Cutting Costs For Travel Budgets Under Rs. 1 Crore
There is a common misperception that enterprises can secure the cheapest business travel by booking directly with suppliers. But as time-strapped CEOs and personal assistants spend countless hours trawling the Internet for fares and managing their own travel arrangements, are the benefits really what they seem?
UNIGLOBE Travel experts can create a cost effective plan specially designed for your business.
Like any other controllable expense in a small business, corporate travel needs to be managed strategically rather than on an ad hoc basis. If savings are to be achieved, travel and related entertainment activity must be planned to create significant and measurable efficiencies.
UNIGLOBE Experts recommend a cost-cutting plan that comprises the following elements:
- Working with one travel expert who understands your needs completely and can give you end-to-end service
- Educating your people
- Effectively sourcing your air fares
- Maximizing the value of your hotel bookings
Each of these elements is essential to improve the time and cost efficiency of how you and your employees travel on business.
Let the experts help you improve how your company travels as a whole
1. One travel expert
At UNIGLOBE Travel, we understand your unique corporate travel needs. We have a world of experience in helping companies with annual travel purchases under Rs 1cr and our operation has been built with your needs in mind. As a result we have the experience and resources to deliver airfare and accommodation options that will have an immediate and positive impact on your bottom line.
We believe that enterprises with travel budgets under Rs. 1Crore. require special expertise from one person who understands your company's unique travel patterns, needs and cost parameters. A dedicated travel expert gives your business a single point of contact to take care of your every requirement... from bookings, to insurance and visas and the sourcing of fares.
Working with one of our travel experts also offers a range of benefits over booking travel online. These include:
- Sourcing fares that are both competitive and flexible, allowing for last minute changes.
- Greater consistency in your company's booking processes, thereby streamlining your bookings and travel patterns which in turn delivers long-term savings.
2. Improving how your company travels as a whole
The overall efficiency of your travel is determined largely by your corporate culture. Your decision towards when and where you fly, the airlines you choose, and the hotels in which you stay, can dramatically impact the overall cost-effectiveness of your travel. Even if your business has only a small number of travellers, variations in the above factors can create unnecessary cost blow-outs. Working closely with you, UNIGLOBE Travel Experts can help you achieve quick and simple improvements by:
- Assessing how you travel and identifying areas where costs can be contained eg. How far in advance are your tickets booked? Class of travel? Style of hotel? Transfers between airports and hotels?
- Considering what you value most: productive, flexible and safe business travel or finding the lowest-cost travel options.
- Where you have multiple departments and travel needs, creating a basic travel policy that guides the way all your people travel and provides greater ability to source more competitive rates.
- Ensuring everyone is aware of this policy and complies with this policy
3. Educating your people
Vast savings can be achieved for your business, as a result of simple changes to the way you manage your travel bookings. Our experts will help educate you and your travellers on the best ways to achieve time and cost savings. We focus on ensuring all company travellers understand why changes are needed, the benefits of the change and how it impacts them as individuals and as a company.
4. Effectively sourcing your airfares
Air travel still accounts for the vast majority of all corporate travel related expenses. The cost efficiency of your organization's air travel can be streamlined using a range of strategies, including:
- Working with your travel expert to source the lowest logical airfares.
- Booking your tickets in advance, to optimize any advance fare purchases
- Analyzing whether more cost-effective classes of travel can be booked (eg. economy for domestic flights; premium economy where available; and business instead of first class).
- Considering low-cost carriers for short-haul flights, where there is no conflict with your existing airline agreements and where flight schedules suit your scheduled meetings
- Ensuring there are ramifications for any employees who make their own bookings and/or book outside the parameters of your internal travel policy.
5. Maximizing the value of your hotel bookings
In addition to air travel, hotel accommodation can account for a substantial amount of your travel budget. Your UNIGLOBE Expert can assist your business to further leverage your existing hotel booking processes, so you achieve better savings. For example we can help you by:
- Assessing your room night volumes to bolster your rate sourcing.
- Looking at the trends in where your people stay to determine whether there are more cost effective alternatives that are just as convenient.
- Providing professional recommendations based on extensive hotel knowledge and industry experience.
- Utilizing our global hotel program to achieve lower room rates for your business.
6. Protecting your travellers' security
Risk management planning is a vital part of protecting your business travellers. UNIGLOBE Experts can assist you in your duty of care to employees who are on the move or planning to travel. As a minimum, the following steps should be taken:
- Ensure all travellers in your company make ALL bookings through your preferred travel expert, so they can be readily located in the event of a crisis.
- Organize comprehensive travel insurance for your travellers.
- Advise your travellers on all health-related requirements (eg. vaccinations and precautionary medication) before they depart.
- Identify any potential safety hazards prior to each business trip.
Ensure all visa, passport and foreign currency exchange matters have been organized prior to departure.
by Soumya Prakash on 04/16/2013 in Business