The SME Guide to Travel Cost Control
Don’t cut travel. Make it work harder.
The "yes we still need to travel" survival guide
Corporate travel is up 17% because video call fatigue is real and deals still close in person. This guide shows you how to keep moving without wasting money.
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Here’s what’s inside the guide:
- ROI benchmarks by industry: See what $1 returns: $1.53 (manufacturing) to $2.11 (entertainment).
- The 3 reasons you're missing savings: Timing, routing, airline preferences. All fixable.
- Where to invest when markets are uneven: Regional strategies that align spend with growth.
- Policy tweaks that work immediately: The kind that saved customers $7M in Q1
- Real company data: Not theory. Results from businesses like yours.
Why this guide matters (and why now)
42% of companies are increasing travel spend. Even with uncertainty. Even with rising costs. Because face-to-face still closes deals, builds relationships, and drives revenue.
But here's the problem: last-minute bookings, out-of-policy spend, zero visibility into ROI, and staff booking travel with no clue what a good rate looks like.
"Travel isn't a sunk cost; it's a growth lever. But it needs structure, support, and a clear link to outcomes."
— John Van den Heuvel, President, Corporate Traveler USA
This guide shows you how to keep revenue-generating trips and cut the waste that doesn't.
The data: Travel is still essential (when managed right)
According to Corporate Traveler customer data*:
- 17% more bookings YOY
- 13% more travelers
- 17% more trips
Industry signals:
- 42% of companies plan to increase travel spend (Tourism Review News)
- Business travel RevPAR up 12% (Hyatt Q1 2025)
- Top concern: Tariffs and rising costs (54% of travel professionals)
The takeaway? Smart companies didn't stop traveling. They stopped overpaying.
What strategic travel delivers
ROI by industry:
- Manufacturing: $1.53 per $1 spent
- Life sciences: $1.70 per $1 spent
- Oil & energy: $1.69 per $1 spent
- Entertainment: $2.11 per $1 spent
"If you're seeing strong returns in the Northeast or in biotech, that's not the time to scale back. It's where you double down."
— John Van den Heuvel
"In sports and entertainment, you're paying us $10 to potentially save $20,000."
— Julia Guinan, Director of Stage, Screen and Sports
Who this is for
This guide is for lean teams at fast-moving businesses: the EAs managing travel on top of everything else, the CFOs scrutinizing budgets, the Ops leaders stretched thin and dealing with last-minute bookings that cost way too much.
If that's you, you're probably dealing with:
- Staff booking travel with zero training
- Last-minute, out-of-policy spend
- Travel freezes that stall revenue-generating trips
- No visibility into costs or ROI
This guide shows you how to:
- Protect the trips that drive revenue
- Eliminate expensive waste
- Prove ROI to finance
- Optimize without adding complexity
* Jan–Apr 2025