How to maximize the ROI of business travel

Travel costs have been up across the board since the industry started to recover from the COVID lull, and businesses aren’t immune. GBTA estimates rising prices across all major travel sectors in 2024 compared with 2023, including:

• +1.8% in airfare
• +3.6% in daily hotel rates
• +2.1% in daily rental car rates
• +3.0% in the cost of attending meetings and conferences

Together, these increases all add up and can eat into your travel budget fast.

You could save money by simply planning fewer business trips, but that's a choice that has its own costs. In The Current State of Business Travel report by Uber for Business and GBTA, 87% of respondents said that business travel is crucial to meeting their business goals.

Plus, business travel opportunities can be good for recruitment and retention. GBTA reports that 79% of workers in North America say business travel affects job satisfaction, and 59% say it’s a factor when evaluating a potential employer.

For business travel to be seen as a benefit, the employee experience has to be a good one. Many respondents in the Uber/GBTA report mentioned experiencing personal challenges while on the road, such as time away from family or pets. You don’t want travel conditions to add to their stress.

You don’t want to scrap your business travel budget completely and lose all the benefits it offers. But you also don’t want to spend that money unless it really will help you meet your business goals. Evaluating the ROI of business travel at your institution is an important step in keeping your budget under control while maintaining the trips that are important to your company’s bottom line.

Here are some smart cost-saving measures you can take to improve travel ROI for your business:

• Plan in advance. Flights and hotels generally cost less if booked 1-3 months in advance.
• Require employees to take advantage of company-negotiated deals. If you have any preferred providers that offer discounted rates, make sure employees know to try booking with them first.
• Set spending limits. Clarify the maximum amount employees are allowed to spend for each type of travel expense.
• Avoid peak travel times. Instruct employees to avoid planning business trips during peak travel periods like weekends and holidays.

Cutting costs is an important part of the business travel ROI equation. But to make sure you still get the benefits of business travel, you should also factor the employee experience into your decisions. To help you balance both needs at once, try these smart approaches:

• Use tech tools to simplify bookings and cost control. Providing employees with a booking platform makes it easier to direct them toward preferred providers that offer company discounts. Such tools can also enable you to set and easily enforce spending limits.
• Give employees options. Some strategies for cutting costs may limit employee options, but try to make sure you’re still giving them some agency over their travel choices. Offering food delivery vouchers or a per diem for meals, for example, allows them to enjoy their choice of cuisine while traveling—and still helps you keep costs within budget.
• Leave room in the budget for business-class privileges. You don’t want cost cutting to come at the expense of making trips miserable for your employees. Try to find space in the budget to allow for some upgrades and small luxuries, so employees can bring their best selves to the job while away from home.