Despite the technological advancements that have enabled companies to take their businesses to all four corners of the world without ever having to leave the office, face-to-face meetings remain key moments to create and maintain partnerships and clients.
In the U.S. alone, it’s estimated that 1.3 million business trips are taken every day. And this is expected to keep growing: the Global Business Travel Association projects that in 2022, the investment in corporate travel will reach $1.7 trillion (about €1.45 trillion) worldwide.
As with any of your other business investment, it’s important that these business trips are well planned and executed – but that’s only possible to do with a well-structured and efficient corporate travel policy in place.
Why create a corporate travel policy?
Save time and money
According to a study by the Global Business Travel Association, when an employee books his own travel without a corporate travel policy in place this can cost a company upwards of €2000 a year.
Without a corporate travel policy in place, companies lose unique opportunities to negotiate special partnerships with hotel chains and airlines.
Additionally, a corporate travel policy helps to streamline procedures, thus saving you time when it comes to booking a trip and making your employees more productive.
Simplify the travel booking process
When your employees need to book a trip, do they know how to proceed? What documentation they need to send and to whom? Which hotel chain they should book? What the budget is for booking a flight?
A corporate travel policy answer these and many other questions so your employees always know what to expect at each step of the process.
Increase your team’s productivity
With a corporate travel policy in place, your team stands to gain from the initial booking process to the final hotel check-out. With an established and streamlined booking process, your employees don’t have to spend time trying to figure out what information they need to send, to whom and by when.
Additionally, during the entire trip, your employees will know how to manage payments and reimbursements as well as who to contact in the case of an emergency.
With these streamlined processes, your team gains back time to spend on your core business, becoming more productive before, during and after their business trips.
