However, increasing travel expenses can significantly impact small businesses, due to limited resources. Fortunately, there are effective strategies to minimise these costs and can help economise both time and money on travel.
- Create a Business Travel Policy: Establishing a corporate travel policy ensures control over travel expenses and streamlines the reimbursement process, helping to manage budgets effectively. It should outline employee responsibilities for booking and payments, spending limits, preferred travel partners, per diem allowances, and reimbursement procedures.
- Communicate Travel Policies: It’s essential to communicate travel policies to employees to ensure they understand what is expected of them. Putting the policies in writing and making them easily accessible can help avoid confusion and save time in the long run. Clear communication upfront will assist employees in planning their travels and simplify the process of reviewing expense reports.
- Consolidate Appointments: Encourage employees to schedule appointments with multiple clients in one trip to save time, improve efficiency, and reduce costs. Consolidating appointments reduces the number of individual trips, significantly lowering transportation and accommodation expenses and reducing environmental impact.
- Plan and Book Ahead: Planning trips in advance is crucial for saving money on business travel, as prices can increase closer to the travel date. Early planning also allows time to secure preferred departure times and providers. To illustrate, the 2024 Air Travel Hacks Report recommends booking domestic flights in the UK at least five months in advance to save 35 percent compared to last-minute bookings and international flights eight to 23 days before departure to save up to eight percent.
- Support Bleisure Travel: Bleisure travel involves adding personal travel at the beginning or end of a business trip. While costs vary by destination and timing, it may also offer savings through lower leisure rates, keeping small businesses competitive. Furthermore, bleisure travel can enhance employee satisfaction and retention, helping small businesses remain competitive.
- Join a Hotel Loyalty Programme: Loyalty programmes are a powerful way to enhance satisfaction for business travelers by allowing them to earn rewards on work trips that they can later redeem for personal travel. They offer benefits such as discounted rates, rewards points, free Wi-Fi, and flexible check-in and check-out times. Look for programmes tailored to small businesses that provide guaranteed discounts, transparent rates, and detailed spending reports. Focus on loyalty programmes with hotels in key destinations that offer essential amenities like meeting rooms, fitness centres, and business equipment. The right programme helps businesses earn points on travel and redeem rewards to lower future expenses.
- Join an Airline Loyalty Programme: Like hotel loyalty programmes, airline loyalty programmes offer rewards such as discounted fares, free changes or cancellations, access to airport lounges, and priority boarding. These programmes can enhance the travel experience by making it more efficient and cost-effective and enable businesses to accumulate points that can be redeemed for future travel.
- Spend Less on Meals: Stay at hotels that offer free breakfast or social hours for networking and savings. For longer stays, consider accommodations with kitchen areas to save money on dining out, which can also support a healthier diet.
- Use a Corporate Travel Credit Card: Corporate credit cards offer convenience, transparency, and rewards. They allow business owners to set credit limits for each user to control expenses and simplify billing. Moreover, the rewards and benefits can help offset travel costs and provide perks for business owners and employees. For instance, IHG Business Edge Pay benefits employees and business owners with points for personal or business travel.
- Monitor Spending with Supplier Tools: Dedicated accommodation platforms enable employees to book hotel stays and allow business owners to oversee and manage spending. For example, IHG Business Edge offers a dedicated portal with a tracking tool for analysing current and year-to-date hotel spending data.
- Explore Alternative Transportation: Consider using alternative forms of transportation such as ridesharing services, bikes, public transit, or trains to reduce travel costs and environmental impact. Kimpton offers complimentary bikes to its guests for a convenient, affordable, and healthy way to get around.
- Choose Eco-Friendly Hotel Brands: Support hotel brands that actively take measures to reduce their carbon footprint and offer sustainable options. This approach not only aids global environmental efforts but also resonates with employees and clients who prioritise sustainability and responsible business practices. These factors are critical in the UK, where a 2022 survey showed that 37% of travelers consider staying in eco-friendly hotels.
Lastly, consider partnering with a programme that understands your needs. IHG is among the first hotel companies to establish a programme for small and midsize enterprises, which Global Traveler has recognised as the Best Small-to-Midsized Business Program for six consecutive years.
IHG Business Edge simplifies travel management with an easy-to-use portal that tracks hotel spend and room nights. The programme offers guaranteed discounts on direct bookings, accelerated loyalty status, exclusive promotions, and partner benefits. With over 6,000 hotels in 100+ countries, it ensures you’ll find the right stay wherever you go.
Learn how IHG Business Edge can help you save and streamline your travel strategy.
This article comes courtesy of IHG Hotels & Resorts, the global leader in hotel hospitality, providing a wide range of accommodations and exclusive business travel solutions for small to midsize enterprises.
