Key stats on the return on investment for business travel
- 95% of C-suite leaders say they’d lose customers without in-person meetings.
- 76% of CEOs and 69% of CFOs agree that increasing travel budgets would positively impact their company’s revenue.
- Companies that increased their travel budgets to connect employees have a 29% lower employee turnover rate than companies that reduced their business travel spend.
- 94% of C-suite leaders have noticed higher engagement levels after employees participate in company social events.
- 62% of CEOs expect their travel budgets to increase in 2024, compared to last year.
5 ways to maximize ROI from your corporate travel spending
Clearly, corporate travel offers many benefits, but most companies have a limited budget to spend on it. So how can companies get the best ROI from their business travel spending?1. Streamline the travel booking process
Using the right business travel industry technology, CFOs, travel managers, and planners can simplify the entire corporate travel process, reducing travel costs and saving time.The easiest way for businesses to make their travel programs more efficient is to speed up the booking process for cost savings. Rather than scrolling through several websites trying to find the lowest price, corporate travelers can use a travel management company or tool to gather every element of their itinerary into one easy-to-use dashboard.With an industry-leading inventory, TravelPerk negotiates highly competitive rates including options with low-cost carriers to lower the cost of travel. As TravelPerk users assess their options they can choose confidently, knowing they’re getting a great deal.2. Stay on top of travel spend with a clear travel policy
To save money and get the best ROI from business travel, you’ll need to make sure travelers can make informed decisions about what to book and how much they’re allowed to spend. The best way of doing this is by creating a corporate travel policy. Travel policies reduce confusion and offer travelers some autonomy, while also offering companies control over travel spending and full visibility over budgets.Once you’ve created your travel policy, it’s important to clearly communicate what it is and how it works. If employees can’t find your policy, don’t understand it, or aren’t given the opportunity to offer feedback, they’re less likely to follow the policy.A great way to make sure employees follow your travel policy is to integrate it into your travel booking tool. This way, the approval process is automated, and employees can easily book policy-compliant options. This will not only help you save budget, it’s also proven to improve employee satisfaction.By inputting parameters from your corporate travel policy, a travel management solution can instantly approve itineraries that fall within company budgets, while flagging those that require extra attention. This approach allows business travelers to select options that fit their individual needs, whether it's a hotel with onsite gym facilities or a flight in time to pick the kids up from school. 3. Increase visibility around expenses
Without an efficient system for expense management, generating expense reports can drain travel managers' time and resources. By using a business travel management solution, you can analyze budget metrics by destination, department, and even individual employee. In seconds, you can glean real-time insights and ascertain the ROI of business travel by comparing travel spend with revenue generated. Travel management systems collate travel expenses from all providers into a single invoice, and also offer VAT reclaim services. These allow your company to save up to an additional 25% on your annual travel budget by supplying VAT-ready receipts and VAT calculations so you never leave money on the table. 4. Take fewer, longer trips and reduce the need for repeat visits
Our data show that business travelers want to extend their work trips for both personal and professional reasons. 44% of business travelers say they’ve extended work trips when their company policy allows them to do so. In addition, 41% of Gen Z employees say they’d like their company to allow them to extend trip time.Reasons for extending trips include “bleisure” or blended travel, but also staying longer to combine more meetings into a single trip. Around one third (34%) of business travelers say their company encourages them to book in as many meetings as possible to avoid making multiple trips. Another option is incorporating multiple trip types into one, such as making a visit to a local office for an internal meeting after a company offsite. At TravelPerk, we’ve seen a decline in same-day return trips taken by plane. In 2019, 19% of short-haul flights (under two hours) booked on the TravelPerk platform were day-return trips. In 2023, this number halved to just 9%. Instead, there's a growing trend toward two-to-four-day journeys: 43% of all short haul flight trips in 2019 were two to four days in duration, and this number has now risen to 58%.This “slow travel” approach has quite a few benefits. It increases efficiency in the long term rather than the short term, making sure maximum value is derived from each trip. It increases traveler wellbeing and improves the travel experience by allowing more time for rest, which can improve productivity. It’s also more environmentally-friendly and reduces carbon emissions, leaving time for train travel and eco-friendly travel options to meet your sustainability goals. 5. Choose flexible booking policies
Unexpected circumstances sometimes come up when traveling. Luckily, you can protect yourself against contingencies by opting for flexible booking policies. TravelPerk offers an efficient way to do this with FlexiPerk. Customers using FlexiPerk enjoy a 40% average savings over traditional flexible fares. The way it works is that you pay a 10% fee on every trip you take. You can then book flights, hotels, car rentals, or transportation at any rate, and cancel any time for 80% of your money back, with just one click.In 2023, 79% of business travelers were affected by travel disruptions, with 40% experiencing significant delays of more than one hour. An additional 24% had reservations canceled, according to TravelPerk’s global travel disruption data. But with FlexiPerk, you’re covered for any eventuality. ?)
?)
?)
?)
?)
?)