Service. “ Publication 15-B: Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits ,” Page 22.

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The 2024 Guide to Corporate Travel Management

Did you know that the  global business travel market  is projected to hit a staggering $829.5 billion by 2027, growing steadily at a rate of 3% over seven years? It's a massive industry that underpins the operations of countless companies worldwide. 

Yet, despite its importance, corporate travel management often feels like a never-ending administrative headache. Managing it can be overwhelming and time-consuming, from booking flights and arranging accommodations to tracking expenses and ensuring employee safety. 

However, it doesn't have to be this way. 

Business travel has the potential to be a strategic tool for growth, fostering collaboration, and boosting morale among employees. So, what's causing the disconnect? And, more importantly, how can you bridge this gap? 

In this post, we'll delve into the biggest pain points of corporate travel management and offer practical solutions and insightful tips to address them effectively. By exploring streamlined processes, leveraging the right  business travel solutions , and prioritizing both efficiency and employee experience, we'll show you how to transform your travel program from a chaotic scramble into a well-oiled engine of success. 

What is Corporate Travel Management?

Corporate travel management involves overseeing and organizing employees' travel and entertainment expenses to ensure adherence to the company's policies. It includes  business travel planning , such as organizing itineraries, buying tickets, and checking expense reports. 

Larger companies often have dedicated departments for this, whereas smaller businesses might rely on their human resources and accounting teams. Some companies choose to outsource these responsibilities to specialized travel management companies. 

Core Elements of Corporate Travel Management

The core elements of corporate travel management revolve around processes and policies designed to streamline and oversee all aspects of business travel. These elements ensure that travel is cost-effective, efficient, and aligned with the company's objectives and policies. 

Let's take a closer look at these key components: 

• Policy Development and Compliance:  Establish clear, comprehensive travel policies that define allowable expenses, preferred vendors, booking procedures, and compliance measures. These policies help set expectations and guide employee behavior during business travel. 
• Travel Approval Process:  Implement a system for approving travel requests to ensure trips are necessary, budgeted, and aligned with business goals. This process often involves multiple levels of approval, depending on the purpose of the travel and cost. 
• Booking and Reservation Management:  Centralize or streamline the booking of flights, hotels, car rentals, and other travel services. This can involve in-house resources, corporate travel agencies, or specialized travel management software to secure the best rates and ensure policy compliance. 
• Expense Management and Reimbursement:  Create a system for tracking, submitting, and reimbursing travel expenses. Use expense report software to simplify the submission process, ensure accuracy, and maintain records for auditing purposes. 
• Risk Management and Duty of Care:  Ensure the safety and security of traveling employees by assessing travel risks, providing travelers with information and support, and having plans for emergencies. Monitor global events and implement safety protocols. 
• Data Analysis and Reporting:  Collect and analyze travel data to monitor spending, identify trends, and uncover opportunities for cost savings. Reporting helps companies understand travel patterns, negotiate better rates with vendors, and improve travel policies. 
• Vendor Negotiations and Relationships:  Establish and maintain relationships with preferred travel service providers, such as airlines, hotels, car rental companies, and travel agencies, to secure competitive rates, special discounts, and favorable terms. 
• Technology Integration:  Utilize corporate travel technology for booking, expense reporting, policy compliance, and traveler safety. This technology solutions can automate many aspects of travel management, improving efficiency, and user experience. 
• Traveler Support and Communication:  Support employees before, during, and after their trips, including travel advisories, 24/7 emergency assistance, and feedback mechanisms to improve the travel program.   

What are the Benefits of a Corporate Travel Policy?

A well-defined corporate travel policy is essential for managing business travel effectively. It ensures travel expense management, compliance, efficiency, employee travel management, and satisfaction, ultimately contributing to a successful travel program.  

Here are some benefits of having a corporate travel policy: 

For Businesses:

• Cost Control:  Establishes clear spending limits and preferred vendors, leading to cost savings and budget predictability. 
• Compliance:  Ensures adherence to internal policies and external regulations, mitigating legal risks. 
• Efficiency:  Streamlines travel booking and expense management processes, saving time and resources. 
• Ensure Duty of Care and Traveler Safety:  Promotes employee safety and well-being through travel guidelines and emergency protocols. 
• Traveler Satisfaction:  Provides clear expectations and support, fostering a positive travel experience for employees.  

For Employees:

• Clarity and Guidance:  Understands company expectations and procedures for travel arrangements and expenses. 
• Budget Awareness:  Makes informed decisions about travel choices within allocated budgets. 
• Peace of Mind:  Feels supported and secure, knowing they comply with company policies and have access to resources in case of issues. 
• Efficiency:  Benefits from streamlined booking processes and clear expense reporting procedures. 

Developing a Corporate Travel Policy: Tips and Best Practices

When developing a corporate travel policy, follow these tips and best practices: 

• Be Specific:  Provide concrete guidelines for booking flights, hotels, meals, and entertainment expenses. 
• Streamline Approval and Reimbursement:  Implement a transparent process for travel approval and expense report submission. 
• Be Equal and Fair:  Maintain consistent guidelines to foster equity and trust across all levels. 
• Remember Employee Engagement:  Promote awareness through training sessions and encourage feedback during revisions. 
• Ensure Safety:  Include safety protocols and emergency contact information in the policy. 
• Focus on Sustainability:  Encourage eco-friendly travel options. 
• Embrace Technology:  Integrate travel booking and expense management software for a seamless experience.  

Regularly review and update the policy to reflect changing needs and industry trends. 

6 Common Challenges in Corporate Travel Management

Corporate travel presents ongoing challenges for many businesses, from handling numerous requests to controlling expenses. Even with processes seemingly managed, the time and effort invested in what should be straightforward tasks can be substantial. 

It's common to encounter the following issues: 

• Handling Numerous Requests:  Typically, someone is tasked with overseeing travel arrangements. It could be a dedicated travel manager or administrative team. The challenge arises with the volume of requests from various departments in the company, often communicated through different channels like email, Slack, or in-person visits, creating a disorganized and time-consuming workflow. 
• Tracking Approvals:  Ensuring travel is approved by the appropriate personnel adds layers to the process. Travel management systems can streamline approvals by electronically notifying and collecting consent from managers, simplifying the process. 
• Controlling Costs:  Travel is essential for business growth, so managing expenses becomes crucial. Often, companies overspend by not accessing lower-cost options, opting for business-class accommodations, and bookings through travel agents. Exploring more cost-effective avenues, like discount websites, can help manage budgets more efficiently. 
• Empowering Employees to Book Travel:  Allowing employees to book their travel can reduce administrative burdens and increase satisfaction by giving them choices and control over their itineraries. 
• Flexibility:  Balancing control with freedom is key. Offering a broad range of travel options without strict restrictions can save money and keep employees happy by providing more choices. 
• Minimizing Errors:  Travel bookings and expense reporting mistakes can be time-consuming and costly. Ensuring clear approval trails, keeping meticulous records, and using collaborative tools can help reduce these errors and the logistical nightmare they cause. 

Overcome Corporate Travel Management Challenges with Technology

Corporate travel presents ongoing challenges for many businesses, from handling numerous requests to controlling costs and minimizing errors. However, technology solutions can help overcome these challenges by streamlining travel arrangements, managing expenses, saving time, and reducing errors.  

Corporate travel management software helps businesses streamline their travel processes. It can: 

• Streamline travel arrangements:  Corporate travel management software can help employees book, manage, and track trips without contacting specialists. 
• Manage travel expenses:  It allows businesses to manage travel-related expenses while following corporate travel policies. 
• Save time:  Offers a centralized platform that allows employees to make reservations, track itineraries, and submit expenses more quickly. 
• Reduce errors:  A centralized platform can help reduce the chances of manual errors and ensure a more efficient workflow. 
• Consolidate vendors:  It can help consolidate travel invoices and vendors in one place. 
• Plan, track, and analyze trips:  Corporate travel management solutions can help automate corporate travel policies and help businesses plan, track, and analyze business trips. 
• Provide travel inventory, policy, and reporting:  It provides robust travel inventory, policy, and reporting. 

How to Reduce Corporate Travel Costs?

Reducing business travel costs may seem challenging, especially with  corporate travel expenses  expected to rise in 2024.  

In addition to having a formal corporate travel program and leveraging corporate travel management software, follow these tips to reduce corporate travel costs further: 

• Review your travel policy to ensure it covers key cost areas like approvals, bookings, and expenses. Clear guidelines help travelers make cost-effective choices. 
• Implement a pre-trip approval process so no bookings are made without sign-off, avoiding cancellation fees. Online tools allow monitoring of bookings. 
• Encourage flight flexibility—be open to varied dates, airlines, and economy class. Use alerts for deals and AI tools to rebook at lower fares automatically. 
• Set hotel budget thresholds or star ratings. Leverage peer reviews to find good-value hotels. Negotiate discounts for frequent stays. Use price optimization tools to rebook at lower rates automatically. 
• Consider allowing " bleisure " (business + leisure) trips, which offer flexibility and can reduce costs through extended stays. 
• Consolidate trips to the same region to maximize efficiency and reduce emissions. Batching trips lower costs through shared flights and ground transportation. 
• Understand additional ancillary fees, like Wi-Fi, parking, etc. Bundled packages help forecast and control these expenses. 
• Boost productivity with apps that sync schedules and provide real-time updates. Smoother travel means employees work more and organize less. 
• Partner with a travel management company to access preferential rates, on-site deals, and consolidated expense/trip data for cost control. 
• Incentivize employees to choose cost-saving options by rewarding them for good decisions. Also, utilize business reward programs for free points on bookings. 

Streamline Your Business Travel

Managing corporate travel is vital for business success. By adopting clear policies, using technology wisely, and following best practices, you can overcome challenges, control expenses, and ensure smooth travels for your team. 

Take action now to enhance your corporate travel program. Whether refining existing policies or starting fresh, focusing on efficiency and employee satisfaction can result in better outcomes. 

With the right approach, your travel program can boost growth and collaboration. So, start implementing these tips today and watch your corporate travel program take flight. 

Next, we share our  business travel checklist  for essential tips and tools to streamline your travel processes.

John Hunter

John is the Senior Manager of Event Cloud Content Marketing at Cvent. He has 11 years of experience writing about the meetings and events industry. John also has extensive copywriting experience across diverse industries, including broadcast television, retail advertising, associations, higher education, and corporate PR.

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The ultimate guide to corporate travel management

Published: April 9, 2024

The days of businesses operating and growing within a small city radius are long gone. In today’s fast-paced and tech-savvy business world, companies have easy access to global talent and clientele.

As such, transporting stakeholders long distances is standard practice. Recent forecasts project that there will be more than 470 million domestic business trips taken in the US alone in 2024.

While corporate travel is a necessary part of operating a modern business, it can also be logistically difficult and costly to manage—especially as your business scales. This article will help cover what you need to know to improve your corporate travel management operations.

What is corporate travel management?

Corporate travel management is the process of coordinating, analyzing, and managing a company's business travel needs.

Effective corporate travel management is crucial for keeping business trips organized and efficient, ensuring that travel arrangements align with the company’s policies, helping to enhance the safety and comfort of travelers, and adhering to budgets.

What does a corporate travel manager do?

Craft and implement comprehensive corporate travel policies.

Corporate travel managers develop detailed travel policies that align with the company's unique goals and needs.

For example, a travel manager would establish policies for:

Booking procedures. Define processes for booking rides, flights, and hotels.

Travel class guidelines. Set standards for business or economy class based on distance, duration, or employee level.

Accommodation standards. Specify the type, budget, and class of accommodations allowed (for instance, hotels or home rentals).

Expense reporting and reimbursement. Set limits on daily allowances for meals and incidentals, and establish procedures for tracking and submitting travel expenses.

Technology use. Implement travel management software or apps to simplify travel arrangements, data analysis, and reporting.

Orchestrate seamless experiences

Corporate travel managers oversee the coordination and execution of business travel plans for employees. They either directly arrange all aspects of travel themselves, manage an internal team of travel coordinators, or work with third-party travel agents.

Today it’s also essential to adopt corporate travel apps , as they assist managers with streamlining travel plans across their organization. A corporate travel app helps with the following:

Automated expense tracking. Eliminates the need to save hard copies of receipts by automatically adding to the system the trips and meals to be expensed.

Centralized control from a dashboard. Provides complete visibility into travel policies, procedures, expenses, budgets, and plans.

Real-time reporting and tracking. Offers a comprehensive look into customized travel programs with real-time updates for travel, meals, incidentals, and more.

Simplified travel management. Includes flexible and customizable limits for booking rides, buying food, and processing payments (such as charging to a personal card for reimbursement or to a business card).

Control the budget for optimal financial outcomes

Travel managers navigate the line between providing comfortable travel experiences for employees and sticking to the business’s travel budget.

To do this, managers research cost-saving opportunities, identify the most cost-effective times to travel, and negotiate discounts with travel vendors.

A travel manager might, for instance, identify and book off-peak flights for a team attending an international conference. They could also track rideshare prices to find optimal travel times and book hotel rooms with corporate discounts.

Analyze data to inform future travel policies

Corporate travel managers are also responsible for monitoring travel data. Keeping a close eye on travel analytics helps with:

Tracking expenses. Examining corporate travel expenses reveals spending patterns and shows where the company can reduce costs.

Identifying travel patterns. Historical travel data helps managers find patterns and trends, which helps with forecasting future travel needs and preferences.

Benchmarking against industry standards. Travel managers compare their company’s travel spending and policies against industry benchmarks to better understand performance.

Analyzing supplier performance. Evaluating data about suppliers can uncover their reliability, service quality, and value.

Managers capture this data with feedback surveys from employees, travel industry reports, travel management software, and third-party travel platforms.

Prioritize duty of care for employee well-being

Corporate travel managers work closely with HR managers to develop duty-of-care protocols for their employees.

Duty of care in corporate travel includes:

Ensuring the health of employees. Maintaining the well-being and health of traveling employees and making sure they have access to necessary healthcare and support.

Providing for basic needs. Arranging for essential amenities like quality food and beverages, and comfortable accommodations.

Protecting employees. Keeping travelers away from situations where they may experience harassment, stress, or discrimination.

Collaborate with industry partners

Corporate travel managers’ duties don’t start and stop with coordinating and managing business travel. They’re also responsible for building relationships with top industry partners and vendors.

This includes establishing discount and comfort agreements with airlines, negotiating deals with hotel chains, and selecting the best rideshare apps.

They also work closely with internal teams and senior management to ensure that travel strategies and contracts align with overall business goals.

For travel policy setters or managers

Oversee your travel program with the flexible rules and streamlined reporting you need, with Uber for Business.

Challenges within corporate travel management

Successfully managing corporate travel requires so much more than simply booking plane tickets and hotel rooms for employees. Below are some of the top challenges corporate travel managers face.

Cost-benefit analysis

In corporate travel management, this involves quantifying all costs associated with travel and weighing them against the benefits, such as networking opportunities, employee development, client relationships, and successful sales.

Imagine a scenario where a company is considering sending an employee to an international conference that costs $3,000 in total. The corporate manager would need to research the potential benefits (such as networking, business development, and employee growth) of spending that $3,000 and determine if it’s worth it.

Cost-benefit analysis can also be nuanced. Consider this data point, for example: 48% of business travelers say their last work trip was too long. If an employee can accomplish what they need to in 2 days of travel and a manager books a trip for 4 days, it results in 2 extra days of employee time and corporate travel budget.

Cost-benefit analysis, in this instance, would involve analyzing past data, including post-travel feedback surveys, to understand how long employees need to travel to accomplish goals while optimizing the travel budget.

Traveler satisfaction

Research shows that 60% of employees say business travel positively affects their satisfaction with their job. And Slack’s 2023 “State of Work” report found that most employees say feeling happy and engaged at work is a key motivator. What’s more, when employees are happy and productive, businesses thrive, according to The Economist .

The tricky part for travel managers is accommodating employees’ diverse travel needs and preferences within a corporate (not a luxury vacay) budget.

To keep employees happy and productive, travel managers must understand what satisfies employees while they travel and then develop a plan to deliver a positive experience while working within a corporate budget.

Adapting to changing business needs

Shifts in business priorities, such as targeting new international markets or altering strategic partnerships, directly affect travel requirements.

A shift toward more in-person client meetings, for example, can increase travel frequency. Corporate travel managers must adapt policies and budgets to align with evolving business needs.

And efficient corporate travel management requires monitoring shifting political, economic, and health climates worldwide and being ready to respond and adapt. Travel needs can change in an instant, and corporate travel managers must remain adaptable to adjust travel strategies as necessary.

Environmental sustainability

A 2023 Deloitte study reported that climate concerns will likely limit corporate travel growth in the coming years. Deloitte found that “4 in 10 European companies and a third of US companies say they need to reduce travel per employee by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets.”

This statistic highlights the growing pressure on corporate travel managers to devise travel strategies that meet the needs of a growing business while being efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible.

4 tips for managing business travel

Now that we’ve discussed some of the job responsibilities and top challenges of corporate travel managers, let’s cover the best tips for managing business travel.

1. Establish clear communication channels

When employees don’t know your travel policies and procedures, it’s impossible for them to comply.

In other words, they might not know how much they can spend at a corporate dinner, whether they should take a taxi or use a rideshare app, or what safety and security policies they need to follow when traveling for business.

Consider establishing a clear communication channel where every employee can access critical travel information. This could be a dedicated travel portal or intranet page, regular email updates, or travel management software that provides real-time communication.

2. Conduct regular training sessions

Another way to fine-tune communication and increase awareness about travel policies is by conducting regular training sessions.

Create a live or digital training course that covers the following:

• Travel policies: Review company-specific travel guidelines and booking procedures.
• Safety measures: Explain all protocols and emergency procedures for travel. Draw special attention to areas people may be visiting that are undergoing political or civil unrest.
• Changes in procedures: Provide updates on any new or altered travel-related processes. This is especially important during health crises.
• Duty-of-care responsibilities: Educate on and provide clear definitions of the company’s commitment to traveler safety and well-being.
• Per diem amounts: Outline the daily allowances for expenses while traveling. Include a definition of what is and isn’t allowed. For example, is alcohol part of a per diem or excluded from corporate expenses?
• Expense reporting: Give instructions on how to accurately report and submit travel expenses.

3. Adopt travel technology

When you’re managing travel for multiple employees across different offices, it’s challenging to educate everyone, track expenses, and ensure compliance with travel policies. To organize and streamline everything, you may consider a travel management system (TMS).

A TMS is a comprehensive travel platform that helps companies book, track, and report travel activities. It typically also provides real-time data and analytics, helping you monitor travel spending and optimize your travel strategies.

4. Evaluate and update travel procedures and policies

Any changes in technology, the world economy, political climates, global health status, and industry have a profound effect on business travel.

As such, it’s essential to establish a process for continually evaluating and updating travel procedures and policies.

This could include:

• Reviewing policies to make sure they’re relevant, cost-efficient, effective, and safe
• Surveying your employees to see how happy they are with your travel policies
• Evaluating your TMS data to identify where you can optimize travel, innovate, and improve processes

Move your business forward with Uber for Business

In today’s fast-paced business world, getting corporate travel right is more important than ever. Adapting to changes quickly and embracing new technologies are key to staying ahead in managing business trips effectively.

You may also consider leveraging Uber for Business , a game changer in managing your company’s travel needs. It simplifies the entire process of corporate travel management with features like automated expense tracking and centralized control, making it easier to stick to policies and budgets.

With Uber for Business, you’re not simply organizing travel. You’re also saving time and money while giving your team a smoother, more efficient travel experience. Learn how to get started .

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The dashboard

It all starts here - manage travel and meal programs with easy to set cost controls and more.

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Help your employees connect with your company’s Uber for Business account.

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Blog / Global Mobility / Guide to Managing Corporate Travel in 2023: Strategies & Tools

Global Mobility

Guide to managing corporate travel in 2023: strategies & tools.

Corporate travel is an essential facet of business growth. Companies worldwide invest significant resources to enhance business travel planning strategies and ensure efficient, safe, and economical employee journeys..

Let’s start with the good news: Corporate travel spending should return to 2019 levels by next year, according to the 2023 Deloitte corporate travel study. In fact, American and European companies expect to see even more spending going toward international travel than before the pandemic. Business travel brings together colleagues and industry peers, improving job satisfaction and progress, so all signs pointing towards more time spent together in person are positive.

However, the nature of business travel has changed alongside travelers’ expectations. For one, they expect booking business travel to be as easy as any other transaction on a mobile app. They’re not prioritized on the best price or deals when booking trips but on the best travel option that aligns with their schedule and loyalty preferences. They expect their business to offer a corporate travel solution that users love with none of the traditional pain points.

Business travelers today also want to get the most out of their trip, which leads to mixing business and leisure. Because they’re spending more time in a location, they want to maintain their healthy habits from home and be able to integrate work and play while in a new destination. Business travelers prefer serviced apartments in local neighborhoods rather than hotels in a central location.

Businesses are responding: According to Deloitte’s 2023 corporate travel study, global corporate travel policies incorporate non-hotel accommodations more than ever. Nearly half of companies today (45%) have non-hotel lodging in their corporate booking and travel tools, versus only 9% last year, and 57% of companies now have agreements with specific branded apartment/home rental providers, up from 23% in 2022.

And lastly, sustainability is a priority for business travelers and companies, leading to smarter travel strategies that connect people without hurting the planet.

Let’s dive into the best practices for managing corporate travel in 2024. Explore proven strategies, tools, and industry trends.

TL;DR 6 tips on how to manage corporate travel effectively

• Robust travel policy to streamline business travel
• Use an integrated travel and expense management tool  
• Incorporate sustainability practices into your travel strategies
• Offer a variety of flexible booking options 
• Encourage employees to use PTO  
• Leverage AI technology to anticipate traveler needs 

What is Corporate Travel Management?

Corporate travel management is the comprehensive organization and oversight of a company’s business travel needs, which involves streamlining travel bookings, creating and implementing travel policies, managing travel budgets, ensuring traveler safety, and optimizing the value derived from corporate travel. It’s a multi-faceted function that requires strategic planning, efficient execution, and constant evaluation.

Corporate travel management is full of challenges that can be overcome with the right strategies and tools.

Challenges of Corporate Travel Management

Let’s look at some of the common challenges associated with corporate travel, and then we’ll dive into how to anticipate and overcome them:

Managing Travel Budgets and Expenses

Imagine an agency with a large team of consultants who must travel regularly for client meetings. The expenses involved in such travel—flights, accommodation, meals, local transportation, car rentals, etc.—add up quickly. 

The travel manager in this situation needs to manage travel budgets and expenses while also providing a positive travel experience and ensuring that the travel results in value for the business. The challenge is compounded by the variability of costs in different locations, fluctuating exchange rates, and the need for last-minute travel changes.

Ensuring Traveler Safety and Risk Management

Companies with a global presence frequently ask employees to travel, sometimes requiring travel to potentially high-risk regions. Ensuring their safety and well-being must go beyond travel insurance to account for full duty of care, which involves risk assessments, pre-travel briefings, and a robust crisis plan.

As revealed by a GBTA survey, there still needs to be more policies related to female traveler safety. With increasing numbers of women traveling for work, companies must address issues such as late-night arrivals, accommodations in safe neighborhoods, and emergency support services. Addressing these needs can pose challenges, especially when dealing with different cultural norms and standards in various countries.

Ensuring Policy Compliance and Effective Communication

Implementing corporate travel policies effectively across a large or geographically diverse company can be daunting. For instance, a company might have strict guidelines regarding the class of travel allowed, preferred airlines, and approved hotel chains aimed at controlling costs and ensuring the safety and comfort of their employees.

However, it is a significant challenge to ensure that all employees are aware of these policies, understand them, and comply with them every time they travel. The company must establish effective communication channels to disseminate this information and ensure it is readily available.

Furthermore, it can be challenging to track compliance, especially if travel booking is decentralized or the company works with multiple travel agencies. In this case, the company should consider investing in modern travel management software to monitor compliance effectively.

Evaluating and Optimizing the Travel Program

Maintaining a high-performing corporate travel program is a continuous process that involves regular evaluation and optimization. 

A finance team can partner with travel management stakeholders to evaluate the travel program based on a wide range of data, such as travel expenses, traveler feedback, compliance rates, and performance metrics of travel service providers. Based on this analysis, the company might need to negotiate new contracts with airlines or hotels, revise its travel policies, or provide additional resources for traveler support.

Commonly Used Solutions for Booking Corporate Trips

Navigating the intricate domain of corporate travel demands an informed choice of booking solutions. This analysis dissects three prevalent strategies: 

External corporate travel management

In-house management

Traditional travel agents

Each presents a distinct blend of features, advantages, and potential impediments, requiring businesses to astutely weigh them against their specific travel needs, fiscal boundaries, and overarching objectives. Let's distill these solutions that underscore the indispensable role of technology in streamlining corporate travel, irrespective of the selected modus operandi.

1. External Corporate Travel Management

The decision to outsource travel management to external experts can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a company's travel program. External travel management companies are equipped to manage a multitude of responsibilities that ultimately save companies time, resources, and ensure an exceptional travel experience for employees.

Advantages of outsourcing travel management to external experts

The advantages of outsourcing travel management are manifold, but the real value lies in the integration of these key components within modern corporate travel management solutions :

Travel Policy Implementation: External experts craft well-defined travel policies, setting out clear guidelines for bookings, expenditures, and responsibilities, ensuring regulatory compliance and encouraging responsible employee behavior.

Unified Travel Booking and Expense Management: By employing centralized platforms for booking and expense management, these external entities ensure seamless, streamlined operations, alleviating administrative burdens on the corporate travel manager and other internal teams.

Supplier Relationship Management: Leveraging their industry relationships, external corporate travel managers negotiate favorable rates with airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies, enhancing your travel inventory and yielding significant cost savings.

Traveler Safety and Security Measures: They shoulder the company’s duty of care by implementing effective travel risk management strategies, and provide access to travel assistance services, thus bolstering the safety and security of traveling employees.

Budgeting and Cost Control: These experts optimize travel expenses through strategic travel logistics , data analysis, and efficient tracking of expenses at the point of sale, offering a robust mechanism for cost control.

Data-Driven Reporting and Analytics: Harnessing the power of real-time travel data, external travel managers provide valuable insights that enable companies to identify cost-saving opportunities, monitor supplier performance, and enhance program effectiveness.

Communication and Training Initiatives: External experts also facilitate clear communication with employees about travel policies and safety protocols, and offer training or resources on using travel management tools, enhancing compliance and employee satisfaction.

Innovation Travel Management Tools

Several innovative tools and companies are changing the game in corporate travel management.

• AltoVita - A comprehensive platform offering end-to-end business travel solutions and global mobility software .

2. Navan - An intuitive travel management tool that enables efficient planning, booking, and expense reporting.

3. Egencia - A globally recognized travel management platform that seamlessly blends technology with customer service.

4. SAP Concur - A tool that integrates travel, expense, and invoice management into one system for total visibility and control.

5. TravelPerk - An all-in-one platform providing flexibility, transparency, and round-the-clock customer support for business travel management.

These tools help streamline the corporate travel process, delivering increased efficiency, transparency, and cost-effectiveness.

2. In-House Corporate Travel Management

In-house corporate travel management is where companies manage all aspects of their business travel internally rather than outsourcing these tasks to external travel management companies, travel agents or corporate travel sites .

The structure of in-house travel management teams can vary greatly depending on the size and nature of the company, as well as the extent and complexity of its travel needs. However, a corporate travel manager leads the team and oversees and coordinates all travel-related activities. The corporate travel manager works with a team that may include travel coordinators, travel risk analysts, administrative staff, and stakeholders from the finance department.

Considerations and Challenges

Companies with unique or particular travel needs are more likely to opt for in-house travel management solutions. For example, consider companies in sectors like oil and gas that often send employees to remote or high-risk locations, requiring specialized travel arrangements and risk management strategies, or consulting companies that manage a high travel volume with complex itineraries and last-minute changes. 

While in-house travel management solutions offer control and customization, they can be resource-intensive. The success of in-house travel management largely depends on the skills and capabilities of the team, making talent acquisition and retention a crucial aspect.

While in-house travel management had its place in the past, even travel managers today should leverage ingenious solutions to book better travel and access real-time data and insights that help optimize even the trickiest travel programs.

3. Travel Agents

Travel agents offer professional expertise and can handle many aspects of corporate travel, such as booking flights and accommodations. They can save time, provide personalized service, and often have easy access to special deals or rates. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the desire for human connection and personalized service post-COVID drives a continued interest in travel agents. A 2021 poll by the American Society of Travel Advisors found 76% of advisors saw an increase in customers compared to before the pandemic, while 81% said they were hearing from consumers who had never used an advisor before.

Benefits and Limitations

While travel agents offer several benefits, relying solely on them may limit your company’s control over its travel booking process and may not provide the comprehensive management needed for larger or more complex corporate travel programs. 

Since travel agents have a narrower scope than travel managers, the company would still rely on finance departments to file expense reports and business managers to oversee the approval process.

The best value of travel agents today is leveraging their human touch alongside technology for employees business travel. When a flight is canceled or an airline goes on strike, travelers want an experienced agent to speak to even though they’re probably more efficient in personalizing their travel booking without agent help for more routine travel booking.

How to Manage Corporate Travel Effectively

In an evolving corporate travel landscape, businesses must adapt to new trends and challenges. Successful corporate travel management requires innovative solutions and strategies. Let’s review six ways to streamline business travel to boost productivity, save time, and reduce corporate travel expenses .

1. Develop a Comprehensive Travel Policy

The cornerstone of effective corporate travel management is a robust, clear, and comprehensive travel policy. This policy is more than just a set of rules; it’s an essential tool that promotes cost-efficiency, effectiveness, and simplicity in business travel. 

Beyond managing costs, a well-formulated business travel expenses policy encourages responsible employee behavior and ensures compliance with legal requirements. Consider critical components such as booking guidelines, expensing procedures, safety protocols, and mandating the company-selected online booking tool in crafting a travel policy.

2. Leverage an Integrated Travel and Expense Management Solution

By leveraging an integrated travel and expense management solution, businesses can realize considerable cost savings. Tech-powered solutions provide valuable real-time data insights, enhance policy compliance, reduce processing costs, and prevent fraud. These systems offer real-time updates and control over all travel-related expenses and can save time, redirecting employee effort towards more productive tasks.

3. Incorporate Sustainability Practices

The growing interest in sustainable corporate travel only makes sense, as including eco-friendly practices in your travel strategy is imperative. Options such as favoring train travel over flights, where feasible, can significantly lower your carbon footprint. 

Given the sustainability targets set by many businesses, climate-conscious choices will continue to shape corporate travel decisions in the coming years.

4. Offer Flexible Bookings Options

The dynamics of business travel have changed significantly post-pandemic. Today’s corporate travelers seek longer stays, healthier habits, and a blend of work and leisure. Corporate travel policies are increasingly including non-hotel accommodation options to cater to these needs. 

As per Deloitte’s 2023 corporate travel study , around 45% of businesses now offer non-hotel lodging in their online booking tools, a significant increase from the previous year.

5. Promote Paid Time Off (PTO)

Encouraging employees to utilize their PTO combats burnout and boosts creativity. This practice enhances productivity and fosters a more attractive work environment for current and prospective employees. Additionally, employers recognize the value of travel incentives over traditional cash bonuses, tapping into the modern preference for experiences over material possessions.

6. Take Advantage of Artificial Intelligence

AI has emerged as a powerful tool in anticipating the needs of business travelers and proactively offering solutions to manage travel well. Advanced AI can streamline the travel experience, from personalized travel recommendations to automated expense reporting, making corporate travel management more efficient, cost-effective, and less stressful.

Top Corporate Travel Trends for 2024

As we navigate the evolving landscape of corporate travel in 2023, several key corporate travel trends are emerging, shaping the future of the industry. From the revival of live events and the adoption of “bleisure” travel to a shift towards serviced apartments and a heightened focus on sustainability, the corporate travel sector is undeniably experiencing a transformative period.

The Resurgence of Live Events 

A beacon of hope is shining in the sector with the return of live events. 

Travel managers anticipate a boost in business travel, driven primarily by industry events. Following a period of dormant activity, live-event attendance is expected to leap from being the fifth-largest trigger for increased travel spend in 2022 to the top spot in 2023. Over half of travel managers in the United States and Europe are optimistic that industry events will invigorate travel growth this year.

The Rise of “Bleisure” Travel

The blending of business and leisure, or “bleisure” travel, is surging. According to The State of Corporate Travel and Expense 2023 from Skift and Navan , 54% of companies now encourage employees to take personal time before or after a business trip. According to Skift’s 2023 State of Travel report, The percentage of business travelers who extended their business trip for leisure purposes was about a quarter in Australia and the UK, half in the U.S., and almost three quarters in India.

Shift from Hotels to Serviced Apartments 

With the changing nature of business travel post-pandemic, corporate travelers are increasingly favoring non-hotel accommodations. Deloitte’s 2023 corporate travel study reveals a significant policy shift to include non-hotel accommodations in travel itineraries, as almost half of businesses now accommodate such bookings. 

Nearly half of companies today (45%) have non-hotel lodging in their corporate booking tools versus only 9% last year, and 57% of companies now have agreements with specific branded apartment/home rental providers, up from 23% in 2022. This preference emphasizes the desire for a more integrated, home-like travel experience for business relationships, capable of supporting both work and leisure activities.

Sustainability: A Strategic Priority 

According to Skift’s 2023 State of Travel report , 63% of companies are interested in increasing sustainable business travel, even if it costs more. 

According to the study from the WTTC: A World in Motion Shifting Consumer Travel Trends in 2022 and Beyond most travelers are seeking and choosing sustainable travel options.

In response to rising environmental consciousness, sustainability has become a central focus in corporate travel. More than half of companies are prepared to increase their travel spending only on sustainable business travel, echoing the preferences of most travelers. Recognizing the environmental affect of corporate travel, most businesses aim to reduce their carbon footprint, with over 40% of surveyed companies actively optimizing their policies for a lesser environmental affect. Amid these changes, travel suppliers are also investing significantly in green initiatives and developing strategies to cater to the emerging demand for sustainable travel options.

These trends represent a seismic shift in the corporate travel landscape, redefining how we perceive and manage business travel. It’s an exciting time for the travel industry; one platform is ripe with opportunities for innovation and growth and a clear focus on sustainability and traveler well-being. As we progress, we must remain adaptable, adopting and incorporating these emerging trends into our corporate travel strategies.

Takeaways 

Effectively managing corporate travel in today’s evolving global business travel landscape is an art that requires strategic foresight, adaptability, and efficient resource utilization. The fast-paced shifts in the sector and the changing preferences of corporate travelers underscore the need for businesses to stay informed and agile. Here are the key takeaways from our comprehensive guide to corporate travel management in 2023, encapsulating the essential strategies and trends you need to consider to streamline your business travel operations and cater to the needs of your traveling employees effectively.

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The Strategy Guide to Corporate Travel Management

Download the PDF eBook version

Developing a corporate travel management strategy is one of the most important decisions you will make because it sets the framework for all your future travel plans.

With a solid plan in place, you can develop a budget, determine your objectives, identify your target audience, then build a program to achieve those goals.

It's also a way to build credibility with your employees and to encourage them to be responsible and accountable when they travel.

What Is Corporate Travel Management?

Corporate travel management is a business process used by companies to control, plan, and monitor the expenses of corporate travel. The changing global economy has affected the travel industry and, with it, the pressure on companies to reduce costs has grown.

Corporate travel management attempts to reduce these costs by streamlining company policies and procedures, which then translates into more effective and efficient business practices.

Here are some simple yet effective ways you can achieve this:

Plan the Logistics of Your Business

To plan for the logistics of your business, it’s important to first define what this term means. According to Investopedia , logistics refers to the “overall process of managing how resources are acquired, stored, and transported to their final destination. Logistics management involves identifying prospective distributors and suppliers and determining their effectiveness and accessibility.”

In the context of corporate travel management, logistical details may include what resources are needed by employees to travel safely and reach their destination. One example is financial resources, which can include the procurement of travel tickets, as well as the cost of lodgings and local transportation. Logistics in this sense can also include suppliers like the travel agency your company works with to make travel arrangements.

Identifying the logistical needs of your business will make planning and managing the trip easier. Additionally, you’ll be able to outline, adjust, and schedule corporate travel procedures accordingly.

Track Your Travel Costs on the Go

It’s easy to lose track of how much you’re spending when you’re moving from one place to another. The problem with travelling is that some unplanned costs can happen, especially when immediate problems arise. Some examples of this include going off-route in a taxi or the flight is delayed. This can lead to problems in the long run, especially if you’re travelling on a budget.

Thus, it’s important to keep track of your travel costs while in transit. Fortunately, it’s a lot easier to track travel costs through expense tracker apps, which can be web-based, cloud-based, or with mobile integration.

Not only can you track costs with these apps, but you’ll also be able to scan receipts, submit reimbursement reports, switch between currencies for international travel, compare actual costs with your set budget, and many more. Here are seven expense tracker apps specifically designed for travelling:

• Expensify (our top pick)
• Trail Wallet

Plan for Long-Haul Travel, but Also for Shorter-Haul Flights

In some cases, long-haul flights are not only necessary but also more appealing to corporate travellers as they may be able to save on costs.

According to a study published in the Journal of Air Transport Management :

“Business travellers are particularly attractive to book flights as they tend to travel more frequently than leisure passengers, and they tend to be prepared to pay higher prices than leisure passengers. In short-haul markets, such as those within the European Union (EU), business travel may represent a large proportion of a scheduled airline's traffic.”

This means that shorter-haul flights tend to cost more than long-haul travel, compelling companies to plan in advance and opt for long-haul flights.

However, effective corporate travel management should also take short-haul flights into account depending on the needs and nature of your business.

By planning for and allotting a budget for both long-haul and short-haul flights, you can meet business goals in a timely fashion without shortchanging other travel expenses, such as lodgings or local transportation.

Key Takeaway

Corporate travel management can be a necessary tool for companies, but it's also a huge money saver. Understanding how to properly use it will help you stretch your costs and make sure that you're following the right procedures .

Define Your Corporate Travel Management Goals

Most corporate travel managers can use some practice and advice on how to improve their skills. Corporate travel managers are responsible for planning, negotiating, and organizing travel for employees. While most employees rely on their employers to help them book flights, hotel rooms and rental cars, corporate travel managers complete those tasks for an entire company. Here are tips from a seasoned corporate travel manager on how to master the art of corporate travel management:

Understand Your Company's Travel Policies

For effective corporate travel management to happen, there should be clear guidelines about the company’s travel policies. This can include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Clear details about the company’s travel procedure
• Travel agency approved by the company
• Rules and regulations while employees are travelling, such as conduct and behaviour
• Method of travel, whether by land, air, or sea
• Procedures for procurement, cancellation, or loss of travel tickets
• Boarding and lodging details
• Travel arrangements while heading to and upon reaching the destination, such as car rentals or taxi services
• Expenses, such as per diem and meal expenses, or miscellaneous and emergency expenses
• Safety and security of travelling employees
• Insurance coverage for international travel

Clearly outlining and understanding these policies can help corporate travel managers to plan ahead and tailor travel arrangements according to the company’s business goals.

Additionally, employees will have a smoother time planning for the trip without disruptions to their day-to-day tasks and the company’s overall workflow.

Understand the Needs of Your Employees

Before the pandemic, corporate travel management tended to focus on getting the best arrangements for accommodations or the best deals for ticket prices.

These factors and many others are still important today, but the pandemic has brought to the fore another element in corporate travel that necessitates a higher priority: the safety and well-being of travellers.

In keeping up with the current changes, corporate travel managers should also ensure that partners and suppliers, such as their airline of choice or hotel accommodations, have solid health protocols in place.

It’s highly unlikely that employees will be willing to travel when there’s a high risk of getting infected. Thus, corporate travel managers should look into safety guidelines, quarantine policies, and local travel restrictions for the trip to be both safe and successful.

Use a Travel Management System

Similar to tracking travel expenses, corporate travel managers need to stay on top of all the necessary steps to organize and execute the trip successfully. This begins with making travel requests all the way to the return trip home. With a travel management system in place, it will be much easier to achieve the following:

• Streamline processes
• Gain approvals in a timely manner
• Create up-to-date reports
• Manage scheduling
• Anticipate emergency scenarios
• Smooth booking experience
• Compare prices for tickets, accommodations, and local transportation
• Manage other expenses
• Get the best value-for-money deals

If you’re using an expense tracker, be sure that your travel management system can integrate well with your chosen software.

Build Relationships With Vendors and Providers

In the industry of corporate travel management, vendors and providers can mean airlines, travel agencies, hotels, and other third parties providing goods and services that corporate travellers need.

As the ones spearheading the planning and managing for corporate travel, corporate travel managers will benefit a lot from building strong relationships with vendors and partners.

Communication is the foundation of strong relationships, so you should first be clear about what you need, as well as your travel goals and policies, so expectations can be properly set.

At the same time, it’s important to be responsive to prospective suppliers so you can engage with them and weigh your options.

Similarly, just as the supplier should understand your needs, you should also take into account the supplier’s needs as a business. If you aren’t able to come to a satisfying agreement, consider partnering with another vendor from which you can mutually benefit.

Create a Travel Calendar

A travel calendar will ensure that you’re making timely travel arrangements and you won’t encounter any delays. Keep in mind that delays can easily translate into extra costs, so be sure to allow time for possible unforeseen circumstances.

Proper scheduling also prevents disruptions, whether that’s on the employee’s side or the vendor’s side. With a timeline set in place, you’ll also be able to make the necessary adjustments that can address scenarios such as delayed flights or a high volume of travellers, especially if you’re planning arrangements during the holidays or vacation months.

Creating a travel calendar can also be made easier with an effective travel management system. Find one that works for your company’s processes, policies, and budget so you can maximize the app to suit your needs.

Follow Up To Make Sure All Goes Smoothly

Further to communication, following up on the progress of your corporate travel plans is necessary to ensure that all steps have been accomplished by all parties involved.

For instance, you can check whether all employees have the required travel documents or if approvals have already been signed by the relevant departments or managers.

Following up on your suppliers and providers can also smoothen out potential issues early on, especially when it comes to the availability of tickets or accommodations.

Follow-ups also keep everyone up-to-date about where they are in your set time frame. If someone still hasn’t accomplished their requirements, you can still make timely changes that won’t significantly affect the other stages of planning and executing the trip.

You can achieve corporate-travel-manager success if you are organized, diligent, and prepared to work hard. Keep these tips in mind while planning and managing business travel, and you'll be well on your way to mastering the art of corporate travel management.

Build a Program To Meet Those Goals

It’s not an easy task to manage corporate travel, especially if you are responsible for managing multiple teams and travel budgets. So, what are the best practices that a corporate travel manager has to follow?

Create and Manage a Travel Policy

A clear outline of travel policies will steer everyone involved in the right direction. This also ensures that corporate travel managers themselves are in line with the company’s overall rules and regulations, as well as the destination’s local laws and guidelines.

Having a travel policy will also let your employees know how to conduct themselves while travelling. This is especially important if you’re travelling internationally, as there are certain things you are expected to do and not do according to the local culture.

Aside from creating and managing an internal travel policy , it also pays to do research on where you’re going, even if it’s just a different state or a different country altogether.

Compile your research and summarise the information in a way that travelling employees will be able to easily digest. At the same time, get employee feedback while preparing travel policies to make sure that you’re covering all bases.

Know Your Budget

Of course, knowing your corporate travel budget is important. As previously mentioned, some airlines tend to charge corporate travellers a higher amount since they know that this is a necessary business expense.

Knowing and understanding your budget, its allocations, and limitations will allow you to build an effective corporate travel program that meets all your goals and needs.

Having an understanding of your budget will also allow you to properly adjust expenses and prioritize certain elements of the trip.

For instance, you can save on flight tickets in exchange for higher-end lodgings. Additionally, you can anticipate unplanned costs, such as emergencies, delayed flights, or even when travellers get caught in the middle of a natural disaster.

Plan for the Worst-Case Scenario

Speaking of emergencies and natural disasters, nobody can tell when these things might happen. Accidents, whether major or minor, are also highly unpredictable.

As such, it will be to your advantage to plan for the worst-case scenario. It’s always good practice to anticipate that something untoward might happen during the trip so employees in transit won’t be in a bind when it actually happens.

Aside from allocating a budget for worst-case scenarios, it will also help employees if you include these scenarios in your corporate travel policy. This way, they’ll know what contingency plans the company has in store for them.

Use Technology To Make Travel Easier

In the past, spreadsheets were typically used to manage corporate travel procedures. These days, however, there are more advanced travel management solutions that can centralize, systematize, streamline, and even manage risks while employees are on-the-go.

Take advantage of the available technology so you can have a better view not only of travel expenses, but also policies, relationships with vendors, local rules, and all the updates needed to accomplish travel requirements.

This way, you can plan for the trip effectively while staying on top of all tasks required of you, employees, and suppliers.

It’s important that you understand what a corporate travel manager does and how they are responsible for their team's travel projects.

Execute With Excellence

There are many businesses that struggle with their travel management, spending countless hours a week dealing with the logistics of getting their employees to the right place at the right time.

Technology has made it easier for businesses to manage their own travel, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

Here’s how companies can take the leap from struggling with their current travel management system to enjoying a seamless and efficient experience:

Design Your Corporate Travel Schedule

Managing schedules is just as important as managing costs, so it’s important to design a detailed corporate travel itinerary.

Generally, this can be a checklist list that lets your employees know what happens during a specific date and time. This can be especially helpful when they have conferences or multiple events to attend.

A well-designed corporate travel schedule can include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Ticket and flight details
• Boarding and departure dates and times
• A list of activities that will happen during an event, conference, or meeting
• Event venues and attire
• Scheduled mealtimes
• Time for rest and leisure
• Estimated time of travel from the hotel to the event location, and vice versa

Again, it’s also beneficial to get employee feedback when designing the corporate travel schedule to see if your list covers all their needs.

Implement a Flexible Itinerary

Although it’s important to list down all the things that can happen during a trip, it’s equally important to make your schedule flexible. Take into account the possibility of delays, traffic, or other difficulties and emergencies that might happen along the way.

As mentioned, unforeseen events can happen and a flexible itinerary can help buffer the consequences of those scenarios so your schedule and the trip won’t be significantly impacted.

Create a Budgeting System so You Can Track Expenses and Benefits as They Are Needed

Corporate travel expenses can easily skyrocket when they’re not tracked properly. At the same time, employees might not immediately realize the benefits they can gain from undertaking corporate travel.

In this regard, a budgeting system will help them have an overview of what’s important to spend on and what they can gain from certain budget allocations.

Generally, it’s ideal to save on all expenses but everyone knows that you can only cut down on expenses so much without severely impacting the quality of the trip and the well-being of corporate travellers.

In this case, you need to go back to your company goals to properly assess which factors you can save on and which ones need a higher budget. There are no hard-and-fast rules for this, but a good rule of thumb to follow is if allocating a lower budget for, say, airline tickets, won’t affect the fundamentals of the trip, then it can be beneficial to pursue that route.

In turn, you can use what you save to arrange better lodgings for employees or allocate that for emergency scenarios.

Corporate travel management is a process that requires you to know your employees and plan accordingly. Find out how to improve it, then implement it. This ensures that everyone is on the same page.

A Successful Corporate Travel Management Plan Is One That Is Developed Strategically

Business travel management solutions can ensure smooth travel and procedures for all parties involved. This section will cover the different business travel management solutions and how they work.

Reporting Tools

According to a November 2020 survey , “roughly 66.5% of respondents stated that their organizations used an online expense reporting platform that includes mobile solutions.

In contrast, only 8% of the surveyed travel buyers claimed that their companies relied on Excel spreadsheets or other offline processes to track their travel expenses.”

Locomote offers a centralized dashboard for corporate travel management that makes sense of your data so you can pinpoint areas for improvement and review how well your corporate travel policy is performing.

With its breakdown of real-time data, you can track expenses, receive a detailed invoice, and even apply unused tickets to book your next trip.

Budget Management

Budget management refers to the financial resources corporate travellers are allotted for the entire trip and what they are used for. This can also refer to points, benefits, and deals offered by suppliers and partners.

With an effective budget management tool, each expense can be tracked quickly and efficiently, allowing corporate travellers to focus on why they went on the trip in the first place. At the same time, they can gain travel points and even access to different airport lounges.

Booking Tools

Booking tools for corporate travel management make it easier to acquire the best accommodations and book trips in a more convenient manner. There are many booking tools that you can compare depending on your trip’s goals.

Our booking tool focuses on features such as hassle-free group and solo travel, a user-friendly interface, and providing a safer and better travel experience.

Manage Your Business Trips Effectively

Corporate travel management can help cut down costs, get the best deals, and provide a safe and productive trip for travelling employees.

Having a strategic approach aided by technology can ensure that the trip is successful and rewarding to all parties involved.

Contact us today if you want to see a platform that can do all of this for you and more.

Mastering the essentials: your corporate travel management handbook

Business travel management has never been a walk in the park. But in the last few years, the corporate travel landscape has faced a lot of changes. Today's business travellers seek simple self-bookings and a broader range of travel options. Meanwhile, organisations like yours aim to minimise costs and maximise their ROI on business travel. 

How can you find the compromise that can help you achieve it all? By establishing a managed travel programme and leveraging modern travel management software. 

So, whether you’re looking to finetune your existing corporate travel processes, or you’re designing a new system from scratch, our complete guide to corporate travel management will help you achieve all of these goals and more. 

• What is corporate travel management?
• Chapter 1: Procurement
• Chapter 2: Technology

Chapter 3: Corporate Travel Booking

Chapter 4: travel savings.

• Chapter 5: Corporate Travel Wellness

What is corporate travel management? 

In short, travel management is the framework that organisations implement to oversee and facilitate their business travel processes. While it is about controlling, tracking, and reporting on your company’s travel expenses, it also involves everything from setting up approval protocols to supporting your travellers on the road. 

Some organisations will outsource their business travel management to a specialised travel management company (TMC). Others will handle it in-house with a dedicated travel manager or travel management team. Sometimes, it may even be a collaborative effort from both! 

But regardless of whether travel is managed externally or internally, most businesses also rely on a corporate travel platform to track travel expenses, identify out-of-policy bookings, and perform other vital functions to help you meet your business goals. 

Chapter 1: Corporate Travel Procurement

What is procurement in business travel .

Travel procurement enables employees to carry out business trips by booking flights, hotels, trains, and car rentals. This process involves more than just securing (or rather, procuring) the most cost-effective rates; it also means finding options that prioritise your travellers’ satisfaction, safety, and well-being. 

Naturally, this necessitates intricate negotiations, strategic contracting, and continuous adaptation to the ebbs and flows of the corporate travel industry. 

Many different departments may handle this procurement, from human resource managers to dedicated procurement professionals. 

Challenges facing corporate travel procurement 

No process worth doing comes without its own set of challenges – and travel procurement is no exception. The ever-changing nature of the travel industry presents hurdles such as: 

• Dynamic Pricing: The ebbs and flows of the corporate travel market demands vigilant management to handle fluctuations in expenses. 
• Market Awareness: Procurement specialists must stay attuned to market trends, adjusting strategies to navigate the dynamic nature of the travel industry. 
• Employee-Centric Considerations: Cost considerations should be balanced with employee needs, including travel times, convenience, and well-being. 
• Task Performance and Compliance: Ensuring travel choices adhere to travel policies while also aligning with your employees' ability to perform tasks (red-eye flights might be cheaper, but they don’t exactly motivate employees). 

Navigating negotiations with finesse 

When negotiating hotel rates or transportation costs, make sure to arm yourself with the following information: 

• Accurate, real-time data on your organisation’s travel patterns, including insights into your travel volumes and travel spend 
• Current market dynamics in the travel industry 
• A thorough understanding of your travellers, their preferences, and what is important to them 
• An accurate picture of your company culture 
• Analysis of past contracts  

Once you know the wants and needs for your travel management programme, you can begin your bid for your ideal supplier contracts. 

Decoding RFI and RFP 

• RFI (Request for Information): This is a request for general information from potential vendors, offering a broad overview of their capabilities and services. 
• RFP  (Request for Proposal): This announces project and/or business needs, describes them, and overall acts as an open request for bids from travel vendors. In some cases, it is used to renegotiate existing contracts. For others, it is created when a preferred supplier has been identified. 

Both of these documents are ideal for getting the best contracts for group bookings, procuring a TMC, and securing the best airline negotiated deals and hotel programmes…but writing them up can be more than a little tedious. Want to skip the process altogether? Let our specialists in travel solutions focus on the details so you can stay engaged with what matters. 

Download your guide to rethinking corporate travel RFPs with chapters including:

• The now: a more strategic approach
• Common pitfalls in travel RFPs
• Ten steps to a rock-solid RFP
• Advice from FCM’s team
• Request for Partner: a collaborative alternative

Download your copy today

Impact of travel policy compliance 

So, you’ve secured the best rates…but that’s only helpful if your travellers know to utilise them. 

Remember: your travel policy serves as the framework for booking business trips. As your organisation grows and supplier contracts evolve, procurement teams must continually adapt and update corporate travel policies to reflect these changes. This agility keeps your business ahead of the curve, achieving cost savings and aligning travel practises with evolving business needs. 

Chapter 2: Corporate Travel Technology

The demand for automation .

Time and effort are precious commodities. 

Unfortunately, no matter how much time and effort you spend writing (and re-writing) your travel policy, your travellers will probably bypass documentation to touch base with you. That means expending more time and more effort constantly answering the same questions – or worse – fixing easily avoidable mistakes. 

This is where automation steps in as the game changer. By seamlessly integrating your travel policy with a holistic travel management system, you not only boost compliance, but save yourself from constant queries. 

So, what is a corporate travel management system? 

The short answer: These systems are made of different tools that work together to help companies manage travel. 

The long answer: This is a holistic, agile travel tech stack   that consists of interdependent software solutions that work together seamlessly to provide end-to-end travel management. These tools work together to oversee, regulate, and coordinate the travel and expenses of your travelling employees. 

The result? You streamline approvals, stay connected to employees wherever they are, improve business travel compliance, and overall just make corporate travel a little less painful. 

That being said, not all travel technology is created equal. 

The Evolution of Travel Programme Technology

5 signs you need to elevate your travel technology .

Wondering if your current software truly serves your organisation? Start by asking yourself these questions: 

1. Does your technology help you control travel costs? 

An integrated suite of travel technology should simplify travel and expense management  by giving the procurement or travel manager visibility of company-wide travel costs and to manage preferred supplier agreements. The right combination of a simplified reporting & analytics tool and experienced travel providers should also enable you to benchmark your travel programme against that of your competitors. 

2. Does your tech provide a platform that keeps travellers connected? 

A positive business travel experience is about being connected. In addition to 24/7 support, your technology should allow travellers to access and manage their reservations across any device, enabling them to make changes when necessary and to receive relevant notifications, such as for flight delays. Some apps also allow for information to be accessed offline, avoiding excessive data charges and reducing costs for your organisation. 

3. Do your current reporting capabilities help you stay on top of your sustainability goals?  

With the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) goal of net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, sustainability concerns are at the forefront of corporate travel. Your online booking tool (OBT) and reporting dashboards should include functionalities that enable your organisation to easily calculate your carbon footprint, offset those emissions, and report on the results. 

4. Are travel risk management processes automated?

Your risk management solutions should give you direct access to crisis control centers across the world. Technology should integrate risk management, booking, and reporting systems so that travellers’ locations can be tracked and support can be given in real-time. This would also manage concentration risk by highlighting instances where too many employees are travelling on the same flight. 

5. Does it guide self-bookers to the most efficient in-policy bookings? 

A simple browser plugin can shoot over a push notification at any point of the booking process to remind travellers of your travel policy as they book trips. This lets you act as a guide for your travellers without wasting time hovering over everyone’s shoulders. 

Unlock your programme’s potential with the  FCM Platform

Watch how the FCM Platform can supercharge your travel programme. And, when you’re ready, you can book your comprehensive demo below.

Book your demo

Booking challenges 

Your meticulously crafted travel policy is a roadmap designed to benefit both your business and the individuals powering it. However, the efficacy of this roadmap depends on its utilisation. 

Insightful reporting that is accompanied by expert analysis also mitigates common travel pain points around: 

• Traveller visibility 
• Travel risk management 
• Ability to demonstrate ROI 
• Booking leakage 
• Data accuracy, or “dirty data” 

But what are the hallmarks of great travel reporting and how can businesses improve their reporting capabilities for strategic long-term programme enhancement? 

3 travel management reporting essentials 

Below are some common key attributes of best-practise travel reporting and how they can help your business overcome commonly experienced obstacles. 

 1. Consolidated Reporting 

Booking leakage is a huge area of concern for many procurement departments. Having consolidated travel data with a single TMC positions companies in a much better position to target booking, supplier, or channel leakage as all the data is centralised. Consolidated reporting   enables you to measure the missed savings from leakage, where the leakage is coming from, and who or what division needs support in this area. 

 2. Benchmarking 

Benchmarking your travel programme against other businesses in your sector or with similar sized travel programmes and spend is valuable for your approach to creating long-term cost efficiencies. 

Having your TMC provide quantifiable data that summarises whether you’re generating savings from your pre-negotiated rates or receiving the most competitive supplier deal when compared to organisations of a similar size can provide an important business travel programme health check. 

Broad benchmarking capabilities against all sectors will arm you with actionable insights in terms of which suppliers you should be negotiating more strategically with, and what discount levels your company may be eligible for. 

Designed to provide a more robust and customer-centric experience for travel managers, the AI reporting capabilities offers a unique way to visualise data simply by posing a question using natural language. 

With FCM’s AI powered reporting, you can: 

• build reports with more than 15 chart options 
• Build reports with custom calculations 
• Interpret alternate terms when a user is making a request – You can ask “What is my CPM?” or “What is my Cost Per Mile” and get the same results. 
• Offer suggestions that allow users to bring up key metrics quickly 
• Offer hints as users are typing questions and will also provide the optimum visualisation based on the question asked 
• Turn data into actionable insights 

Loyalty pays 

Understanding the dynamics of the corporate travel industry is crucial, as various travel service providers, such as hotels, car rental agencies, and airlines, place significant value on fostering strong relationships with businesses. Recognising that corporate travel is a substantial sector, these providers acknowledge the rewarding nature of loyalty. 

Corporate rates, whether fixed or subject to negotiation, encompass a spectrum of discounts: 

• Corporate hotel rates 
• Corporate airfares (reminiscent of frequent flyer benefits) 
• Corporate car rental 
• Rideshare corporate accounts 

Embracing corporate travel discount programmes for your company brings tangible advantages: 

• Cost Savings – The financial impact of corporate rates translates into substantial cost savings for your company. A well-designed programme not only provides monetary benefits but also empowers you with the capability to monitor and control your expenditure effectively. 
• Convenience – Corporate travel discount programmes alleviate the complexities associated with organising and planning business travellers' trips. By furnishing tools that simplify booking and monitoring processes, these programmes contribute to a seamless and hassle-free travel management experience. 

Agent vs. DIY Booking 

Self-booking .

Corporate Travel Agents

Agents can manage changes, cancellations, and find flexible options within budget constraints. 

Account Management: strategic driver or glorified helpdesk?

In today’s world, are Account Managers strategic drivers, or just glorified helpdesks? With independent insights from FESTIVE ROAD that explore the evolving role of the Account Manager. Where do you stand on this hot topic? Read more in our latest taboo paper.

Download the report here

Chapter 5: Corporate Travel Wellness and Safety & Risk

Travel risk management: your duty to your travellers .

Corporate travel risk management (TRM) involves identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential risks associated with business travel. It's not just about keeping your employees safe; it's also about protecting your organisation's reputation and bottom line.    You have a duty of care (DOC) to your travelling employees. For the most part, effective TRM relies on four key elements: 

• Pre-travel risk assessments 
• Informed business travel 
• Traveller briefs 
• Travel safety technology, like a robust mobile app  

Travel is risky. Travel risk management doesn’t have to be. Check out our travel risk management hub for additional insights. 

Traveller Wellness: Going Beyond Obligation

Prioritising traveller well-being extends beyond your duty of care obligations – it’s a strategic investment. 

Remember: Happy employees are productive employees. Consider these often-overlooked incentives that enhance traveller experiences, and in turn, boost employee retention while elevating your ROI on corporate travel: 

• Flexible Itineraries – Grant a 24-hour window for personalised departure and return schedules. 
• Accommodation Standards – Regularly audit accommodations, ensuring comfort and eliminating noisy stays. 
• Health-focused Amenities – Prioritise hotels with gyms and wellness centres, promoting healthy choices for your road warriors. 
• Mental Health Support – Offer access to mental well-being apps and resources, acknowledging the stresses of travel. 
• Personalisation – Recognise diverse employee needs, tailoring wellness approaches to both reasonable accommodations and individual preferences. 
• Breaks Between Trips – Implement breaks of at least two days for employees travelling consecutively for more than five days. 
• Hello Bleisure – Embrace the "Business+Leisure Balance," allowing half a day of “play” after every three days of work. 
• Corporate Cards: Integrate corporate credit cards for seamless financial transactions. 

White Paper: Safety & Risk Playbook

The alternative way of doing business travel .

Corporate travel is about so much more than booking flights. That’s why FCM Travel offers a breadth of corporate travel services through our talented teams and innovative technology. 

Our approach to end-to-end business travel brings control to your corporate travel programme and delivers value through savings, efficiency, and productivity. 

Ready to discover a new travel partner? Let’s talk. 

Is traveller safety your top priority? Ours too. Let’s talk.

The complete guide to corporate travel planning and management

Transform your corporate travel planning approach with our step-by-step guide. Discover time-saving planning tricks and helpful checklists that make traveling a seamless experience for everyone.

Planning global business travel is a high intensity job, requiring you to think through every single scenario of getting from A to B, not to mention having to make last minute changes to itineraries and schedules. But whether you're planning small or big trips involving one or multiple employees, meticulous preparation is key. This article aims to help you ensure that when you're designing your corporate travel program, you're not only creating a seamless travel experience for those traveling, but that you can enjoy a stress-free time back at the office and focus on the things that need to be ticked off your to-do list. 

Short on time? Download our guide and read it later.

What is corporate travel planning? 

You don't need to have worked in the travel industry, or be a full time travel manager to get the hang of corporate travel planning. It's just about creating smooth and seamless processes and a positive travel experience for those traveling in your company, while also sticking to the company's   travel policy . Good business travel planning and managment makes sure that everyone gets the most out of business travel, but that the company can also save money and resources in the process. There are a few key areas that you'll need to be aware of if you're new to business travel planning and those include:

• Booking transportation - including all flights, trains, rental cars and taxis
• Booking accommodation - finding the right hotels and rates based on budget and distance to meetings or events
• Preparing a detailed itinerary  - compiling all the travel details into an easy-to-use format for the business traveler
• Coordinating meetings and networking events - being part of planning and scheduling business meetings or events
• Handling travel documents - updating passports, or identifying the right visa or any documentation that's needed
• Handling expenses - tracking and monitoring corporate travel expenses
• Complying with the company's travel policy - including safety protocols or other specifications in place

A good travel program can make a huge difference for everyone involved and can make travel an enjoyable experience, both before, during and after the trip. Having a well managed corporate travel planning strategy is also especially important for companies that travel regularly for work, such as consulting firms, tech companies, sales and marketing agencies or businesses operating complex manufacturing and supply chains.

Why is corporate travel planning important?

A 2023 study from the travel industry found that 83% of business travelers see business travel as a positive experience, and 79% of those say that it improves their overall job satisfaction. All the more reason to "get it right" for your employees. But aside from the value it brings your employees, corporate travel planning is important to ensure cost saving, employee productivity, and that you get the most out of the "investment" in the trip itself.

Furthermore, when employees are traveling on behalf of the company, it's your responsibility to keep them safe, so having a robust corporate travel policy in place can help make sure that you've thought of everything and worked through any potential travel emergencies that could arise. 

79% of employees say that business travel improves their job satisfaction

Who should be involved in corporate travel planning.

There are a number of stakeholders involved in managing business travel, both directly and indirectly. Ultimately, the person that has to book flights and manage travel costs, such as the executive assistant, office manager, travel manager, or even employee will carry the final responsibility for the smooth running of the trip, but there are a number of people behind the scenes that monitor how much you've spent, who design the travel policy and ensure that a good framework is in place.

- Office Manager, executive assistant or travel manager: In charge of business travel management, including the relationship with relevant suppliers such as travel agents. 

- Finance: Control travel budgets, expenditure, and "per diems" (the daily amount of money that employees can expense when they're traveling for work)

- Human Resources: Design and implement the travel policy . This includes guidance on how travel should be booked, the approval process, expense reimbursement, risk management, and duty of care.

- The Executive Team: Evaluate the role and cost of travel and its value to the business. 

- IT:  Implement new software or booking systems, and work with HR to roll it out to new users across the organisation.

- Employees:  Sometimes responsible for planning and booking trips themselves with a booking tool. 

Corporate Travel Management - Pre-booking checklist

1. get to know corporate travel preferences.

To understand traveler preferences, look at past business trips and travel data to learn about seat preferences, preferred airlines (so they can earn rewards for their loyalty program), meal requests, or hotels they like and have stayed at before. If you're using an online booking tool like Goodwings , you can save time by accessing all this historical data in one platform, which will save you time planning business travel.  

2. Read the travel policy 

Company travel policies clearly define dos and don'ts for booking business travel, including sustainability efforts to reduce your company's emissions . These policies offer detailed advice on flight and hotel bookings to minimize environmental impact, alongside protocols for emergencies to mitigate travel risks. With online booking tools, these policies are integrated, displaying only the permitted options for booking flights, hotels, and transportation, streamlining the booking process by eliminating the need to sift through unsuitable choices.

  3. Understand your corporate travel budget  

Before booking, familiarize yourself with the budget and any spending limits in your travel program. For client-paid trips, ensure all expenses are transparently documented to justify the chosen options. Remember, while travelers may not focus on costs, the finance department will. Booking frequent trips to the same destinations? Negotiate rates with travel providers for company-wide benefits. Also, connect with the finance team early for guidance on managing expenses, making international payments, and streamlining reimbursements.

4. Get all the right documents in place 

Make sure that you have all the documentation you need to ensure a smooth arrival in the country. This includes an up-to-date passport (with at least 6 months validity), any necessary visa requirements, or vaccinations . Visa requirements can change, so it's worth staying up to date with the latest information or integrating a service like Sherpa i nto your corporate travel management platform, where you can apply for visas in one central place.

When you book with Goodwings , you'll get a reminder on any necessary visa requirements for your business trip

Corporate Travel Planning: Pre-travel checklist

1. prepare a detailed itinerary.

Step into the traveler's shoes and build a detailed itinerary. You're more familiar with the details than the traveler, so you need to transfer all that crucial information from your mind to the itinerary, including the route from office to airport, transportation specifics, check-in procedures, and emergency contacts. Avoid the hassle of digging through emails for travel details. Consider the traveler's preference for receiving this information, whether printed or digitally via a travel app. If using online booking tools or TMS, preload the app on the traveler's phone to consolidate all travel details in one accessible location.

Download your ultimate corporate travel checklist

  2. Optimize time outside of scheduled meetings 

Transform travel downtime into productivity (or leisure!). Find out whether they want to spend time exploring the city, or whether they’d prefer catch up on calls especially during transit or waiting periods. If they're keen to explore, do some research and create a business travel itinerary with some insider's tips for essential activities, foods to try or landmarks to visit. If they want to just keep their head down and do some work, find quiet spots along the way where they can access Wi-Fi, such as in the business lounge.

When you book with Goodwings , you get an AI-inspired business travel itinerary with ideas for places to visit during your business trip.

3. Do some local research 

Give them some guidance on local culture or customs, and some simple phrases that will help them get by. It may seem over the top, but first impressions count and the more information you can give them upfront, the more likely they are nail that networking event. For example, in China and Japan, it is customary to bring a small gift to a business meeting as a sign of respect, gratitude and kindness. Beyond the customs and phrases, provide weather updates so they can pack appropriately, and flag any visas so they’re organised ahead of time.

4. Set a strategy for managing corporate travel expenses 

Streamlining expenses saves time, money and reduces paperwork. Use a travel management system to consolidate expenses in one spot by connecting it with your company's expense software. If you don’t have one in place, align with the finance team on their expectations for submitting expense reports and coordinate with travelers accordingly. Alot of companies are using expense tools nowadays, but you still need to keep track of spending. 

5. Get some local currency 

While credit and debit card payments are accepted at almost every destination now, there are still a lot of countries where cash is king, so make sure the traveler has local currency if it's needed, as well as an idea of the exchange rate and the average cost of a cup of coffee for reference!

6. Check all the details again

No-one needs to tell you to be thorough - it's probably in your DNA.., but it's always worth double checking all the details before the business trip, reconfirming every aspect of the journey to ensure a smooth travel experience all the way. Confirm flight times, hotel bookings, taxi rides and any appointments you've scheduled.

7. Always have a back up plan

Always anticipate potential disruptions, or safety risks with a contingency plan. You can't predict flight cancellations, traffic jams or weather patterns, but you can be on standby with some back up options. Usually when the traveler misses a flight or connection, they'll call you (day or night!), but with new travel management tools and 24/7 support teams, there are now more tools than ever that can help them in those situations, without the need to call you. That's why it's worth investing some time to show those traveling in your team the tools that they have at their disposal, so that you don't get caught in the middle of a situation that could be handled directly in the app, or with someone who can solve the problem there and then.

Corporate Travel Planning: During-travel 

1. stay up to date .

Stay updated with travel updates so you can address any issues before they arise. With a travel management system, you can keep track of travelers with interactive map features. This means that should there be any sudden changes in the country they're visiting (such as social unrest, political situations or emergency weather warnings), you’re prepared and can find a solution. After all, quick solutions contribute to the overall success of the trip and show that you’re dedicated to making it a smooth trip. 

Goodwings ' duty of care feature, which allows you to keep track of employees when they're traveling 

S umming up 

When done properly, corporate travel planning can help streamline your company's travel program, and create a more enjoyable experience for everyone, but there are a number of considerations to take into account during the planning process. Here's a summary! 

Ready to take travel planning to the next level?

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The complete corporate travel planner guide

As a decision maker in your company, there’s a lot to think about. That’s why we’re laying out everything you need to know about corporate travel planning in this guide.

By Jessica Freedman

May 30, 2024

When you think about effective corporate travel planning, it’s more than just crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s. It’s about saving money, making sure your employees are happy and safe when traveling for business and about making the most out of business trips. You might wonder how to make this possible. With our corporate travel planning guide you will find out: how to save on corporate travel, how to manage travel effectively and what you need to know to plan a trip.

Ready? Let’s dive in!

What you need to plan a business trip

Follow these easy steps to plan your next trip. Keep reading to get more ideas about how to save when it comes to planning.

6 Ways to save on corporate travel planning

When you are a small business or a start-up you may find yourself wasting time or effort on tasks that shouldn’t be so hard. It’s important to find a balance between obsessive control and disorganization. We’re here to remind you how to save and be on the top of your game. These six steps will help you master your budget and time management.

1. Plan in advance with a corporate travel planner

One of the top ways to save money on corporate travel is by planning ahead of time. It may seem obvious but if you plan a business trip a week before, you will pay a lot more in airfare and sometimes hotel rates and car rentals go up as it gets closer to the date. By planning ahead you can make better choices about your business calendar because people’s schedules won’t have booked up yet. 

Once your employees have evaluated future business partners’ or your colleagues’ availability they can make informed decisions about the best time to travel. This way you are sure to encourage your employees to make the most out of their business trips by being sure everyone is available in the time frame that was decided, as well as being able to evaluate if a trip is really necessary or if it’s possible to just meet virtually. 

Generally speaking, it makes sense to plan a trip if a lot of potential clients are located in the same area, that way your employees can maximize their meetings on one trip. If you need help evaluating whether a business trip is necessary, check out our blog To Travel or not to Travel , which will help you make more sustainable decisions.

2. Define your goals

A successful business starts with having goals and objectives. While business travel is just a small part of your core business, it’s also important to have it under control, with clear goals lined out. Defining clear objectives for business trips will help you make better decisions about who to send on a trip and if it’s really necessary to travel. Whether you have a corporate travel planner or not within your company, planning is everything.

3. Have a clear and detailed travel policy

A travel policy is like a north star for corporate travel programs allowing you to save money and streamline the whole process so that even if you don’t have a corporate travel planner on staff, you are prepared to handle business travel in the best way possible. It should include a clear approval process, everything necessary to manage corporate meetings, such as corporate hotel booking , corporate flights , corporate car rental and per diem allowances and a reimbursement policy. 

Be sure to be clear about who is allowed to travel business class versus economy, what hotels are allowed and who is in charge of approving travel. The stricter you are, the more you will make a difference in your company’s bottom line. Travel savings come by being vigilant with your travel policy.

Don’t know where to get started with your travel policy ?

4. save on hotel and airfare.

Saving money on business trips starts with one of the most important things of all: hotels and airfare. By working with a travel management platform like GetGoing you can get access to the best travel deals on flights and hotels. Instead of scouring the internet for the best prices you can be confident that your employees have access to all the best fares. This way you know whether a flight or a hotel is within your travel budget so you can easily approve a trip or let one of your managers do so. 

5. Optimize business trips 

The only way to fully reduce your travel spend and optimize business trips is to get everyone involved. Get together with your whole team to give them ideas about what makes a good corporate travel planner and how to be more efficient and organized on their business trips. For example, encourage employees to share transportation to and from the airport. Sometimes it can be cheaper to leave a car at the airport than pay a taxi round trip. 

Work with your office managers and HR representatives to develop a training program around corporate travel planning so that everyone is on the same page. Only once you have educated employees about how to optimize business travel can you be sure that everyone is working together towards a common goal.

6. Reduce effort

Reducing the effort of travel planning starts with encouraging traveling smarter. If your employees have to make a trip, make sure they consolidate their visits and meetings to make it worthwhile and cost effective. Corporate travel planners and individuals must be organized to make this happen, planning in advance and planning ahead both in the short-term and long-term. 

Foresee the meetings and conferences that happen yearly, and the clients that should be visited regularly. Once you have the year mapped out, it will be easier to create a budget and forecast your travel spend. You will also be able to better evaluate if your employees (and your budget) have left room for more travel. Of course, be sure to set aside some budget for last minute trips.

How to manage corporate travel planning effectively

Once you’ve planned ahead of time, defined your goals, have had a clear and detailed travel policy, found a way to save on airfare and hotels, optimized your business trips by reducing effort, you’re on your way to effectively managing corporate travel planning effectively and cost efficiently. But there’s more to it! It’s important to be resilient, keep open communication channels, cede control when necessary, and work with an all-in-one business travel management platform.

Be resilient

Another important part of effective travel planning is being resilient. Things won’t always go as you planned or budgeted for so be sure to have a flexible travel policy that you can update and manage easily.

Keep open communication channels

Check in frequently with your road warriors to see when changes are needed, and keep communication open and honest. The more employees feel their opinion is valued, the more the process of planning business travel will become a symbiotic effort. Their input is crucial to continue to innovate and be productive on the road. 

Cede some control

As the head of a small company you are probably used to wearing a lot of different hats, but that doesn’t mean you should be in control of everything that happens in the company. While control can be good in some ways when it comes to things like having control over your budget, but when it comes to corporate travel planning, it’s ok to surrender some control. Delegating is one of the easiest ways to do this. 

Once you know who to delegate to, let your organizational structure do the work for you. Have your travel policy be created and then look over it. Make sure to set up your approvers in your travel management platform so each staff member knows what they’re in charge of. Once you automate your travel policy , it works in the background so you don’t have to worry about a thing. 

Try automation

The more you can automate, the less manual work for your team, which means saving time. And time is money!! So find a travel management tool that can help you automate the approval steps, your travel policy, and everything that might involve having to send an extra email. The more technology can work for you, the more you can focus on what really matters.

Make sure you have an all-in-one travel management platform

A travel management platform is your key to optimize corporate travel planning. You can set up and automate your travel policy, delegate your approvers, and cede control, knowing that your platform is working for you around the clock to make sure you make the most of your business travel program. 

This corporate travel guide is designed to give you the tips to optimize and save on business travel. Want to hear more? Schedule a meeting now to find out what GetGoing can do for you.

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The comeback of corporate travel: How should companies be planning?

It seems that, finally, the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel is in sight—at least in some parts of the world. In 2020, total global business travel expenses contracted by 52 percent, while managed corporate-travel spending in the United States plummeted 71 percent, or $94 billion. Last year, when we reported  on the impact of COVID-19 on corporate travel, we projected that the road to recovery would be a long and uneven one.

Much has changed since then, thanks largely to progress on the vaccination front. Even though there’s much debate  surrounding the timing of herd immunity in the United States, it’s indisputable that vaccination rates are on the rise across the country. At the time of writing, more than 40 percent of the US population has been fully vaccinated , with more than 50 percent having received at least one dose. Companies are starting to bring employees back to offices. Corporate executives are planning in-person meetings and gatherings with customers and colleagues.

In light of new developments, to what extent will videoconferencing replace business trips? How should corporations prepare for the next phase of business travel? While our insights from last year still hold, we’ve sharpened our understanding of how business leaders could be thinking about the postpandemic role of corporate travel. In this article, we identify four categories of business travelers—the “never left,” the “never returning,” the “fear of missing out” (FOMO), and the “wait and see” segments—and provide recommendations for how key players in the corporate-travel ecosystem can make effective plans in this context.

What’s changed: Increased vaccination is expanding flexible work arrangements

The most significant change shaping our thinking about the return of corporate travel is the rising vaccination rates in the United States and Europe. We project that the United States and the United Kingdom will slowly transition toward normalcy in mid-2021, with the rest of the European Union following shortly after (Exhibit 1).

Notwithstanding the risks presented by new virus strains and limited visibility into the duration of vaccine immunity, rising vaccination rates are ameliorating some of the travel anxiety. Many organizations are now proactively figuring out the future of work —which includes the role of business travel.

For many companies, COVID-19 has proven that more workplace flexibility is possible . Around 70 percent of executives said their companies will employ more temporary workers than before the pandemic, and 72 percent of executives report that their companies have started to adopt permanent remote-working arrangements for a subset of their employees. Nearly 40 percent of the workforce in the United States has the potential to work from anywhere. These signals and others suggest that many organizations are reevaluating working and organizational arrangements , including when, why, and how their employees should hit the road.

There’s no consensus, however, among business leaders about what to do with this newfound flexibility, and many organizations have not yet clearly communicated a vision for postpandemic work: around 30 percent of executives in a recent survey  say they have not heard about specific plans for corporate travel after the pandemic, while another 28 percent described their companies’ plans as vague.

Four key segments in the return of corporate travel

Breaking down corporate trips into different segments can help travel planners and suppliers plan for the return of corporate travel. We’ve identified four different business-travel profiles, each sitting at a different point on the travel-resilience spectrum. Three indicators were used to define each archetype and determine its position on the spectrum: sector, travel purpose, and whether the trip was domestic or international. For travel purpose, if in-person interactions remain critical for a company, then the more resilient such business trips are. Some assumptions were made on how likely it was that some forms of corporate travel would recover rather than be substituted by videoconference technology.

The profile mix varies from company to company, and it’s possible for all four to coexist within the same organization, although some might feature more prominently in some companies and less in others.

• The “never left” segment. On one end of the spectrum, employees for whom travel is deemed essential for conducting business resumed their trips as soon as lockdowns eased. This category accounted for around 15 percent of all corporate travel expenses in 2019 and includes managers in manufacturing companies with a wide distribution of factories and plants and field-operation workers. Those who were reluctant to fly opted for rail and private cars instead.
• The “never returning” segment . On the other end, business travelers that contributed to one-fifth of business travel spending in 2019 present an enticing opportunity for corporations to permanently slash their corporate-travel budgets. Digital adopters who are able to maintain high levels of effectiveness while working remotely may never return to corporate travel. Furthermore, advances made in digital technologies that enhance oversight of outposts have paved the way for corporate travel to be further reduced. For instance, many chain restaurants found ways to minimize corporate travel by replacing in-person visits with virtual alternatives, as well as establishing more local oversight systems. They are likely to want to keep these significant cost savings; although a certain number of business trips will continue after the pandemic even in this segment, they will do so at much lower levels than before.
• The “fear of missing out” (FOMO) segment. The bulk of business travel (60 percent of business-travel expenditure in 2019)—which will likely drive the rebound of corporate travel—will be fueled by the FOMO segment: those traveling to cultivate important client relationships. Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) will likely increase corporate travel at much faster rates, as they are not subject to the heightened approval process that large enterprises have to follow. SMEs are likely to trigger a domino effect where one company’s resumption of business trips will catalyze its rivals’ return to work-related travel. Faced with intense competition, different players in the company (leadership, management, staff) coalesce to reinstate corporate travel at scale to seize a first-mover advantage over rival businesses. An April Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) member survey reported that more than 50 percent of respondents are developing or plan to develop a timeline for resuming travel, updated travel policies, or new safety resources and information for travelers.
• The “wait and see” segment. This segment consists of workers in relatively noncompetitive industries and roles; it contributed 5 percent of total business-travel spending in 2019. These corporate travelers tend to come from the public sector, professional associations, and nonprofits. During the pandemic, many professional associations were able to hold virtual events to replace in-person conferences and will likely be more cautious in their return to travel.

Taken together, the trajectories of the four travel categories confirm our earlier projection of an uneven recovery for corporate travel. Overall, we can expect a 20 percent reduction in corporate travel spending by 2023.

In addition, it’s worth noting that even within these segments, business-travel recovery will vary depending on the purpose and distance of the business trips (Exhibit 2). For instance, even for firms in the “never left” segment, overseas travel to attend international conferences has not returned because of government-imposed restrictions due to public-health concerns. Furthermore, given the uneven rollout of COVID-19 vaccines internationally, the return of international travel may be further suspended in regions with limited or delayed access to vaccines due to sustained public-health restrictions and/or disease outbreaks. On the flip side, “never returning” business travelers may still make exceptions for key events that are held regionally.

In the United States, a comparison of a multinational conglomerate’s internal and external travel spend and that of a private health insurer provides an example of how the recovery trajectory may differ from business to business (Exhibit 3). Internal travel encompasses trips taken for intracompany purposes, where employees participate in activities such as training, team building, or inspection of field operations. External travel, on the other hand, refers to trips employees take for engagements outside the company, including in-person meetings with clients and suppliers, trade conferences, and customer sales calls.

The multinational conglomerate we examined, a manufacturer of building products, had a total travel spend in 2019 of around $80 million. As a customer-driven business, the company spends the majority of its travel expenses on external travel. Much of this falls into the FOMO segment, which is already recovering at a faster pace this year relative to internal travel even though the overall travel expenditure remains depressed. The bulk of its internal travel was for the purposes of internal collaboration in 2019, a third of which is expected to be permanently eliminated, while the rest should gradually return over the rest of this year and 2022.

A McKinsey Live event on 'Returning to corporate travel: How do we get it right?'

Approaching the future of corporate travel: Four steps

Charting a safe and effective road map for future corporate travel requires all players to collaborate. Key players in the ecosystem—suppliers (including airlines, hotels, car-rental and rideshare companies), corporate-travel planners, travel intermediaries such as online travel agencies (OTAs), global-distribution-system (GDS) providers, and travelers themselves—need to master four critical skills: leveraging real-time data, planning with agility, aiming for comfort and safety, and communicating with clarity.

Leverage real-time data

Planning for the future can feel like flying through a fog of uncertainty, which makes it even more important for players to leverage real-time data to inform their decision making. Organizations could invest in data capabilities to identify and monitor the first signs of an acceleration in business travel.

Planning for the future can feel like flying through a fog of uncertainty, which makes it even more important for players to leverage real-time data to inform their decision making.

OTAs and GDS providers may be worth exploring as new data sources. Travel intermediaries such as these are uniquely situated to provide aggregate data for each industry. For instance, they can inform a corporate-travel planner how many seats are being booked by the rest of the company’s sector, signaling whether the company is ahead of or behind the curve. Many corporate-travel planners are also concerned about the fluctuations in the cost and availability of tickets, given the volatility of flight schedules during this time. Intermediaries can provide data that suggest which flights are more likely to stay on an airline’s schedule, helping clients build more agility into their decision making. Intermediaries may be able to create a new revenue stream from these data.

Would you like to learn more about our Travel, Logistics & Infrastructure Practice ?

Real-time data also help suppliers of corporate travel, such as air carriers and hotels, become more agile. As corporate travel returns, these suppliers will need to deploy the right resources in real time to match demand, which may shift abruptly. For example, one airline made a costly mistake by being unprepared for the sudden spike in demand for leisure flights over the recent Easter holiday. As recovery will likely be uneven, airlines will have to figure out how to have aircraft, pilots, and crew on standby so they can increase capacity quickly whenever there’s a need. Organizations can meet regularly to discuss data-driven insights and align on next steps.

Embed agility into planning

It pays to have a detailed plan and strategy for different recovery scenarios in place. When demand picks up, many firms may find that they don’t have the time to pause and think through their strategies.

When it comes to organizing business trips for employees, corporate-travel planners will need to take into account four considerations:

• First, the factors that affect whether corporate travel should increase: for example, local and regional infection levels, customer demand, and competitive actions.
• Second, the relevant data sources used to evaluate these factors: these could include public-health indicators, customer surveys, data from travel partners on industry trends and competitor behavior, and real-time pricing from GDSs consistent with typical corporate agreements, even as airline-fare classes go through realignments.
• Third, company policies on business travel: What distance-based policies should staff adhere to? Should they use rental cars, rideshares, taxis, or flights? When should they wear masks or engage in group gatherings? How (and should) companies distinguish between what activities vaccinated and unvaccinated employees can participate in?
• Fourth, information needed by travelers: this includes websites, travel help desks, and messaging.

A US health-products wholesaler and manufacturer provides an example of how these considerations work together. Currently, the company’s factories are open, while corporate offices remain closed and corporate travel is at a standstill. The company recently decided to stage-gate the resumption of corporate travel, starting with executives. Critical sales meetings and conferences will be in the next wave of business trips, followed by general sales and internal corporate activities, and finally, internal training and events. The level of corporate travel varies by state, based on local infection and vaccination rates. The company also set up tracking codes in its customer-relationship-management system to monitor when sales are won or lost due to competitive travel, which involved working with its corporate travel agent to get data on corporate-travel bookings.

The company instituted different policies for each level, including when masks must be worn, the permitted group size for indoor gatherings, and what lodging choices should be made (for example, home shares are avoided for safety and sanitation reasons). The company is developing internal brochures and a communications plan to keep its employees informed.

Personalize experiences based on safety and comfort

Safety and comfort are crucial elements in the travel experience, and they can sometimes pull in opposite directions. More can be done to bridge this gap. Both employers and travel companies could find ways to give passengers peace of mind and improve comfort and convenience. The guiding principle here is giving the traveler greater control over decisions that affect their sense of comfort and security.

For instance, airlines can personalize flight experiences by improving the functionality of their mobile apps to allow passengers to preorder their meals and snacks or make special requests. Hotels may let guests decide on the frequency and timing of housekeeping. They might consider offering initiatives that improve guests’ physical and mental well-being, for example, by offering virtual trainers to guide meditation or fitness practices. Suppliers could also consider offering radically transparent flexibility policies and allow customers a greater range of options with different associated fees for cancellations and changes.

Communicate with clarity

Even the most seasoned travelers have to accept that traveling has changed. Masks have become ubiquitous, and border restrictions, boarding procedures, and hygiene requirements seem to be ever changing. It’s critical that organizations communicate clearly what their corporate-travel policies are at any given moment in time, for every stage of the journey—from pre- to post-trip.

It helps for organizations to be extra proactive in communicating any type of change, whether regarding company-wide strategic policies or more granular details such as the company’s preferred rideshare or car-rental options for corporate travel. When changes in operations are made, companies can take special care to ensure the availability of amenities. Leadership can play a prominent role in modeling how to travel in this new reality by clearly reiterating company policies. Information websites, travel help desks, and easily digestible infographics could all be used to get the message across. Keep channels of communication open and allow employees to give feedback and raise concerns as and when they arise.

Employees, too, will go through an adjustment period as they resume their business trips. Leadership can communicate that it’s OK for them to take it slowly and that they should raise concerns if they ever feel unsafe.

Some corporate travelers will find they have to adapt quickly to the many changes in business travel, while others will have the luxury of easing themselves in over a longer period. Unpredictability will continue to be a fact of life, but one thing is certain: if everyone plays their part well (and smartly, by leveraging the technologies and processes at our disposal), the resumption of corporate travel is possible.

Jenna Benefield is a consultant in McKinsey’s Philadelphia office, Vik Krishnan is a partner in the San Francisco office, Esteban Ramirez is the capabilities and insights team leader in the San Jose office, and Matthew Straus is an associate partner in the Chicago office.

The authors wish to thank Guenter Fuchs, Jennifer Heller, and Jillian Tellez for their contributions to this article.

This article was edited by Jason Li, a senior editor in the Shanghai office.

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The Ultimate Corporate Travel Management Guide 2024

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Table of Contents

Companies can increase their profits by as much as $12.5 for every dollar spent on Corporate travel if the trip is well-planned and performed.

Businessmen nowadays prefer self-booking and other forms of independent travel planning. To maximize the return on investment from business trips, companies strive to reduce associated costs. Managed travel programs and innovative corporate travel management systems can help you achieve your goals.

Our corporate travel management guide for organizing business trips can help you accomplish these goals and more.

What is Corporate Travel Management and How Does it Work?

The term “Corporate Travel Management” refers to the process through which a firm exercises control over, keeps track of, and provides an accounting of its travel-related expenditures. It is possible to delegate Corporate travel arrangements to in-house travel coordinators, external Corporate travel services, or office administrative personnel.

Even while these programs are generally referred to as corporate travel management “CTM”, even small businesses can benefit from a specialized program.

Key Goals of Corporate Travel Management

Some businesses value corporate travel management programs because business travel is so critical to the success of their firm and its workers. Despite the commonplace nature of video conferences, there is still no alternative to face-to-face contact when developing and maintaining client and colleague relationships, turning prospects into customers, and networking with other professionals in the field.

Businesses may want to think about the advantages of corporate travel management programs, such as:

1- Cost-Cutting Measures

Corporate Travel Management agents, teams, and specialists should be more knowledgeable about corporate travel than the average employee. They are frequently better suited to negotiating or discovering the most outstanding prices on flights, hotels, insurance, and other travel-related expenses.

2- Saving Time

Organizing a business trip requires significant time and effort, especially if your personnel travels frequently. Corporate Travel Management teams take on the responsibility for your employees or finance department, allowing them to focus on their tasks.

3- Policy Enforcing

Corporate Travel Management personnel can assist in the enforcement of corporate travel regulations, allowing businesses to monitor and reinforce compliance concerning hotel, car, and airfare spending restrictions, vendor stipulations, and other factors.

6 Phases of Corporate Travel Management

initially, the scope of “Corporate travel management” has been limited to only reserving flights and lodging. However, with the rise of customization in corporate travel, workers are looking for additional amenities and assistance when away from home. As a result, the two-step corporate travel management process has evolved into a six-stage process.

Creating a company’s travel policy, reserving flights and lodging, and compiling post-trip reports on employee business travel expenses are all part of today’s sophisticated corporate travel management processes.

Consider the 6 steps involved in corporate travel management and planning:

1- Travel Policy Development

Your company travel management policy serves as the cornerstone of your whole corporate travel management process. It dictates how various levels of personnel will travel, where they will stay, their per-diem allowance, etc. Therefore, your corporate travel strategy should be cost-effective without sacrificing the safety and comfort of your personnel. To prevent infractions, it should also be understandable by personnel.

A corporate travel management company can assist you in developing a travel strategy that optimizes travel expenditures, meets business travel goals, and assures employee safety and comfort.

2- Flight and Hotel Reservations

Corporate travel management is primarily responsible for booking flights and hotels for employees.

The travel managers are responsible for finding secure and comfortable flights/hotels for staff traveling to various locations. Additionally, each employee’s booking must comply with company rules. Typically, companies use the services of corporate travel management (which utilizes a Global Distribution System) to book their flights, as opposed to visiting several Online Travel Agency (OTA) websites.

However, modern corporate travel management businesses also include a self-booking tool that consolidates flight and hotel bookings onto a single platform and streamlines the booking process. By logging into the platform, employees may arrange economical, policy-compliant flights and accommodations on their own.

3- Passenger Assistance

Employees on overseas business trips may require assistance in locating the shortest route to their meeting location, utilizing public transportation and complying with travel restrictions, or in the event of an emergency. Therefore, offering support around-the-clock is one of the most important parts of a company’s corporate travel management.

You can hire a travel management company to provide your employees with 24/7 help. With a reputable corporate travel management business, your employees will have access to a dedicated customer service team in case they need to make last-minute modifications or want immediate assistance.

In addition, modern corporate travel management firms offer chatbots powered by artificial intelligence to give client service outside of normal business hours. So that your staff does not feel abandoned on business trips, these bots are ready to handle inquiries about routes, destinations, transportation, etc. as well as ordinary emergencies.

4- Consulting

Providing consultancy services involves providing business travelers with a variety of useful information for their journeys. The information includes destination country traditions, foreign travel etiquette, staff safety evaluations, and more. The evolution and extension of the corporate travel management process have increased the demand for consulting services.

A duty of care plan is an example of a consulting service par excellence. A firm has a legal and moral obligation to protect the safety of its employees within the company and on business trips. A comprehensive duty of care plan can aid in mitigating hazards and ensuring the safety of personnel.

A travel risk assessment checklist is another instance of consulting service. Using specific questions regarding the destination, employee health, emergency training, and data security, it is capable of evaluating all areas of employee safety. Consulting services can assist in increasing employee satisfaction during business trips.

5- Travel Auxiliaries

During hectic workdays and endless meetings, business travel arrangements are certain to be a source of frustration for your staff. For example, they may forget a planned work trip that requires planning. In addition, they may find it difficult to develop a comprehensive itinerary.

Travel auxiliary services include itinerary management, travel updates, alarms for overspending, etc. These services are intended to facilitate business travel for your staff by providing additional support. Multiple other facets of company travel management can be managed with the assistance of travel management software. For example, it can notify staff of forthcoming visits to allow for last-minute preparations.

Moreover, it can assist your employees in creating integrated itineraries based on bookings made with itinerary management. Your staff also has access to digital receipt management, which allows them to capture receipts and quickly incorporate them into expense reports for approval.

6- Analytics and Reporting

The data on travel expenses provides insight into your employees’ spending habits, main cost areas, savings, and policy compliance, among other things. You must frequently record and analyze this data to maintain track of your travel expenditures and make adjustments to your travel policy based on a sound basis (if required).

The technology of corporate travel management software enables two forms of intuitive and intelligent travel expense reporting on the trip expenditures and behavior of your employees. The first is real-time reporting utilizing dashboards to show the immediate status of expenditures. The second is monthly/quarterly/annual reporting depicting the travel policy’s evolution over time.

Challenges in Corporate Travel Management

• Interminable email chains necessitated for flight reservations may derail your day and prevent you from getting anything done.
• The administrative staff is overworked and stressed because they are responsible for handling all travel arrangements, booking requests, airline changes, and cancellations.
• There is a complete breakdown in communication between the finance team and the rest of the company as they struggle to determine who is paying for which trips and why.
• The operations staff meticulously crafted a travel policy that no one reads.
• It’s not the same as booking a trip independently in terms of flexibility for passengers.
• Booking online is a must for most tourists since they feel compelled to plan their trips. not within the confines of the company’s guidelines

​Effective Strategies for Planning Corporate Travel

The following are suggestions for planning business trips of any scope:

• Pick a clever booking tool
• Ensure round-the-clock assistance for travelers
• Real-time organization and use of travel expenditure data
• Increased coordination between administration and finance

1-   Pick a Clever Booking Tool

Since the advent of internet booking services, companies from all over the world have started using consumer websites to book business trips.

What do you think happens when a business books flights using consumer-grade tools? As there is no one keeping an eye on things, the CFO has to play the bad cop. In any organization, the finance team is responsible for managing corporate hidden travel costs in an overly cautious and controlled manner.

The transition is technologically impossible without it. The first step in modern travel management is settling on a trustworthy, user-friendly platform.

2-  Ensure Round-The-Clock Assistance For Travelers

You’d have to be a vampire that never needs sleep to provide travel support around the clock 24/7, so your best bet is to find a reliable partner who can do it for you.

3-  Real-Time Organization And Use Of Travel Expenditure Data

Successful corporate travel management is not restricted to the office’s administrative personnel. Expense management also requires close cooperation between your finance and operations departments. Why? You need data that is not only accurate but also provides valuable insights into travel expenses.

By utilizing cost centers, and labels, and making sure all of your trips are available in the reporting tool, you can generate insightful reports that will aid the finance team in identifying trends, leaks, and opportunities for budget optimization.

4-  Increased Coordination Between Administration And Finance

The fact that modern travel management helps the entire organization is its most crucial component. We’ve discussed providing stellar support for travelers. We’ve talked about saving time as an admin. So, what about finance?

Streamlined approvals process

Make the administrative and financial teams’ participation in the approval process as seamless as you can.

Easy access invoices

All invoices must be swiftly collected by the finance team so that spending can be reconciled and clear reimbursement procedures can be established. Utilizing a platform that complies travel expenditures into a single monthly invoice is the most effective method to do this.

Ability to track spend instantly

Consolidate all travel spending onto a single platform so that reports on what is being spent, by whom, and why can be produced (when using tags and labels). Determine whether you need to give them a monthly report or whether they prefer to download it themselves, just like with the bills.

Cost savings on trips

Saving time is only one aspect of fixing corporate travel. Platforms for booking travel from the 1980s and 1990s are still in use by many businesses. This indicates that they markup the inventory to a higher price than what a customer would pay. Reduce travel expenses and implement consumer-grade trip charges to impress the finance staff.

Essential Tools for Corporate Travel Management

Software designed specifically for managing corporate travel is used for everything from scheduling and organizing trips to tracking and reporting.

Other notable features and uses include the automation of corporate travel management requirements and the consolidation of travel invoices and providers.

No matter if you’re an experienced user of corporate travel management software or just beginning your research, you’ll find all the information you need here:

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Airssist ( ios – android ).

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the most opulent airport transit and arrival/departure experience are provided by airssist meet and greet services. You can still get all of these even if you don’t travel first class.

Business Travel Booking Tools

Travelperk ( ios – android ).

By consolidating the largest travel inventory in the globe in one location, TravelPerk approaches this problem. TravelPerk integrates many airlines, hotels, trains, and more into its dashboard and mobile app , just like the websites you use for personal usage, reducing the number of platforms your team needs to visit.

For finance teams, things continue to get considerably more fascinating. When all of your company’s travel is booked in one location, managing reservations, and creating reports become tremendously easy.

Airbnb for Work ( iOS – Android )

You can reserve a variety of lodging options for your business traveling group.

But there are a few significant variations:

• Bookings are associated with the business profile. So, a team member may reserve the property they want, and the finance team can gather the information and generate an invoice later on without having to follow up with anyone
• It goes beyond just sleeping quarters. Meeting and conference rooms, as well as temporary office space, can all be rented.
• If you’re traveling with a group, you may also find fantastic team-building activities using Airbnb Experiences.

TravelBank ( iOS – Android )

TravelBank is Similar to TravelPerk. Team members can book all of their trips through one single platform.

This implies that you may search for, reserve, and manage journeys from start to finish. Providing your staff with a single spot where they can schedule and make payments is also always a huge advantage, as we’ve stated.

However, the majority of consumers adore its spending report features just as much. The user can screenshot receipts for flights or ground transportation, and these are compared to charges on the business card, similar to some of the features below.

Flightfox ( Website )

Flightfox is a travel agency management system that offers an online corporate travel management tool where you can evaluate forthcoming trips, download expense records, etc. if you want the experience of having a travel agency but also want contemporary software to go with it.

Salestrip ( iOS – Android )

For sales teams and consultants who use salesforce, Salestrip may be a viable alternative for corporate travel management software. You can track and manage journeys at the CRM level so that you may associate them with various client accounts.

Streamlining Travel Expense Management

Expensify ( ios – android ).

The industry standard for expenditure management is Expensify. It provides a smartphone app for simple expense tracking (just take a picture of your receipt and it will enter the data for you).

Additionally, it now has a new credit option, so staff members don’t even have to worry about uploading receipts for numerous transactions.

Brex ( iOS – Android )

Brex is a business credit card that works well for both new and existing companies. It provides better rewards than the majority of cards, bigger credit limits, and makes it simple to monitor and control spending across all categories, including travel.

Spendesk ( iOS – Android )

Spendesk assists businesses in tracking and managing spending through credit card services and spend management software. To make budgetary decisions, businesses may simply classify and categorize all spending in real-time.

Tips for Ensuring Stress-Free Corporate Travel

Notes for the upcoming meeting, presentation, and more, there is so much on your employee’s mind. Making their business travel easy and stress free , especially global business travel, should be your priority. You don’t need a business travel planner or business travel guide; you can do so in a few simple ways. airssist today provides you with a list of ways in which you can make corporate travel stress free for your team.

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FAQs about Corporate Travel Management

1. what are the biggest benefits of implementing corporate travel management.

a. Cost savings: By centralizing travel bookings and leveraging negotiated rates with suppliers, corporate travel management can help businesses save money on travel expenses.

b. Policy compliance: A structured travel management program ensures that employees adhere to the company's travel policies, resulting in better control and compliance.

c. Streamlined processes: Corporate travel management helps streamline travel booking, expense management, and reporting processes, making them more efficient and reducing administrative burdens.

d. Duty of care: Travel management programs prioritize the safety and well-being of employees during business trips, providing assistance in emergencies and ensuring compliance with travel risk management protocols.

e. Data analysis and reporting: Implementing corporate travel management allows businesses to gather and analyze travel data, enabling them to make informed decisions, negotiate better deals, and identify potential cost-saving opportunities.

2. How much does corporate travel management cost?

The cost of corporate travel management can vary depending on various factors such as the size of your business, the complexity of your travel needs, and the level of service you require. Generally, corporate travel management services can be provided by travel agencies or specialized travel management companies, and they may charge fees based on a percentage of the travel spend, a per-transaction fee, or a combination of both. It's best to consult with travel management service providers to get accurate pricing information tailored to your specific business requirements.

3. Do I need a dedicated travel manager for my small business?

While a dedicated travel manager can be beneficial for large businesses with significant travel needs, it may not be necessary for small businesses. In small businesses, travel management responsibilities can often be handled by existing staff members, such as office managers or administrative personnel. However, as your business grows and travel needs become more complex, it may be worth considering a dedicated travel manager or outsourcing travel management to a specialized service provider to ensure efficiency and cost savings.

4. How can I ensure my employees comply with the travel policy?

a. Communicate the policy: Clearly communicate the travel policy to all employees, ensuring they understand the guidelines and expectations.

b. Provide training: Offer training sessions or materials to educate employees on the travel policy and procedures.

c. Implement approval processes: Require employees to seek approval for their travel plans, ensuring that all travel aligns with the policy.

d. Use a centralized booking system: Implement a centralized travel booking system that enforces policy compliance and allows for easy monitoring and reporting.

e. Regularly review and update the policy: Keep the travel policy up to date with changing needs and regulations, and communicate any updates to employees.

f. Monitor and enforce compliance: Regularly review travel bookings and expenses to identify any non-compliance issues, and take appropriate actions when necessary.

5. What are some best practices for keeping travellers safe during business trips?

a. Develop a comprehensive travel risk management plan: Assess potential risks, establish protocols for emergencies, and provide employees with information on how to stay safe while traveling.

b. Provide travel safety training: Educate employees on travel safety best practices, including personal safety, cybersecurity, and awareness of their surroundings.

c. Use reliable accommodation providers: Choose reputable hotels and accommodations with good security and safety measures.

d. Maintain open communication: Establish a communication system with employees during their trips, allowing them to report any safety concerns or emergencies.

e. Utilize travel alerts and tracking tools: Stay informed about potential risks by subscribing to travel advisories and using tracking tools to monitor employee locations.

f. Provide access to support services: Offer 24/7 assistance services for emergencies, such as medical assistance or travel security advice.

6. What are some popular corporate travel management software options?

a. Concur: Concur is a widely used travel and expense management platform that offers features like travel booking, expense tracking, and reporting.

b. Egencia: Egencia is a comprehensive travel management platform that provides booking tools, expense management, and travel policy compliance features.

c. TripActions: TripActions offers a user-friendly platform for managing travel bookings, expenses, and policy compliance, with additional features like travel risk management and traveler support.

d. SAP Travel OnDemand: SAP Travel OnDemand is a cloud-based travel management solution that integrates with other SAP modules, providing end-to-end travel management capabilities.

e. Certify: Certify is a travel and expense management software that offers travel booking, expense tracking, and reporting features, suitable for businesses of all sizes.

Note : Please note that the information on this page is generic & subject to change due to fluctuations in airport services. Kindly confirm service availability with our team, as offerings may vary daily.

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Corporate travel management: Essential guide for businesses

Today businesses rely heavily on business travel to succeed. As and when the processes are re-defining in the corporate industry, business travel is one such aspect that is changing at a rapid pace. It is becoming more value-driven and technologically advanced. When it comes to managing a business trip, it doesn't just involve flight bookings, accommodation, transportation, and meals. It also requires setting guidelines for approval processes, financials such as expense reports, budgets, reimbursement protocols, and corporate travel policies compliance. 

We will look at the challenges that occur while managing corporate travel and how you can simplify your travel management process. Business travel management is necessary so that employees can optimize their time on the road while still keeping company goals in mind and complying with regulations.

For employees, work trips can be both productive and exciting, and it is only until they come back from the tip and spend hours filing that expense reports. Trips should be an opportunity to broaden your network, raise your company's profile and create unforgettable memories But making the expense report.

What is corporate travel management?

Corporate travel management entails everything from planning and booking flights, hotels, and transportation to organizing the proper papers and approval methods and mileage tracking and paying for everything essential for a corporate trip. In simple terms, if we were to explain, it is a system for monitoring and organizing business travel.

With managing business travel, it's essential to balance employees' travel needs with the company's financial and other objectives. Some businesses hire specialized travel services to handle this other full-time travel managers.

Importance of travel management

Business travel management is critical because it ensures that businesses should get the most out of their travel expenses. It's important to analyze that they are not overpaying for transportation and lodging. It also specifies how employees plan business travels and guarantees that all travel expenditures are distributed in the company's best interests. The most significant factor in having a well-managed company travel program is to ensure employees' safety.

Corporate travel management categorization

Financial control: Involves working with each department to evaluate their travel needs and build a budget based on current spending.

Safety and efficiency: It involves ensuring employee safety and efficiency while keeping tabs on travel expenses.

Policy adherence: It entails the creation of business travel policies that reduce the company's travel costs.

Productivity: It allows employees to feel calm and recharged at all phases of travel to achieve the goals of a business trip. This helps them concentrate exclusively on their task, resulting in better results.

What does corporate travel manager do?

Corporate travel managers are a vital part of the company. A corporate travel manager is the internal employee of a company, or maybe, an external agent (if you have outsourced your travel system) who oversees and plans the corporate trip for an entire organization. And not just this, the central role entails establishing corporate travel policies, which is the make or break point of a company as it involves the rules and procedures for employees to follow. Overall, the travel manager assists the organization in efficiently and effectively navigating worldwide business travel.

Some of the activities that a travel manager facilitates are:

1. Booking trips and accommodations for employees.

2. Keeping track of the company's travel expenditure and ensuring that it remains within budget.

3. Vendor selection and management.

4. Evaluating or delivering travel expense information to the finance department for review.

In-house travel managers

An in-house travel management agent is a person you hire to handle the booking of trips, make last-minute modifications to travel plans, and maximize your savings while finding the most excellent prices for your staff.

External corporate travel managers

These people are highly specialized travel agents. These people are available at your request and use online booking tools to help you save money. External travel management agencies will be open 24 hours a day to your service.

Simplify your travel expense management process

4c's of corporate travel management.

Every business needs to master the four c's of corporate travel management if they want to streamline their travel spending.

Collaboration

It's necessary to understand the why of overspending. As overspending by employees can account for up to a third of a company's travel and expense budget, employees must collaborate with corporate travel managers to understand travel policy guidelines, and CFOs must collaborate with travel managers to create strategic policy improvements.

In business, everything comes down to expenses on office supplies, vendor payments, ads, or traveling Though traveling is just a small part of expenses, it can take a significant toll on your budget if not managed properly. Overall corporate travel managers have to look for only two aspects: Spending less and higher ROI from business travel Pricing optimization can help organizations finance additional business trips without increasing their budgets substantially.

Effective travel management will only be possible if CFOs are involved in understanding the technicalities of a travel policy or instead of creating a business travel policy. Because if it comes down to cost-cutting, they should know where the travel spend is allocated and why.

Whenever we talk about a good environment, culture plays an essential role. Businesses should encourage a positive corporate travel culture for employees to be their most productive selves; Businesses may empower their employees with tailored travel experiences by utilizing effective corporate travel management software.

How does travel expense management software work?

Because each employee in the organization has a corporate card, the process for each employee is the same:

- Through their travel software, the employee submits a request for an additional trip. This information contains the vendor, the price, and the rationale for the purchase.

- Their manager, deployed during the approval process, receives an alert. They get access to all of the information through the software they require without leaving their workstation.

- The manager gives his approval, and the employee can now access the funds.

- Using either a virtual card or physical card, they make the purchase for which they requested funds.

- When employees upload a photo of receipts, the transaction (together with the receipt or invoice) is forwarded to the finance department.

- The transaction, receipt, and required accounting details are synced to the accounting software. 

- In accounting, inbox transactions are labeled as owner, merchant, amount, date, and status.

- Now the finance team can reconcile expenses & receipts from one single platform through an automated encoding.

What is travel management system?

Travel management systems help companies streamline their travel processes. It is software that allows you to plan, track, analyze business trips and provide travel inventory, policy, and reporting. 

For companies that still follow old and traditional managing expenses, the system smoothens out those manual work and automates them altogether.

A travel management program is built on four pillars:

- Maintaining employee safety.

- Boosting program cost-effectiveness.

- Increasing employee productivity.

- Increasing transparency.

Challenges in managing corporate travel

Travel costs aren't always the most critical portion of a company's budget. Employees think that if it isn't a core component of their job, they will find various ways to avoid adhering to the rigorous standards. And instead, focus on the element of their job description. They avoid specific guidelines or steps because there are too many rules, approval hurdles, and complicated processes. Challenges to managing corporate travel range from operating costs, rigid policies to not giving employees freedom while planning a corporate trip.

Minimizing errors

Sometimes fixing the errors takes a lot of time. Employees sometimes fill in incorrect expenses, which may not match your credit card statements. It involves going back and forth to your invoices, receipts, and if any receipts go missing, it's annoying. It's annoying in terms of figuring out who approved the expense. So to avoid any errors and save up hours, it's essential to invest in good automation software that avoids the errors and duplication of travel expenses.

Too many rigid rules

For employees, a business trip is an opportunity for new experiences and to build a business. So employees must plan their journey according to what's best for them. Too many rules, like forcing them to live in a particular hotel they don't want. If employees feel compelled to choose specific options, some of the allure is lost, And they may not be able to focus on work assignments with the same excitement. Doing this will provide employees with autonomy and will lessen the burden of the finance team on booking itineraries for every employee.

Expense claims

Filing expense claims is the one thing that employees dislike. Expense reports take a lot of admin if employees pay from their pocket or through company credit cards. Every time employees come back from the trip; they have to spend hours filling the expense report and avail for reimbursement the next day.

The thing with using company credit cards for managing travel expenses is that keeping track of receipts becomes a nightmare for employees and the finance team. The finance team has to collect those receipts every month to reconcile the expenses with the credit card statements And later work to settle employees' claims.

To lessen the burden for both payment cards are the best way to settle expenses. They log in every payment the moment you make it, so there is no more reconciliation or filing expense report headaches.

Monitoring and tracking approvals

Managing travel requests differ for small to large businesses. Large corporations might hire a travel agency to manage that corporate travel, wherein the small businesses' workload comes down to the person in charge of the financial or administrative aspects of the company.

What if you have to go on several business trips? Depending on your company's size, you may find that traveling becomes quite cumbersome compared to how easy it was when you were managing things on a smaller scale. At times like these, having suitable systems in place can help ensure you don't fall behind or delay the approval process.

Otherwise, it could mean missing out on essential things, which means fewer positive outcomes relating directly to your project's results. Sometimes it may also happen that one team member from one department may send you trip requests through different sources simultaneously.

How to automate travel expense management?

Sometimes unplanned travel like last-minute air booking, hotel booking can be hard to pull together, And the challenges seem to vary. Frequent modification or cancellation of flights can add to a company's already enormous travel costs.

Travel automation software helps your finance team and employees:

- In managing all employees and their expenses through an easy-to-use interface.

- Regular detailed reports help keep track of your spending.

- A software that allows you to reconcile your trip expenses easily.

- Pay straight from the company wallet to save the headache of submitting lengthy reimbursement paperwork.

And with all of this, Automation leads to fewer errors in travel arrangements, and the administrative crew is free to focus on more vital tasks. Furthermore, if employees may arrange their excursions, they can design the most convenient vacation for them.

Built-in travel policy

A travel policy is an effective tool to manage employees' travel expenses. No matter how good your travel policy is, it takes time for employees to go through every detail in that lengthy document. And if they do, they might skip some steps, ignore some essential rules, ask too many questions if they don't understand, and forget those minute details. This could lead to mistakes. 

But what if you automate it? That means you can incorporate your travel policy into a travel management system, which eliminates the need for anybody to remember it or ask questions. They follow the procedure from beginning to end, doing what is needed of them. Remember that compliance will be significantly more straightforward if the policy is well-balanced and flexible than if it is excessively rigid.

Set spending limits

This is the best way to control your budget. How. Apart from the flights and overnight accommodation, employees might pay for daily expenses such as meals and cabs out of pocket or with a business card; depending on your firm's policies, these small costs can quickly add to your travel budget. 

So, the finance team can set spending limits for each card according to the budget. And not only this, they can even restrict the available vendors. And the budget for traveling employees is set slightly higher than the other employees. And for that, your finance manager can increase your pre-approved sum to match your per diem. The primary purpose of setting limits on cards is to provide controlled access to company funds to the employees. They can spend freely and fast, but never over the limitations.

Create approval workflows

Approving funds requests or trip expenses is another time-consuming task. With the automation tool, you can request funds and get them approved in real-time just by using the mobile app, web app, and even just from email. 

You can create approval workflows in 3 ways

- No approval is required for any trip

- Approval is required for some trips

- Approval is required for every trip.

You should have a simple approval process in place. If an employee tries to book a trip outside of policy, they should be able to request approval from within the app, And once they send the approval request, the admin should be notified instantly. There's no need to send emails with all the expense details for approval.

The most crucial step is to choose who will approve the trips: the finance manager, corporate travel manager, CFO, or numerous department heads. Some systems offer a multi-level approval process to streamline requests, wherein you 2-3 people to approve the requests. This procedure could save your company time spent on back-and-forth emails between team members and supervisors and hours spent examining the details of budgets per trip type.

Eliminate expense claims

The most challenging work a travel automation software lessens is filing expense reports. So, if there is no filing of expense reports, no expense claims, You know employees hate expense reports altogether. 

As no one wants to come after a long trip and create long expense reports and then wait for months to attain reimbursement, finance departments have to reconcile payments with credit card statements, chase receipts, and instruct the entire firm on complying with the guidelines.

The sad part is, what if employees lose their receipts? A finance manager has to go back and check credit card statements amongst the thousands of other transactions and look for who made the payment and what? Employees can quickly file a claim with the tools by clicking on the receipt and sending it in for review. So, giving employees access to the company's funds from the beginning of their trip takes away a lot of pain and admin work and takes away the headache of losing expense receipts.

Managing employee travel expenses with Volopay

Expense management software like Volopay allows you to pay with virtual and physical cards to keep track of your travel bookings and payments in one spot. You can use a virtual card generated by the platform to book flights or accommodations online. You have a physical, prepaid credit card to pay for when you're on the go, maybe an Uber. As a result, employees are never required to pay for anything with their funds.

Now, it's decided that fixing your travel issues is about improving how your company spends. It would help if you had comprehensive expense management software for your business that manages travel expenses and other expenses. It provides real-time insights into your travel spending, so you don't have to track payments later. Combine this expense management approach with payment methods such as prepaid and corporate expense cards. Both these cards include pre-approvals, spending limits, so you don't have to look into travel policy every time you make payment.

Trusted by finance teams at startups to enterprises.

Manage your business travel expenses without any hassle

The complete guide to corporate travel policies 

The business travel policy guide you’ve been waiting for .

Creating a business travel policy for employees can feel really daunting. You don’t want to just throw something together and hope for the best, but it feels impossible to anticipate every possible scenario. The truth is your policy serves as more than a rule book; it's a guide to better decision-making about your corporate travel program and can save you a world of headaches down the road. 

Introduction

What is a travel policy .

• Why do you need a travel policy?
• How to create a travel policy

What to include in a travel policy 

• Travel policy best practices
• How to promote travel policy compliance
• How to market your travel policy

When to review and update your travel policy

• Final thoughts

When it comes to company travel, a travel policy brings it all to one place. It acts as an influencer for travelers to make the most cost-effective choices, an important visibility tool for your managers and HR department, and it protects your people if it’s done right. 

If you’re new to business travel or haven’t looked at your travel policy in a while, we’ll start with the basics and then move into the nitty gritty of corporate travel policies. We’ll touch on a few best practices for writing a travel policy, what to include, and offer plenty of resources along the way. 

Ready to get cracking? Let’s go! 

A travel policy is a guide for business travelers to follow that outlines: 

• How, where, and when to book 
• Approved technology for travel management 
• Preferred suppliers for air travel, land travel, and accommodations 
• Approvals process for out-of-policy bookings 
• Trip extensions and personal travel 
• Expenses and what is covered or not covered 
• Reimbursement processes 
• Business travel insurance information 
• Emergency procedures and contacts 

Your company’s travel policy should reflect your company culture and values, be supportive of your travelers and their needs, and protect your company from unforeseen circumstances. It acts as a central document that guides your team to the processes of embarking on company business travel, from start to finish! 

While you might hear a few grumbles and groans around the words “policy” or “process,” don’t worry! A travel policy does not need to be rigid and inflexible. 

Do your travelers prefer to book on their own? Don’t take away their autonomy. They can still self-book, you’ll just provide them with a better tool and way to do it more efficiently. 

Do your people feel prepared for any event that can cause a travel hiccup? With a travel policy, you can give them clarity and help them feel more prepared when traveling for business purposes. 

Why do you need a travel policy? 

Your travel policy is an extension of your travel program and company culture. It’s the glue that holds your travel program together – from approvals, expenses, booking processes, and emergency contacts. 

Having a travel policy helps you: 

• Control travel costs 
• Determine how reimbursement works 
• Compile a list of trusted and approved travel vendors 
• Manage an employee’s travel experience and safety 
• Cut rogue bookings – and simplify approvals 
• Budget, report on travel expenses and activity and reconcile bookings 

It’s a roadmap or guidebook that your travelers can reference when they’re booking their own travel if they run into a tricky situation abroad, and it helps provide clarity around processes. 

As a company though, your travel policy helps centralize your travel program, makes data and tracking more accurate and easier to navigate, and it saves time and money (including on expense management). Plus, if you take the time to craft your policy in an intentional and inclusive way, you’ll have a policy your travelers are happier to follow. 

How to create a travel policy for employees 

• Determine business travel guidelines 
• Create a travel policy that puts your people first 
• Set reasonable budget limits 
• Simplify the process of expense claims 
• Adopt a user-friendly all-in-one travel platform 

Once you’ve read through our tips, be sure to download our free  travel policy template  so you can get started on creating a travel policy of your own! 

1) Determine corporate travel guidelines 

When you take the time to create a policy that meets the needs of your business, you are making sure that your travelers are safe, costs are controlled, and you’ve made every business trip count. 

Start by looking at what types of travel are allowed and the reason for each trip. 

If you have team members traveling all over the globe, you might want to set some extra safety measures. You should also decide if there will be restrictions on the type of ground transportation used or where employees can stay. 

Create a process for booking flights, hotels, and other ground transportation needs. How far in advance should they be booking? Do different rules apply based on the traveler’s position? Who is the point of contact for bookings and other travel questions? 

Making sure to include your company’s travel insurance info is also important. Make sure to note if your policy covers medical expenses and/or any losses due to cancellations or delays in transportation services due to factors outside an employee’s control. 

Do you have a policy for reporting and documenting expenses? This includes having a system in place for claims (like meal expenses) and a reimbursement process, so your team can easily get their money! 

2) Create a travel policy that puts your people first

You’ve heard the term “duty of care” before, so it’s important to create a corporate travel policy that puts traveler safety and accessibility needs first. You’ll need to define and assign the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved, including a travel manager, if you have one. 

Set up an emergency plan and provide access to traveler safety information. Determine who is the emergency contact (your TMC?) and how to get in touch. Do they have 24/7 emergency support available by phone or chat? What about email support? 

Invite your HR department, the travelers themselves, and your DE&I manager into a discussion to find out what needs your team has as individuals, what hiccups they face when traveling, and what holes exist in your travel program that make it difficult to navigate. 

Working with a TMC is a great way to ensure travelers are kept safe before and during their trip.  

3) Set reasonable budget limits for business travel

You have a budget you need to adhere to, but is it realistic? Setting reasonable budget limits is key to an effective policy. 

Your budget should account for all travel-related expenses, including airfare, accommodation, meals, and ground transportation. And once you’ve set your budget, you can determine reasonable costs for hotels and accommodation, ground transport, flights, and more. Build these caps into your  travel booking software  to help travelers stay within the set parameters, which will later help with accountability. 

It's important to set clear rules on what the company can pay back and what types of expenses are out-of-pocket. 

If you’ve set a maximum daily rate for meals on work trips, it's crucial that travelers understand the limit before racking up additional charges. Requiring receipts can also help keep track of employee spending and make sure they're not going over budget. 

By working with a  travel management company  like Corporate Traveler, you can review your previous year’s expenses and find where you can optimize or make changes based on market changes. 

4) Simplify the process of expense claims 

If you're unfamiliar with how to write a travel expense policy, creating a simple process for claiming expenses is key to getting your team on the same page. Do you have access to a payment system that pays for the majority of expenses at the time of booking? This could be a good way to save time and stress down the road.  

The more you can pay for before your travelers get to their destination, the easier everything is to reconcile after they get home.  

If you have a person in charge of reviewing expense reports and watching pre-trip approvals, make sure to set criteria for claim approvals and look at automating processes to make approvals simple! 

5) Adopt a user-friendly all-in-one travel platform  

Finding the right  corporate travel platform  is essential. The right booking platform can provide travelers with an easy-to-use experience, giving them access to the best fares and availability. 

For example, at Corporate Traveler, we use Melon . It’s a booking tool, reporting suite, travel policy pusher, traveler profile manager, and so much more. Melon features a “recommended spend” function, which helps keep travelers booking in policy. Hello, visual guilt! 

Melon’s simple user interface, combined with dedicated travel consultants and expert 24/7 support, makes it simple to book, manage, and keep track of your business travel. You’ll be able to access Melon-exclusive deals and perks (alongside many negotiated contracts and online deals) and take care of all your travel needs from one place. 

From the get-go, you’ll be able to work closely with our team to ensure that all of your needs are met. We'll help you customize your travel program to meet specific business needs, build your travel policy into the platform, and offer training to staff to help them along the way.   

Putting it all together  

Wow! You’ve reached the end and should have a better idea of how to write a corporate travel policy. High five! Now it’s time to put it all together and get it on paper.  

Maybe you already have something in place that needs some work or an entire overhaul. Check out our easy-to-use template and start checking those boxes! 

Grab our corporate travel policy template builder

Not sure where to start? No worries! We’ve got you. Here’s how to streamline your process with a travel policy template! 

While there’s no one-size-fits-all travel policy for every company, following the set guidelines helps you nail a perfect-for-you policy that can see you through an ever-changing travel climate. 

Travel policy template  

When you’re crafting your business travel policy, there are so many considerations to be made. Things might come up that you never even thought of, but not to worry. We have loads of resources to help you see this through. 

Starting out, it might be looking a little drab and wordy, but depending on your travel program size, a visual travel policy might be just what you need. You can search for examples online or take a look at an example of a visual travel policy we’ve created.  

When building your policy, it’s important to include: 

1. International or foreign travel policies  

When you’ve got travelers all over the globe, you need to build out a policy for international or foreign travel. This is a protects them (and you) on anything from travel safety, to expenses, and everywhere in between. 

Whether your travelers are individuals or entire teams, your international travel policy needs to cover: 

• How and where to book – is that with a travel manager, online booking tool, a travel management company (TMC) ? 
• Travel insurance coverages and contact info – international numbers and policy information 
• Emergency contacts – how to reach them and the process of in-destination emergencies 
• Travel expenses – limits and how to file for reimbursement 
• Travel documentation – who to contact with questions 
• Advance booking timelines – when should they be booking for international travel? 
• Travel extensions – are these allowed and what are travelers expected to cover if they choose to extend their trip for leisure? 

By outlining all of this information in your policy, you’ll streamline the process for your finance teams, travel managers, and your travelers. And really, who doesn’t want to make travel a smoother experience? 

2. Corporate travel policy for business class travel 

Does your corporate travel program have different rules, limits, or allowances for different levels of seniority? Are some junior members expected to travel in economy class, while some executives are allowed to book in business class? 

If some certain exceptions and situations might allow for an employee to book business class, regardless of their position, you should include that in your policy as well. 

Making this as clear as possible will avoid an approvals nightmare down the road. 

3. Corporate meal allowance policy 

It’s great if you’ve already centralized most of your business travel expenses like flights, accommodation, transportation, and car rentals, but your people gotta eat! It’s super important to include a meal allowance policy that clearly outlines which meals (and how much) you’ll cover. 

Some of your team might be traveling with corporate credit cards, while others might need to be reimbursed. The guidelines and procedures for submitting expenses or asking for reimbursement need to be crystal clear! 

Make sure to outline if you have a corporate travel policy for alcohol, too! You don’t want murky policies when it comes to footing the bill for drinks. 

Some things to consider for your meal allowance and alcohol travel policy: 

• Which meals are covered and for how much? 
• Who is footing the bill for an alcoholic beverage with dinner? 
• If entertaining clients, what is the budget, and how flexible is it? 
• What is the process of submitting company card expenses? 
• What is the process for requesting reimbursement? 

Your team will always have questions about the policy on food and drinks, so make sure they can find the info easily and have a point of contact for whoever can offer more clarity. 

4. Executive travel policy 

We briefly touched on executive travel when we talked about traveling in business class, but there is certainly more to the top dogs traveling. 

Executive travel can be a touchy subject if there are more lenient policies in place than there is for less senior team members. Your executives also may need to know the guidelines in place for their own travel, so they don’t accidently go overboard, which could be an accounting nightmare! 

You’ll need to make sure you deliver a guide for approvals, procedures, booking deadlines, meals, accommodation, basically everything. 

Lay it all out. Make your policy as digestible as possible, and for a busy exec, consider bullet points and titles in bold so they can easily skim to the areas they need to know. 

5. Natural disaster or COVID-19 business travel policy  

We can all agree that COVID-19 caused business travel to come to a screeching halt. Across most industries, the pandemic impacted client relationships, the ability to gain new clients and caused budgets to get slashed pretty dramatically.  

While this was only one event, many businesses have begun to consider the “what-ifs” of their travel programs should another outbreak of COVID or something else happen. Crossing our fingers and toes doesn’t cut it, unfortunately. 

There is also the chance of their travel being impacted by a natural disaster. We’ve seen it before – earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, hurricanes. Do you have a plan or policy to aid your team and guide them through the unthinkable? 

In 2022, we surveyed 120 employees across various industries and businesses. More than half, 51% of respondents said their companies didn’t provide resources or tips for safety on their trips. Duty of care isn’t something to put on the back burner, it’s your legal obligation to make sure your team is informed. 

So, what’s the solution, you ask? 

Working with a TMC gives you the backup you need if anything ever happens and you have people traveling abroad. At Corporate Traveler, our travel management software, Melon, is a central place to house your policy for quick and easy access. Plus, our travel experts can help you paint the big picture of what to do, who to call, and how to get your team home safely as quickly as possible. 

Is there anything missing from your travel policy? 

Let’s break it down. If you think of your policy like a sandwich, it should include: 

The bread and butter  

• Where and why: Are there any restrictions on who travels domestically or internationally? Or guidelines around reasons for travel? 
• When: Are there any restrictions on when business travel is a no-no, like during an auditing period or financial downturn? 
• How? How should travel arrangements be booked? Through your corporate travel booking software or with a preferred Travel Management Company (TMC)? How far in advance should domestic and international trips be booked? 
• Preferred suppliers: Do you have preferred partners for air travel, accommodation, ground transport or travel insurance? 
• Approvals: Who’s responsible for giving the green light on trips? 
• Show me the money: What’s the process for managing/submitting expenses, paying for travel and reimbursements? 
• Uh-oh: How will you prevent or deal with non-compliance to the travel policy? 
• Noise level: Getting loads of ‘noise’ and questions about things in your policy? This means it’s not clear and it’s time to review why and where the stumbling block is for travelers (or your finance team!) 

 The filling  

• Classy, baby: Who gets to fly business class, book 5-star properties or order UberLUX? And how does your business handle upgrades or airport lounge access for long-haul flights? 
• All work, some play: What are the conditions if someone wants to extend their business trip to take personal leave? Are you happy for them to enjoy a bleisure trip, and if so, who foots the bill and for what? 
• Loyalty: Are there any travel rewards or business loyalty programs that can be used during booking? 
• Spending money: Do your business travelers have a daily allowance for meals, snacks, and drinks? How much is it, what does it include – and what’s not covered? Can they order room service, drink from the mini-bar, or use the in-house laundry service? 

The not-so-secret sauce  

• Safety first: your policy should support air, accommodation and ground transport suppliers that have been safety and security vetted. Guidelines or information on travel insurance for work trips is also helpful. 
• Now what: What’s the plan of action in the case of Acts of God or Force Majeure events? Does your team know who to call for help? 
• What’s next: Who is responsible for updating and reviewing your travel policy, and how often? 

Corporate travel policy best practices

• Write for skim readers
• Guide travelers to the right resources
• Automate your policies
• Stipulate a timeframe for expense claims
• Be prepared for the unexpected

1. Write for skim readers  

One of the first steps towards writing a people-first travel policy is understanding how your travelers will read it. And the truth is…  

They probably won’t.   

Research has shown that  adults get distracted every 47 seconds . So if a business traveler is looking at your policy, they’re most likely just searching for a specific answer – and they want it fast. So what can you do?  

First, make sure the document is easy to navigate. That means including things like:   

• A table of contents  
• Visual elements to help guide the eye toward crucial information, like flow charts and tables  
• Clear headings and important details in bold  
• Bulleted lists (see what we did here?) 

And even though it’s a technical document, don’t make it sound like one. An effective travel policy should be clear, concise, and easily comprehended. So skip the long, complex sentence structures and technical jargon, and write in plain, simple English. It helps to pretend like you’re writing it so an eighth-grader can understand it.   

2. Guide travelers to the right resources  

Remember when we said travelers will only read your policy to find a solution for a specific need? Whether it’s a link, a phone number, or a step-by-step tutorial – a well-managed travel policy should provide them with the right resources.  

Instead of treating a travel policy as a list of rules, treat it like a resource sheet. Here are some key pieces of information travelers might need to pull up easily:  

Your approved online booking tool (and steps on how to use it)  

• QR codes to download your  mobile travel app   
• Preferred airlines, including class, budgets, and other limits  
• Permissible hotels, including guidelines on star-class and incidental expenses  
• Guidelines on ground transportation (trains, ride-sharing services, rental cars, and personal car usage)  
• How to get travel support  
• Travel insurance carrier  
• Clarification on the reimbursement process (more on this later)  

You can also include other factors specific to your company, but this should at least be the necessary groundwork to help employees make the right choices on their own.  

3. Automate your policies  

Let’s face it: even with the best communication efforts, there’s always a chance that an employee may violate policy, even unintentionally. So, what can you do?  

Build policy into booking.  

By building your travel policy into your travel management software, it becomes unavoidably embedded in the booking process, so even the most easily confused employees end up following by default.   

Automation tools can sound the alarm on out-of-policy bookings and even provide an audit trail. This can be especially helpful for employees who may struggle to remember procedures and policies, especially after big changes to your travel program.  

4. Stipulate a timeframe for expense claims  

No one wants to get stuck waiting on the money they’re owed – or worse – find out they’re not getting reimbursed for an expenditure they thought would be covered.  

Having a clear and well-defined expense claim process is critical in any travel policy. Employees need to know how to claim their travel expenses, how soon they need to submit an expense report, and when to expect reimbursement.   

The policy should also be clear about what expenses are and are not reimbursable, including any limits or exceptions. For example, if an employee needs to book a different seat class to  accommodate a disability , the policy should include the process for requesting and approving this expense.   

Plus, a submission deadline reduces cash flow issues and provides more accurate and complete expense data for that period (your finance team will thank you later).  

5. Be prepared for the unexpected  

As a company, you have a duty-of-care responsibility. When it comes to business trips, you need to be prepared for the unexpected. No matter how much effort you put into planning, there will always be a few hiccups along the way.   

For instance, lost luggage, canceled or delayed flights, and sudden weather or political emergencies in unfamiliar destinations could all leave your employee stranded.   

“Companies need to be prepared to plan for the particular, not just the universal. Every aspect of the travel program needs to be able to fit each of your travelers like a glove, from adaptable plans and experts on call, to technology that makes the journey seamless.” - Emese Graham, DE&I Manager @ FCTG  

Don’t let unexpected situations blindside you. Have processes in place to ensure travel safety and security. Make sure they know what to do, where to go, and who to get a hold of if something goes wrong. Taking a proactive and prepared approach to your policy can minimize the impact of emergencies and take care of your team’s well-being while they’re on the road.  

BONUS TIP: Update your policy regularly  

Here’s a free business travel policy best practice just for you! It isn’t just a “one and done” deal – it’s a living document.  

What’s that mean? As your company grows and travel conditions change, so should your travel policy. Revisit your expense policy at least once a year to keep it relevant and effective – and lead you towards new cost-saving solutions.    

Data is going to be your best friend here. Here are a few key factors you should look into when updating your travel policy:  

• Analyze travel spend patterns – are you throwing a lot of company money at certain suppliers? You might want to see if you can negotiate a new deal or find better rates elsewhere.  
• Identify areas of overspending or inefficiency – are employees accruing high parking or travel costs? See if you can get season tickets or other accommodations.  
• Evaluate the overall performance of your policy – are you still compliant with any new regulations that have come into play since the policy was established? How can traveler experience be improved?  

You may even want to consider enlisting the help of professionals, such as a travel management company with experience in expense management, to give advice on how to optimize your travel policy to better meet the needs of your employees and your business as a whole.   

Building a travel policy that's good for business and travelers and meets their needs is no small feat. But whether you're looking to retain your team, attract new talent, or make life a little easier for your travelers, investing in a well-designed travel policy is definitely worth the effort and great for company culture.  

By following these travel policy best practices and ensuring your policy meets all travelers' needs, you’ll be on your way to smoother, safer, and more enjoyable travel experiences for all.  

How to promote travel policy compliance  

Whether compliance is a big or small issue in your company, it takes a little bit of investigating to figure out why it’s an issue at all. 

Maybe your policy meets the needs of only a few of your team members. Maybe it’s too difficult to navigate your policy. Or maybe, your policy is written in legalese and makes your travelers vision blur before they go rogue and book how they want. 

It could be that your travelers prefer a bit of freedom in booking and would rather do it on their own. Or, maybe they have specific needs that aren’t being met by the options provided. 

Whatever their reasons, it’s your job to figure out why they aren’t following and what you can do to build better compliance. 

Here are a few tips to improve travel policy compliance: 

• Make your policy easy to navigate, understand, and find 
• Use an online booking tool (OBT) for travelers who prefer to self-book 
• Allow a bit of flexibility so travelers feel they have some autonomy 
•  Include a category for last-minute bookings so it doesn’t mess up your data 
• Understand your traveler needs and build an inclusive policy 

Read the full guide:

You've researched, gathered the necessary resources, and communicated your travel and expense (T&E) policy to your employees. But now, you're not so sure they're actually following it.  

Read the full guide:  How to Improve Corporate Travel Policy Compliance

How to market your corporate travel policy internally?

Corporate travel might be off the radar for most employees, especially those outside of customer-facing positions. The first step in promoting successful corporate travel policies is awareness. 

Do employees know about the policy? Where can they find information and updates on business travel? Clear communication at pivotal points and frequent intervals can help keep everyone aware.

Review common and expected challenges

Business trip policies might be ineffective if they don't meet the needs of some business travellers. You can get ahead of challenges by understanding that last-minute travel can be necessary or that different travellers have unique needs. 

Inclusive policies plan for employee safety and comfort on a range of business trips, paying attention to details such as arrival and departure times, car rentals, ground transportation, and noise levels.  

Communicate business travel policies effectively

Travel managers can use best practices to ensure all employees are aware of and understand travel programs. Visual policies, internal documents, and guides all work well. People learn differently, so it’s a good idea to have key information in both visual and text formats. 

A yearly update is also beneficial, as well as communication on any major changes, like new technology or changes in the approval process or submitting expenses. An internal FAQ page can increase understanding of corporate travel guidelines, as well as prompt new questions.

Book a demo of Melon , the all-in-one travel platform. 

Increase employee engagement 

Highlight areas of company travel that offer flexibility, to show what’s possible for different preferences. Talk about benefits like an online booking tool vs. working directly with a TCM.

Developing interactive content, like employee surveys, can show if traveller satisfaction is achieved. It also helps identify travel arrangements that are unnecessary for cost savings.

Find internal champions for the business travel program 

Travel policies cross paths with a lot of different departments, from sales to the finance team. Identifying key people and keeping them involved in developing the travel program means getting buy-in and internal support.

Corporate Traveler has a long history of travel management and is ready to join forces as an external member of your travel planning team. Let’s make booking a breeze , together.  

Case studies: effectively marketing your corporate travel program

A travel manager should match your company culture for the best fit. Find out how these companies successfully targeted the right mix of technology and service to meet employee expectations and business goals.

Flipp Travel Case Study

Streamlining global travel for Eliquent Life Sciences

Beyond Energy Case Study

If the last time you reviewed or upgraded your travel policy was more than a year ago, it’s outdated and needs a refresher. If your company is small and has low turnover, you could probably get away with making small tweaks and optimizations. 

But if you have a larger company with multiple departments and higher turnover, you probably need to do an overhaul and review it more regularly. We’re not saying you have to change it every time someone is hired or leaves the company, but making sure it’s relevant to the people who are there and are traveling matters! 

Corporate Traveler conducted a survey in 2022, which showed that 48% of respondents didn’t know if their company had resources for specific traveler profiles, while 41% said their company didn’t provide resources for specific traveler profiles. This really goes to show that there’s room for improvement in how policies are built to support their people and their businesses. 

A people-first travel program and policy have become necessary as the world grows and begins to understand neurodiversity, disabilities, and cultural differences. When we learn about our team members’ diverse needs, we can better understand how to support them when they venture abroad for our businesses. 

GUIDE: Download the How to design a people-first travel program guide 

We recommend policy reviews every 3-6 months, but at the minimum, once per year. 

Final thoughts 

Business travel is so unpredictable, as we’ve seen in recent years. There will always be circumstances you can’t avoid as a company, but making sure that you have the necessary checks and balances in place can help to make things just a little easier. If you have groups traveling, VIPS, or people heading to high-risk destinations, it’s important that your policy is relevant. 

Don’t forget that travel policies shouldn’t be written and forgotten about – these are living documents that must be regularly updated to make sure they best protect your people. 

Remember these best practices when writing your travel policy: 

• Keep it simple and make it pop with visuals, bullet points, and bold headings. 
• Answer any and every question possible – think of all the eventualities 
• Always put your people first 
• Implement a quick and simple approval process 
• Automate as much as you can 
• Use technology that’s supports your policy 
• Be flexible with due reason 
• Be clear about what’s not allowed 
• Update your travel policy at least once a year 
• Keep it somewhere easy to find  

And finally, it doesn’t hurt to have a couple of different formats. Consider a visual version and an extended version so the message is delivered best depending on the person reading. For some, it might be easier to digest one over the other. 

Looking for a policy review? We’d be happy to work with you. 

Let’s chat .

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Adventure Excursions Unlimited

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

Adventure Excursions Unlimited (AEU) was formed to provide hard-adventure sport/travel packages with upscale accommodations, gourmet food, and celebrity service providers to wealthy clients. AEU hard adventures include helicopter-skiing, kayaking, white-water rafting, and mountain biking. The founders of AEU are Jordan Stephan (MBA/JD), Jillyn Certo (MBA), and Loren Harlo (MBA). In addition to their MBA status, they are passionate about the activities AEU will offer.

An opportunity exists for two reasons:

• Tourism is a growing industry (4% annually), and within the industry adventure travel is growing at 10%.
• There are few providers of hard-adventure travel to upscale clients.

Virtually all companies that provide “hard” adventure activities appeal to a lower income client. Companies that appeal to a wealthier clientele generally provide “soft” adventure packages. Hard-adventure activities involve difficult physical requirements. They carry a higher level of risk than do “soft” activities. Soft adventure activities may involve some physical exertion, however they involve a low level of risk and can be engaged in by non-athletic people.

The company’s target customers are high income (min. $75,000 for single person), health-conscious individuals interested in popular hard-adventure sports. These are lawyers, bankers, executives, doctors, etc. The major purchasers are located in urban areas within major United States cities. Our customers are more likely to be married. 51% are men and 49% are women.

In addition, more niche markets are evolving. Initially, it will be difficult to compete with experienced providers, especially market leaders. However, AEU’s target market is an exploitable niche and our service is differentiated. AEU’s target market members will have similar activity interests, more disposable income and less sensitivity to price.

AEU will price its services at the top of the market. We will provide a luxury service with prestige value. Our prices will be out of reach for the majority of adventure travelers. Service will be priced based upon luxury competitor prices and the value added of our offering. Providers that offer luxury services similar to ours do so at similar prices. We are competitively priced in the luxury market. Because we appeal to a smaller market, volume will be limited. However, we will be able to capture a higher gross profit margin.

1.1 Objectives

Adventure Excursions Unlimited’s objectives for the first three years of operation include:

• To create a service-based company whose #1 mission is exceeding customers’ expectations.
• Capturing 25% market share of the high-end hard-adventure travel space.
• To develop a sustainable, profitable business.
• To achieve a 35% return rate of customers within the first three years.

1.2 Mission

Adventure Excursions Unlimited’s mission is to provide customers with the highest quality outdoor adventure. We exist to attract and maintain customers. When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place.

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

Adventure Excursions Unlimited, located in Eugene, OR will offer hard-adventure trips to the upper end of the travel market. AEU will be concentrating on three activities, mountain biking, heli-skiing, and white-water adventures. AEU has chosen these three activities to allow the company to not be restricted by seasons, we will have trips occurring through the year. While AEU’s office is located in Eugene, it will be leading trips throughout the United States, and the world.

AEU expects the first several months will be used to plan trips and train trip leaders. By the end of year one the trips should be in full swing and AEU will be building a solid customer base.

2.1 Company Ownership

Adventure Excursions Unlimited will be a privately held Oregon Corporation. Jordan Stephan, Jillyn Certo, and Loren Harlo will all hold equal number shares of AEU stock.

2.2 Start-up Summary

Adventure Excursions Unlimited’s start-up costs include all the equipment needed for an office, as well as the equipment needed for the mountain bike trips and white-water adventures. Other costs will be marketing fees, website development, insurance and a deposit for the office lease.

The office equipment will consist of four computer systems, DSL router, printer, CD-RW, CPU to be used as an internal server, phones, copier, fax machine and installation of DSL and two phone lines.

The equipment needed for the mountain bike trip will be a fleet of 15 bicycles, a self contained kitchen, shower and toilet system, and bicycle tools.

The equipment for the white-water adventures will include inflatable rafts (and other requisite related equipment), self contained kitchen set up, portable shower and toilet facilities, and lots of dry bags.

The marketing costs are for the brochures and advertisements. AEU will also incur costs in the development of our website. Lastly, insurance will be a large start-up expense.

AEU will position itself as a niche service provider within the hard-adventure market. It will offer high-quality travel packages for extreme sporting trips. To begin AEU will offer six trips: helicopter-skiing trips to Canada, India, and New Zealand, white-water rafting trips to New Zealand and Costa Rica, and a mountain biking trip along the Great Divide from Montana to New Mexico.

The target market will be made up of young professionals who work and play hard. These people can afford to play expensively, and are willing to buy time in the form of our services. AEU will serve the hard-adventure niche market as a top quality, full-service provider. AEU defines quality by the unique aspects of the services offered. Those aspects include booking group or custom trips, assistance with passports, providing top-of-the-line equipment and supplies, and a superior service offering with access to better terrain, luxury accommodations, entertainment, celebrity exposure, and gourmet food.

The tours to be offered are as follows:

• Mountain Biking : This event will take place on the Great Divide trail from Montana to New Mexico and is designed for the serious biker that appreciates a few of life’s comforts along the trail. Showers and gourmet meals will be provided, along with entertainment. All excursions will maintain a staff to client ratio of 1:2.

A comprehensive map system has been created by Adventure Cycling and is currently available for purchase. The map clearly indicates the route, places to camp, stores for food and laundromats. Leadership training for the guides will be developed in-house using some outside material. There are many similar organizations that will be good sources of information. The products needed for this trip are for the most part already manufactured. One item that needs to be designed and built is a privacy compartment for the solar shower. This will be designed by Jordan and manufactured in-house. A cookbook collection of simple recipes, including some personal favorites, will also be assembled. Professional cooks will be provided, and flown in if necessary.

• Heli-skiing : Helicopter skiing has become a popular alternative to resort skiing. It offers uncrowded access to the best terrain. For those who like to get off the beaten path heli-skiing is for them. AEU has planned annual and custom trips to three destinations. Everything will be taken care of for the customer. Transportation, lodging, transfers and skiing is included in the package. Although our trips are planned at peak ski seasons, mother nature cannot be predicted. In the event that the weather is too treacherous to ski the trip will be postponed. An in–house travel consultant will accompany each group and take care of all check-in and transfer issues.

AEU will not send clients to places we ourselves would not go. All service providers will be top-notch professionals with accomplished backgrounds. They will be medically trained, and evaluated for knowledge and ability to ensure safety and high-quality service. If they fail, at any time, to meet our rigid standards of quality, they will not be used. If quality falls, another provider will replace them. These activities take place outside of the United States and therefore we will hire local guides to accompany our professional guides and service providers.

• White-water Sports : New Zealand and Costa Rica were chosen for these ten day long hard-adventure excursions. There can be a maximum of ten people per group. Annual trips will be planned to each location, but for large enough private groups, custom trips can be planed. As with the heli-skiing trips, local guides will be used in addition to our own. The abroad trips will be a cooperative effort in-house, as well as local guides in the host countries. The choice to seek outside consulting for the trips abroad is due to each countries different legal and regulatory climate. The potential subcontractors and guides are individuals currently in the industry in their respective countries.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

Travel industry is an upward growth industry. There are several reasons for this increase. First, a relative healthy domestic economy over the last several years and the devaluation of currency in other regions has made travel less expensive for U.S. residents. Pleasure travel has increased by 3.2% in 1999 and is predicted to grow 2.0% in 2000. Second, the healthy economy has increased business, which in turn boosted domestic business travel 4.8% in 1999 with an estimated increase of 3.6% in 2000.

Adventure travel is a growing segment of the travel industry. One theory of the recent increase in extreme sports has to do with the strong competitive nature of younger Americans. Statistics show that 8,000 U.S. companies (that offer adventure packages) generated $7 billion in 1999. There also has been a 66% increase in executive participation between 1996 and 2000 (or an increase of 2,000 participants)(La Franco, Robert. Forbes, Feb 9, 1998 v161 n3 p168(3)).

Some quick facts:

• Adventure travelers: More than 50% of the U.S. adult traveling population, or 147 million people, have taken an adventure trip in their lifetime (98 million in the past five years). Thirty-one million adults have engaged in hard-adventure activities like white-water rafting, scuba diving and mountain biking. An additional 25 million engaged in both a hard- and soft-adventure activity. Six-percent of those who participated in adventure trips spent more than $2,500.
• Activities most commonly participated in during adventure vacations: camping (85%), hiking (74%), skiing (51%), snorkeling or scuba diving (30%), sailing (26%), kayaking or white-water rafting (24%), and biking trips (24%).
• Biking vacations: Twenty-seven million travelers with customers that tend to be young and affluent. Ages 18-34 and one-fourth are from household’s w/annual income of $75,000 or above.

4.1 Market Segmentation

AEU’s target customers are high income (min. $75,000 for single person), health-conscious individuals interested in popular hard-adventure sports such as skiing, white-water sports and mountain biking. The major purchasers are located in urban areas within these United States cities.

Customer Location (within the United States):

• Pennsylvania

Hard-adventure travelers are more likely to be men. Therefore, AEU’s primary target market for hard-adventure sports is men between the ages of 18-34. However an increasing number of hard-adventure travelers are women (some statistics suggest that women comprise 49% of the hard-adventure market). Men, on average, spend more than women on their adventure travels.

Customers will be reached through traditional marketing communication methods. Information has been located relating to specific profiles of both hard- and soft-adventure travelers, where they live, work, what they do, etc. Research suggests that many of our target customers, and travelers in general, are Internet savvy. As such, the Internet will serve as an appropriate and effective medium of communication. Many adventure travelers purchase over the Internet or buy through travel agents. Purchase decisions are influenced by the amount of disposable income held, family issues, and the economy of a given year.

AEU will be targeting two specific groups:

• High-income health-conscious individuals.
• Young, active “trustafarians.”

The common elements between these two groups are money and a love for adventures. Group one has a lot of money from income that they earn. Group two has a lot of disposable income because the money was given to them, typically by members of their family. The second group, the trustafarians, is a very small group relative to the first group.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

AEU will promote/position itself as a differentiated provider of luxury hard-adventure travel, and will price accordingly within the chosen service niche.

AEU is targeting this special population for several reasons:

• This segment, up until now, has been underserved.
• This market segment traditionally spends a fair amount of money on adventure trips.
• This target segment seems to be willing to pay a premium for a top-shelf adventure excursion.

Methods of communication will include direct mail, magazine advertising, personal selling and WWW presence. Continuous magazine advertising will be costly. Initially the use of direct mail, and personal selling will be employed. These methods of communication will be tailored to reach our target segment.

4.3 Service Business Analysis

As operations progress, AEU will continue to measure our progress relative to competitors and to the growth of the market(s) in which we operate. Though the primary target market has been defined, there may be new possibilities to serve additional segments. As the product is defined, and the strategy differentiation is defined based on competitive strengths, AEU will be better able to determine whether adjustments in positioning are necessary. Access to important information concerning the market, competitors, etc., is available. However it is not free. For the purposes of this project, we feel it is unnecessary to incur additional expense.

The marketing strategy will be to develop long-term relationships with customers. We will keep a database from which to obtain important demographic and psychographic information. As the business becomes profitable, plans will be implemented to expand. There is virtually no limit to the number and variety of trips AEU can provide. Trips can take place on every continent and in most countries. The goal is to establish AEU as an international provider of top-of-the-line hard-adventure travel.

4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

Strengths and weaknesses of the competitors:

Companies that offer higher-priced, more luxurious packages generally provide a “soft” adventure. The activities are more along the lines of sightseeing and low-risk alternatives. The advantages these companies have include established reputations, extensive knowledge of the industry, and key personnel and management. Some have been in operation for more than twenty years. They are familiar with local service providers and have established strategic relationships.

Disadvantages to us:

• It will be difficult to price ourselves competitively when we first enter the market.
• Many of AEU’s activities are seasonal. Recurring revenue will depend upon successful trips in various regions of the world. For example, ski trips will end in April in North America. AEU will then have to move ski operations to places like Las Lenas, Argentina.
• The weather for a given year is hard to predict. Poor conditions will threaten the success of trips. Unforeseen occurrences such as inadequate snowfall could effect the viability of activities such as skiing and white-water sports.

Closely related competitors:

Abercrombie & Kent: A well-established, international travel provider. Their focus is mainly on “soft” adventure packages such as safaris, river tours (e.g. Amazon), trekking, sightseeing, etc. However they do offer a “Connoisseur” line of packages. These are generally priced starting from $4,000-7,000. Some of their packages include white-water activities and hiking, however most are touring packages.

Competing or substitute products:

There are many activities and types of travel available to people contemplating a vacation. Theme parks, motorhome trips, and cruises are just a few. Substitutes could include less expensive, self-planned trips, trips geared towards soft-travel, adventure trips involving hunting or fishing as primary activities, or exclusive adventure trips such as personal submarine tours of the Titanic or a trip around the world in a Leer Jet. Many activities that take place outside and involve some level of risk could be seen as hard-adventure competition.

Another alternative is to do nothing. Consumers do not have to vacation. They may opt to spend the money they would have otherwise spent on a vacation on something else.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

Adventure Excursions Unlimited will be going after the upper-end of the hard-adventure market. This market up until now has been underserved, there are hard-adventure tour companies, but none that are catering to the high-end spectrum. With the adventuring traveling industry steadily increasing, AEU sees a unique opportunity.

AEU’s main objective in its marketing and sales activity is to make the impression on prospective customers that AEU offers a higher level of service relative to any other provider of hard-adventure tours. This will be communicated through all of the different media that we use. If AEU can make the impression that our trips are truly different and superior, then our research indicates that there will be steady demand.

Once AEU has clients signed up and participating on our trips, it will rely on superior customer attention and service to impress and retain clients for future trips. Developing long-term relationships will be the key to steady growth.

5.1 Competitive Edge

The competitive edge in our services is the access we provide to popular “hard” adventure sports without the budget constraint of typical travelers. That is, most travelers are looking to spend less than “hard” adventure sports without the budget constraint of typical travelers. The majority of providers cater to these people. Adventure Excursions Unlimited intends to use the same service providers but provide more exclusive trips. Accommodations will be primarily in small luxury hotels and resorts. Meals will be exceptional, more like gourmet cuisine. In addition, the adventure activities will be better than average because the clients have more money. They won’t get stuck with people they don’t like; they will get access to the best terrain, sections of rivers, etc. AEU’s activities are very popular. AEU’s target market has no problem spending $4,000 per week on heli-skiing. Moreover, they generally make this type of activity an annual event.

5.2 Sales Strategy

The sales strategy is to create long-term relationships with customers through superior service. The intent is to initially target the primary customer group. This group has been defined as persons who have purchased, or are likely to purchase, a “hard-adventure” vacation for over $2,500.

The trips planned are designed with the wealthy adventure traveler in mind. Later marketing efforts may include trips geared towards corporate clients, Eco-tourism or hard-adventure trips for people who want to spend less money. Target customers will be identified through standard research methods. There are a number of publications available that contain profiles of Adventure travelers.

Methods by which we will contact customers will depend on results of marketing/sales research. We will likely use trade or special interest magazines, direct mail, Web-based communication, and personal selling. In addition printed materials will be made available to customers through travel agencies that cater to the adventure target market. Initially, service will be introduced regionally, and possibly nationally. Sales will be extended into the global market within a few years of operation.

Our services are seasonal. Recurring revenue will be dependent upon successful trips involving a variety of activities offered year-round. We hope to promote out of season services through frequent customer contact and our own publication, most likely a magazine of some sort. We will review up-and-coming trips, offer highlights of past trips and try to do other creative articles, giveaways, customer profiles, etc.

Most sales will occur at the retail level. The sales that occur between customers and travel agencies will be discounted appropriately, approximately 15%. Transactions will occur as the result of customer contact in response to communication efforts. In addition, AEU will engage in personal selling.

5.2.1 Sales Forecast

The following charts and table shows AEU’s expected sales forecast.

5.3 Milestones

Adventure Excursions Unlimited will have several milestones early on:

• Business plan completion. This will serve as a roadmap for the organization. While AEU does not need a business plan to raise capital, it will be an indispensable tool for the ongoing performance and improvement of the company.
• Set up the office. This will be the main/only office located in Eugene, OR.
• Develop the training program. This program will be used to train the leaders of our trips.
• Completion of first trip.
• Completion of twentieth trip.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

Jordan Stephan, VP, Corporate Council, Business Development, and Mountain Biking Activity Supervisor : Jordan received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA. While there, he was president of the Washington and Jefferson Cycling Club and Team for two years. He completed his Master of Business Management/Doctor of Jurisprudence, joint degree program at Willamette University where he has served as the secretary of the Environmental Law Society, and chairperson for the Willamette University Public Interest Law Project (WUPILP). As chairperson, Jordan supervised twenty-five staff members and raised $14,000. Jordan has also managed a bicycle shop for two years. Following graduate school, Jordan worked for Counterclaim.com where Jordan did business development, organizational development, and other management activities. He is responsible for all logistics on the mountain bike trips.

Jordan’s expertise in mountain bike trip logistics comes from years of cycle touring. Jordan has cycled across the country and around the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Vermont. Jordan has also done a great deal of backpacking, backcountry hiking and snowshoeing. He has served as a consultant on many long-distance bicycle tours in the United States and abroad. In addition to his role as logistical planner, Jordan will be responsible for part-manufacturing for the mountain bike trips as he has manufacturing expertise from several years of design and improvement experience with outdoor gear.

Jordan’s extra curricular activities are based upon his love for the outdoors. He has been a competitive cyclist and runner for the last five years. He competes in cycling road races, endurance mountain bike races, and road/trail running races up to half-marathons. His current favorite activity is the duathlon or run/bike/run events. He would like to combine his experience and education with his love for the outdoors. The AEU business concept is a reflection of this desire.

Jillyn Certo, VP, Human Resource Manager/Corporate Trainer, and Ski-trip Coordinator : Jillyn graduated with two Bachelor of Science Degrees, one in corporate and industrial fitness and the other in occupational safety, from Oregon State University in 1991. Jillyn completed her MBA work at Atkinson Graduate School of Management in 1998. She has six years experience in the field of safety. After Atkinson Jillyn worked at Nike as a human resource specialist. Her interests include scuba diving and downhill skiing. Jillyn has competed in track & field as well as in horse shows and barrel racing. Along with her interest in sports, Jillyn has a variety of experience with business and pleasure travel. Jillyn will supervise the training of our leaders.

Loren Harlo, Marketing Manager and White-water Adventure Coordinator : Loren is twenty-seven years old. He received his Bachelor degree in psychology from Western College and graduated Magna cum Laude. He will complete his Master of Business Administration degree (with an emphasis in marketing) in 1998. Following graduate school, Loren worked for Burley Cooperative as a marketing manager. Loren has been active in athletics for twenty-years. He played football at the grade school, high school and college level, as well as basketball, track and field, and competition karate. He is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for water sports, skiing, hiking, hunting and fishing. He has recently taken up kayaking. Loren gained self-employment and management experience as an independent contractor for the Union Pacific Railroad. He has also managed and operated a small restaurant. He has always planned to own his own business and realized, while working independently, that he needed the knowledge of business management that an MBA program could provide.

Though the founding members intend to take an active role in the operation of AEU, additional management will be sought out. AEU is open to assistance from experienced managers associated with venture capital providers.

6.1 Personnel Plan

The following table shows the personnel plan for AEU.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

The following subtopics will provide more financial information.

7.1 Projected Cash Flow

The following chart and table indicates projected cash flow.

7.2 Important Assumptions

See the following table for general assumptions.

7.3 Break-even Analysis

This Break-even Analysis table and chart, below, project the figures for monthly sales break even.

7.4 Projected Profit and Loss

The following table indicates the projected profit and loss.

7.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table will indicate the projected balance sheet.

7.6 Business Ratios

Business ratios for the years of this plan are shown below. Industry profile ratios based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 4725, Tour Operators, are shown for comparison.

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15 Tips On How To Plan Successful Business Trips

Home » Guide » 15 Tips On How To Plan Successful Business Trips

Successful corporate ventures involve careful planning and execution in all aspects. And business travel is no different. Though it may sound easy, understanding the intricate details of how to plan a successful business trip is a bit difficult. There are numerous variables involved while planning a corporate trip such as dynamic flight fares, flight cancelation, employee unwillingness, emergencies, and many more. Hence, to ensure smooth business travel, let us discuss the basics on how to plan successful business trips.

How to plan successful business trips

We can divide the planning of a business trip into three sections: Pre-trip planning, during-the-trip plan, and post-trip planning. Let us explore these avenues differently.

I. Pre-trip planning

1. Determine objectives

Every endeavor should have a clear purpose or aim. Corporate can define the outcome of a trip for the employees and brief them about it. It can be meeting new prospects, delivering customer support service, participating in an event, etc. A set guideline will help in evaluating the degree of success or failure of the trip.

2. Establish a budget

As corporate travel makes up the second largest expense of corporate after salaries, budgeting becomes a crucial step of planning. Travel managers should coordinate with partnered TMCs to find the best flights, connections, and accommodations. Further, They should allocate a budget for transportation, meals, and other expenditures.

3. Research destination and make an itinerary

While planning a trip to a foreign land, travel managers and traveling employees need to know about the destination. They should be aware of the local geography, local customs, and business etiquette. Additionally, they should understand the local laws and special considerations of the location. Another important aspect of a business trip is defining a clear itinerary. Travel managers should maintain departure dates, business meetings and events schedules, and other such details and share them with the employee and TMCs.

4. Transportation

Choosing a suitable transport can help travel managers save highly on trips. They should also ensure a good travel experience and minimize connecting flights. Moreover, if trains are possible and the schedule allows for it, travel managers can also use railways, which will cost much lesser than flights.

5. Accommodation

Booking hotels can be a tough job for travel managers. The travel admins should consider budget, location, and amenities while selecting accommodations for their employees. They should make reservations for securing top discounts and ensuring the room’s ready availability.

6. Travel documents

Admins can provide brief guidance about the travel documents required to travel to a particular country. Employees should produce all the necessary documents such as passports, visas, or other documents beforehand. The validity of these documents should be ensured before travel and any discrepancy should be filed for correction if needed.

7. Travel insurance

Travel insurance is essential to protect employees against unforeseen or unfortunate circumstances. Moreover, corporates should ensure that TMCs provide support and look after the travel insurance of the employee. Travel managers should read the terms and conditions of the insurance policy to avoid future hassles and disputes.

8. Contact and schedule meetings

All the involved parties should have each other’s contact information to establish better communication. Sometimes it may be possible that meeting schedules can change on the go; hence, stakeholders should remain in mutual agreement for fulfilling the purpose of travel.

9. Prepare meeting materials

Gathering and providing the right presentations, documents, or contracts to the employee is essential. Employees should remain prepared for the meeting and organize their relevant material to avoid any miscommunication or delay. These documents should provide prompt solutions to any problems raised during or after the meeting.

10. Create a packing checklist

Travel managers should prepare a comprehensive list of essential items to pack. This can include business attire, electronics, adapters, business cards, and any specific materials required for the trip. They can also create and share the packing list as per the location, weather, and culture.

II. During the trip

12. Time management

Employees should understand the importance of the schedule and should strictly adhere to it. They should arrive at the meeting venue earlier than the set time. Maintaining a personally enforced schedule for exercise, lunch, dinner, outings, etc. will help in enhancing the overall experience of the trip.

13. Networking opportunities

On the trip, employees become the ambassadors of the company. Therefore, it is crucial to train the employees with the soft skills required to aptly represent the business. They can build a network of potential clients and contributors while carrying out simple meetings or participating in corporate events.

14. Expense tracking

Employees should record all of the expenses made during the corporate travel and keep the receipts handy with them. Doing this will help them get reimbursements for any out-of-pocket expenses that were necessary during the trip.

III. Post-trip follow-up

15. recap and evaluation.

A business trip report should be shared with the higher management to analyze and evolve with the prior trips. The feedback loop creates the opportunity to know about the personal experiences of the employees and build on a constructive path.

Corporate trips are essential to expand the reach and potential growth of businesses. Therefore, knowing the details about how to plan a successful trip is highly important for ensuring adequate ROI, both tangible and intangible. And planning for the trip and ensuring that the following through of the plan is of optimal importance to ensure the least amount of creases in a Business’s growth trajectory.

How To Plan Successful Business Trips FAQs

What constitutes business travel planning.

Business travel planning constitutes pre-trip planning, during the trip planning and adjustments accordingly to pre-trip plans and creation of a post-trip plan of recapping and objective evaluation.

What is pre-trip planning?

Pre-trip planning involves determining key objectives, budget allocation and itinerary creation. These are to be done well in advance of the trip if timings and internal tasks allow for it and little if not none of the planning must happen last-minute.

What is during the trip planning with respect to business travel?

Not all circumstances are foreseeable and plans rarely go pitch-perfect. Therefore assessment of the current scenario and planning as required during the trip and making necessary adjustments to the plan or adopting contingencies is necessary in most cases.

What constitutes post-trip evaluation in business travel planning?

After the completion of a business trip, the entire picture can finally be seen and studied. All considerations and plans made before and during the trip can be reflected upon, recorded and improvements that are possible should be considered. These constitute post-trip evaluation and it is very integral to do these evaluations whether a corporate is outsourcing its travel management or whether it is dealt with internally. Because efficient expenditure and smooth execution of plans is of extreme importance to running a business.

Pratyush is a traveling enthusiast who always looks for innovations in business travel management. He has 5 years of experience writing content on corporate travel management and working closely with expert business travel facilitators.

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Jamie Dimon’s Advice On Business Travel Is A Wake-Up Call To CEOs

The positives of business travel outweigh the negatives in the long term.

A few years ago, travel halted globally. While leisure travel resumed in 2021, corporate travel lagged. However, this trend is now reversing. Over two-thirds of companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue are increasing travel budgets this year. Despite the rise of remote work , business travel remains essential for various reasons. According to the 4th edition of Deloitte's corporate travel survey , US corporate travel spending will reach or even surpass 2019 levels by the end of 2024, potentially growing by 8% to 12% this year. Yet, some leaders remain hesitant.

However, Jamie Dimon , Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, recently emphasized that leaders must travel to avoid failure and being left behind. Here are two key reminders on the benefits of business travel for CEOs and how it will benefit their executive performance, organizational bottom lines, and talent management:

Expansion And Creativity

In a recent LinkedIn This is Working series, Dimon stated, "Leaders have to get out. They have to get out all the time. They have to be curious; ask a million questions."

This action is beneficial due to leaders' innovation and creativity blossoming when they step outside familiar environments. When leaders aren't getting out enough, stress , a natural companion to the CEO role, will continue to accumulate. While you can't entirely eradicate stress, excess and unmanaged stress can shrink the brain, affecting daily performance, according to research in the journal Neurology . Although business trips aren't leisure vacations , they offer a break from your daily routine while providing opportunities for new experiences, expanding your thinking, and developing empathy.

Speaking of expanding your mindset, open-minded leaders can better process information and operate with a more emotionally intelligent perspective of the world, according to a study in the Journal of Research in Personality . Business travel often involves international exposure. Columbia Business School professor Adam Galinsky found that "foreign experiences increase both cognitive flexibility and depth and integrativeness of thought," thus further improving your ability to connect disparate ideas.

With this notion in mind, soft skills become even more valuable in a world increasingly integrating with artificial intelligence . Dimon's emphasis on curiosity and questioning is not just a suggestion; it's a principal reminder for effective leadership. Business travel can serve as an opportunity to allow CEOs to get away and become more innovative through exposure to different cultures, markets, practices, and other macro factors.

Staying Ahead Through Better Connectivity

Thanks to AI and other changing workforce demographics , business trends move faster than ever. Therefore, CEOs can become rapidly detached from the on-the-ground realities if they aren't self-aware. Without adequate travel and boots on the ground, you risk complacency and stagnation. As Dimon warns, "Complacency and politics is the petri dish of death. The antidote is always learning, always being curious." According to Dimon, corporate travel allows leaders to learn about their competitors, customers, employees, and other global events.

Adding up all of these factors can lead to a higher likelihood of being an early adopter. JPMorgan , an early AI adopter since 2012, has also started to reshape its workforce by focusing on skills development and overlooked talent pools, such as ex-convicts and applicants without college degrees. Regularly stepping out of the office provides a more accurate portrayal of your team's well-being and future trends, thus offering a strategic edge over CEOs who aren't as hands-on.

While business travel has its challenges, the benefits outweigh the negatives. CEOs can leverage travel to reflect, learn, and grow, thus strengthening their leadership abilities, mental health , and executive brand .

Ukraine war latest: Safety 'deteriorating' at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after drone strike

Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear facility in Europe and has been occupied by Russian soldiers since the early stages of its war with Ukraine.

Sunday 18 August 2024 00:45, UK

• Drone strike on Ukrainian nuclear power plant sees safety deteriorate
• Zelenskyy says Ukraine inflicting 'maximum damage' on Russian forces in Kursk
• Kyiv refutes 'insane Russian propaganda' campaign warning of Ukrainian dirty bomb
• Kyiv used Western rockets to destroy Russian bridge, says Moscow
• Putin's forces capture territory in Donetsk - amid Ukrainian strikes on region
• 'We could lose': Russian state TV commentators gloomy over Kursk
• Sean Bell: Humiliated Putin will respond ruthlessly to Ukrainian masterstroke
• Michael Clarke : Pokrovsk in real trouble as Russian troops advance
• Listen to the Daily above and tap here to follow wherever you get your podcasts

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised the UK's "true leadership" in its support of Ukraine - but warned "the situation has slowed down recently" as it pushes into Russian territory.

In his nightly video address, he stressed it is "crucial that our partners remove barriers that hinder us from weakening Russian positions in the way this war demands".

He promised to "intensify our diplomatic efforts" amid the Kursk incursion, naming the UK,  US, and France as key targets.

It comes amid speculation Germany is planning to halve its Ukrainian aid budget next year.

Mr Zelenskyy finished his X post by saying: "Throughout this war, we've seen the UK demonstrate true leadership—in arms, politics, and support for Ukrainian society. 

"This has saved thousands of lives, reflecting the strength of the UK."

But he added: "Unfortunately, the situation has slowed down recently. 

"We will discuss how to fix this because long-range capabilities are vital for us. The whole world sees how effective Ukrainians are—how our entire nation defends its independence."

In a Sunday Express interview, Defence Secretary John Healey endorsed Ukraine using British weapons inside Russia - as long as it keeps within international law.

The UK "should be proud" British weapons are being used by Ukraine – including inside Russia, the defence secretary has said.

John Healey told the Sunday Express that he is happy for weapons to be used over the Russian border, providing international law is maintained.

He told the newspaper: "Let me be very clear: under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Ukraine has a clear right of self-defence against Russia's illegal attacks.

"Providing international law is followed, that does not rule out operations inside Russia."

He added: "We should be proud of Britain's support for Ukraine's struggle.

"We should be proud that British-donated equipment, in the hands of brave Ukrainians on the front line, is helping them to defend their country and push back Putin."

Ukrainian troops crossed into the Russian border region of Kursk on 6 August in a bid to divert the Kremlin's military focus away from the frontline in Ukraine.

On Thursday, Ukrainian forces claimed to have seized the town of Sudzha, six miles from the border.

The UK is one of Ukraine's leading military donors, providing lethal and non-lethal weaponry, including tanks, air defence systems, and long-range precision strike missiles.

Safety at Ukraine's occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is deteriorating after a drone strike on the road surrounding it, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday.

Earlier today, the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia (ISAMZ) team was informed that an explosive carried by a drone detonated just outside the plant's protected area.

A visit by the team found no casualties and no damage to nuclear equipment - but the surrounding road and gates were impacted.

The impact site was close to the essential cooling water sprinkler ponds and about 100m from the Dniprovska power line, the only remaining 750-kilovolt line providing a power supply to the plant, the team said.

IAEA Director General Grossi commented: "Yet again we see an escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

"I remain extremely concerned and reiterate my call for maximum restraint from all sides and for strict observance of the five concrete principles established for the protection of the plant."

The ISAMZ team has reported heightened military activity in the area over the past week.

Germany plans to halve its military aid to Ukraine in 2025, according to a parliamentary source.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is instead planning to use money generated from frozen Russian assets in Germany to support Ukraine's war against Russia, the source told AFP on Saturday.

It is not planning "any additional aid" to the $4.4bn (£3.4bn) already set aside in next year’s budget, the source added.

But Germany's foreign ministry denied the claims on X on Saturday.

"Rumours that Germany stops its support to #Ukraine are wrong," a post read.

"We stand with Ukraine & will support Ukraine as long as it takes.

"Since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression, Germany has supported Ukraine with €34 billion. 

"This year, we will provide military aid north of €7 billion."

Germany is Ukraine's second biggest military donor, providing £6.8bn in aid this year.

The leader of Russia's Chechnya region has appeared in a video threatening to send a Telsa into Ukraine – while praising Elon Musk.

Ramzan Kadyrov, who is known for extravagant publicity stunts, posted the video of himself on Telegram.

It shows him driving a Tesla Cybertruck, seemingly with a machine gun strapped to the roof.

He says he will send the vehicle into the Ukrainian conflict zone, before praising the company's chief executive Elon Musk.

Mr Kadyrov describes Musk as the "strongest genius of modern times", inviting him to Chechnya.

"We... await your future products that will help us finish the special military operation," referring to the Kremlin’s term for the Ukraine war.

Two Italian journalists who angered Moscow with a TV report from Ukrainian-controlled parts of Kursk will return to Italy for their own safety, according to Italian state broadcaster RAI.

Russia's foreign ministry summoned Italy's ambassador yesterday over what it called an "illegal border crossing" by the RAI crew.

The interior ministry was planning to open criminal cases against the two journalists, posted Baza, a Telegram channel close to Russian law enforcement.

"The company decided to make journalist Stefania Battistini and cameraman Simone Traini return temporarily to Italy, solely to ensure personal safety and security," RAI said. 

"Journalism is not a crime. The Moscow authorities' possibility of putting Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini on trial is unacceptable. Reporting is not done with prior authorisations," RAI union Usigrai and Italy's national press union FNSI said in a joint statement. 

A four-person RAI crew, working under Ukrainian military escort, produced the first foreign media report from the war-damaged Russian town of Sudzha last week.

Italy's foreign ministry said its ambassador Cecilia Piccioni had explained to the Russian authorities that RAI and its news teams acted independently and autonomously. 

The two reporters are scheduled to fly back to the northern Italian city of Milan tomorrow.

Security and defence correspondent Deborah Haynes was at the site of a missile strike in Sumy city this morning.

Residents described being awoken by a huge explosion.

One said the blinds across her window saved her from glass shattering as a result of the blast.

Watch more below...

Washington appears to be effectively blocking the UK from permitting Kyiv to fire Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia, The Times reports.

The UK has been waiting for US approval for over a month, a government source said.

The British government wants Ukraine to use the weapons as they wish, but consensus is required between the US, France and another unnamed NATO country.

A government source stressed to The Times that the UK was not blaming the US for any delay.

Britain was the first country to publicly supply Kyiv with long-range cruise missiles.

While it has permitted the use of British tanks and other weapons on Russian soil, restrictions remain on the missiles.

A British source previously said Ukrainian troops are thought to have used British Challenger 2 tanks inside Kursk.

Ukraine's success in Kursk has shown the West it does not need to take an incremental approach to Russia, says Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Kyiv's allies need to approve the use of Western weapons to strike deep inside its territory, he said.

He added the incremental style of Western support has only drawn out the war.

"Watch the Russian reaction. For more than one week, for the first time since the Second World War, Russian territory is occupied. And what is the reaction? Just some mumbling from Putin," said Mr Goncharenko.

"I hope that this will help us to convince our allies that Ukraine is capable of big successes and to win this war, so finally our hands will be untied," he said, adding Ukraine needs permission to use the UK's Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russian territory.

"I think this incremental style is very, very bad."

He continued: "Russia only understands one language, the language of force, and Ukraine has shown it now."

Kyiv has dismissed "insane Russian propaganda" alleging that Ukraine plans to carry out nuclear attacks.

Moscow has accused Ukraine - without providing any evidence - of gearing up to attack Kursk nuclear power plant and developing a "dirty bomb"; an explosive used to scatter radioactive waste.

The Russian defence ministry said Ukraine would blame Moscow and that it would respond harshly in the event of such an attack.

The allegations were "dangerous lies" and Ukraine officially denies them, said Ukrainian foreign office spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi.

"We are witnessing another surge of insane Russian propaganda."

He continued: "Ukraine has neither the intention nor the ability to carry out any such actions. Russia must stop spreading dangerous lies.

"Ukraine has always been and remains a loyal member of the NPT (Non-proliferation treaty).

"We do not have any 'dirty bombs' and do not plan to acquire them."

Vladimir Putin made similar allegations shortly before launching the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Then, in March the same year, Moscow alleged Ukraine was going to use a dirty bomb. Neither claims were borne out.

Russia also alleged a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive charge on a road outside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine this morning.

Its Russian management posted an image to Telegram showing several men in IAEA jackets surrounding a dent in the road the width and depth of a pothole.

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused eachother of close calls with drones and rockets at the power plant since Russia occupied it.

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