Key stats on the return on investment for business travel
- On average, for every $1 spent on business travel arrangements, $12.50 is estimated to be recuperated in revenue
- 50% of prospective customers converted to new business after a face-to-face meeting compared with 31% without in-person interaction
- 38% of prospective clients would leave a company for a competitor if they abandoned in-person meetings resulting in a 37% loss in annual sales
- Trade shows are responsible for up to 20% of new customers
What benefits does corporate travel bring to a business?
1. It helps secure new clients
2. It is vital for maintaining professional relationships
3. It provides opportunities to network
4. It serves as a motivational tool
5. It has global implications
How can businesses make the most of their corporate travel spending?
1. Streamline the travel booking process
2. Integrate and automate
3. Increase visibility around expenses
Is your business travel inefficient?
- I can input corporate travel policies to rule out transport or accommodation that isn't compliant automatically.
- I can establish dynamic budgets that highlight itineraries that are above the average costs for a specific destination or routing and set a % cap to help navigate price fluctuations.
- I have access to corporate rates and a comprehensive inventory including flights with low cost carriers, rail tickets and car hire and a range of accommodation options including AirBnb rentals.
- I can improve employees' travel experiences by allowing autonomy over their arrangements. My system allows corporate travelers to choose options that best meet their requirements while remaining compliant and in line with annual expense management.
- I can encourage more sustainable business travel by highlighting more eco-friendly options at the booking stage.
- I save time with a system that flags itineraries requiring additional authorization and automatically approves those in line with company travel policies.
- I have flexibility around my arrangements and can cancel my trip up to two hours before departure with no questions asked.
- When cancelling my itinerary I have the peace of mind that I will receive a refund of 80% of the costs.
- My TMC handles collecting refunds on my behalf and I benefit from the same terms and conditions regardless of the provider.
- The refunds I receive are not tied to specific travelers or providers. I am free to use this refund as credit against any future trip without worrying about an expiry date.
- I reduce the workload for my finance teams by collating invoices by itinerary, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
- I can generate reports easily and break out travel costs by department, destination, individual employee, transport type, booking type, cancellations and recoverable VAT.
- I can analyze the ROI on business travel by comparing travel spending with generated revenue.
- I can determine the value of each new client by reviewing the business travel spend to meet and maintain the relationship and predict similar costs for potential customers in the future.
- I can observe travel spending in real-time and quickly assess total spend over the last 30 days, specific months or the year to date.
- I can monitor travel budgets by individual cost centers so managers can analyze current spend before approving itineraries.
- I can make further travel cost savings by receiving VAT-ready expense reports and receipts ready to hand straight to the taxman.
- I receive information ahead of booking regarding security issues, travel restrictions and COVID-19 transmission levels for intended destinations.
- I can stay on top of business travelers' safety with ease. I can see all itineraries currently in progress at the click of a button.
- My travelers receive pre-departure updates to ensure they are aware of any concerns and regulations for their destination.
- Both travel managers and employees receive real-time alerts to any security issues and any updates to travel restrictions.
- I can access support from human customer care agents 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.