WHEN SHOULD YOU REFRESH YOUR CORPORATE TRAVEL POLICY

When you’re a small company with only a few staff, producing a corporate travel policy is relatively straightforward, and it’s easy to monitor whether people are following it and whether its effective.

However, as a company expands, takes on more staff at different levels within the business, and starts to travel to different parts of the world, your travel policy can quickly become obsolete and unable to accurately service the influx of new staff and their myriad travel requirements.

It’s much easier to keep on top of your business travel policy as the company grows rather than leaving it until it almost needs a complete overhaul.

General company policies change all the time, again often as the company grows, and these changes need to be reflected in the corporate travel policy.

For example, has your company changed its policy on expenses, insurance, annual leave, sick pay? Any kind of policy change that might impact someone when travelling for business should also be updated in the travel policy.

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to corporate travel around the world. Pretty much every country needs to be considered differently, and if your company is expanding its global reach in any way then your travel policy must also be expanded and refreshed accordingly.

If you normally do business in the UK and Europe but you’re now looking further afield, perhaps to the Far East for example, then travel requirements are obviously going to change, especially if the travel involved will be regular.

Likewise, if your company has opened offices elsewhere in the world, then your corporate travel policy will more than likely need to be changed. You might need to work with new vendors in different currencies, and so there’s a good chance your current travel policy document won’t contain the relevant information. In fact, branches of your business in other countries could well require completely separate corporate travel documents to reflect their particular requirements.

One of the primary purposes of a corporate travel policy is to keep spending down to a minimum, this making your company more profitable. However, in this regard, an outdated policy might be as good as no policy at all.

Vendors changing their prices all the time, exchange rates fluctuating regularly and a whole host of other variables can all of sudden end up costing you more money on travel than is necessary.

If you’re finding that the costs of travel for your business are creeping up, then it’s time to refresh your policy before they spiral out of control.

If they’re already spiralling out of control, then you need the expertise of a travel management company who can help bring those costs down again. Here at Gray Dawes Travel, we can find you the best travel solution for your company’s needs and budget.

Legislation is passed or fine tuned on a daily basis about almost every aspect of our lives, and that includes the way we work and how we travel.

It is absolutely essential that your corporate travel policy is up-to-date following any major changes in the law from a business or travel standpoint.

For example, are there changes to the way employees must submit expenses or declare their location at certain times of their trip? These are hypotheticals, obviously, but anything could change in the future, and it’s vital your policy changes as well.

Just as legislation can change, just about every other aspect of the travel industry can also change, sometimes with no prior warning whatsoever – it’s important your company knows how to adapt.

A recent example of this is the collapse of Monarch Airlines or the cancellation of Ryanair flights in 2017. If it stated in your corporate travel policy that you only dealt with one of these airlines, then your company and its travellers could be in a mess (and many were) – your policy will therefore need to be updated promptly with your new procedures.

It’s also worth refreshing your policy with safeguards in case problems like the above do arise – is there a backup airline to book with? What instructions should be relayed to travellers? etc. It’s good to keep in mind that if you do find yourself stranded on a business trip that a TMC like INC. Travel Group can and will help you get back home.

The world is a large and complicated place, and it’s vital that all businesses that have employees across the globe are aware of any changes in economic, social or political climate.

Are you employees travelling to areas of the world with political unrest? Is a country’s currency on a knife edge? It might sound dramatic, but your travel policy will help your company and its staff stay safer when travelling – as can our 24/7 support and employee tracking.

Your policy can give advice to travellers if something goes wrong, as well as provide best practice for travelling in certain areas of the world – or not travelling as the case may be.

Just as legislation can change, just about every other aspect of the travel industry can also change, sometimes with no prior warning whatsoever – it’s important your company knows how to adapt.

A recent example of this is the collapse of Monarch Airlines or the cancellation of Ryanair flights in 2017. If it stated in your corporate travel policy that you only dealt with one of these airlines, then your company and its travellers could be in a mess (and many were) – your policy will therefore need to be updated promptly with your new procedures.

It’s also worth refreshing your policy with safeguards in case problems like the above do arise – is there a backup airline to book with? What instructions should be relayed to travellers? etc. It’s good to keep in mind that if you do find yourself stranded on a business trip that a TMC like INC. Travel Group can and will help you get back home.