Corporations, faced with escalating travel and entertainment expenses, are actively seeking ways to provide cost-effective travel solutions while maintaining high levels of productivity and morale. In many companies, travel and entertainment is the third largest corporate expense after payroll and data processing.

The high cost of business travel today is forcing corporations to find new ways to reduce travel expenses. One popular method to reduce expenses is to simply cut back on the amount of travel. This may reduce expenses but it often will have a negative impact on a company's ability to service, sell or maintain a presence with their customer base. This therefore becomes a self-defeating initiative. The solution is proper planning and management of the travel budget in combination with a solid travel policy.

Are your corporate travelers asking for - and receiving - the lowest applicable airfare, hotel and car rental rates? Are you aware what percentage of your corporate travel is being done on specific air carriers? Are your hotel rates and car rentals below corporate rates?
The first step in effective travel expense management is to establish a comprehensive travel policy within the company. Recent surveys indicate that over 43% of corporations have no set policies relating to travel and entertainment. Employees cannot be expected to follow guidelines when there are no guidelines to follow. Consequently, many employees do not take advantage of cost saving opportunities, which can dramatically reduce the travel costs incurred by the corporation. When employees are aware of budgetary constraints, they respond accordingly. This is equally true for the travel agency whose task is to help manage the corporation's travel requirements.

Air, hotel, and car rental costs comprise the largest portion of a travel budget. There are as many variations in the purchase of these travel products and services as there are companies. A corporation that is primarily concerned with making business travel as comfortable and flexible as possible for its employees may tend to adopt a less restrictive travel policy than a company who is primarily interested in controlling and reducing travel costs.

GST will work with you to establish a realistic and workable corporate travel policy that will help the company control its expenses while still allowing the traveler to maintain a reasonable level of comfort and convenience.