Why is budgeting for group business travel so challenging?
When planning travel for a group, costs can start to rack up pretty quickly. You’ll have to consider the price of accommodation and transport for everyone, on top of all the other expenditures and line items associated with an in-person event (food, venue bookings, etc.)
Transportation and accommodation for company events can get very expensive, regardless of the type of event—especially if you work for a distributed/remote company, or a company with multiple offices. If that’s the case, to pull off a successful event, you may have to fly people in from across the country or around the world. You’ll have to pay for their flight tickets or train tickets, rental cars or taxis, hotel bookings, and associated costs. And if people need to change plans or cancel at the last minute (a common occurrence in any large group), you’ll incur even more fees.
In this situation, it might be tempting to cut corners to save money, such as having event attendees
share hotel rooms
. However, this type of solution can make employees uncomfortable. It also presents a risk, due to discrimination and privacy implications. Fortunately, there are many other ways to save money on business travel bookings during the event planning process, while still ensuring everyone’s needs are taken care of.