Almost half of Australian and New Zealand businesses (49%) plan to increase their business travel budgets this financial year. Here’s how travel advisors can assist small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to optimise their spending.
With just nine per cent of ANZ SMEs considering reducing their business travel budgets this financial year and 49 per cent keen to increase their spend, it’s good news for business travel bookers.
However, four in five ANZ businesses want to better track and manage their travel spending, according to new research from Corporate Traveller.
Almost half of all SMEs surveyed (48%) believe automated expense tracking will be the most transformative tool in their travel program ahead of predictive analytics to optimise business travel budgets (45%) and virtual travel assistants (34%).
Corporate Traveller Global Managing Director Tom Walley said manual expense reporting is one of the biggest challenges for SMEs.
“Business travel may be back in full swing but our findings suggest that many businesses are losing value and efficiencies through poor expense tracking and delayed reporting,” he said.
Without an automated expense system, tracking international expenses across multiple currencies is also difficult.
Walley also warns that a lack of a clear and comprehensive travel policy without audits can lead to unauthorised travel claims.
He recommends that SMEs book all components of a business travel trip in the initial booking process to capture as much of the trip spend beforehand and to minimise on-trip expenses.
“Around one-third of travel expenses can be removed by booking all components of travel together with your travel management company or online booking tool,” he said.
Advisors can assist SMEs in controlling their business travel budgets with travel management software through a centralised booking system that negotiates better rates.
“By having the right tools to manage every dollar spent along the way and clear pre-approval processes within a comprehensive travel policy, businesses can take control of their travel budgets, reduce waste and eliminate the frustration of hidden costs,” Walley said.
