1 November, 2022 – With global business travel bookings now exceeding pre-pandemic levels, there is little doubt that SMEs are playing an outsized role in economic recovery. According to business travel specialist Corporate Traveller, clients have cited reconnecting in real life as the main driver of their return to travel and the vital factor for business success.

With 16,000 clients globally, Tom Walley, Corporate Traveller’s Global Managing Director is attuned to their needs, and believes that boosting efficiency and productivity is crucial to smart recovery.

“As the backbone of the economy, SMEs account for the majority of businesses worldwide and are important contributors to job creation. At Corporate Traveller, we play our part in supporting this dynamic segment through a range of travel management services as well as informative resources,” said Walley.

Walley revealed the SME travel segment leader has tapped decades of industry know-how to produce the Business Travel Game Plan, an easy-to-use playbook that drills down on the essentials to help SMEs gain more visibility and control over their business travel programmes.

“We recognise that SMEs are adjusting to new priorities as they propel their businesses forward in this changed world. Through the Business Travel Game Plan, we have set out to show that by adopting an inclusive and more unified approach to travel, this translates into more savings, greater insight and business success. We know that when a travel programme goes well, it actually helps our customers win.”

Available to read and download via the Corporate Traveller website, the playbook shines a light on eight core areas including diversity equity and inclusion, technology, service and more, to optimise programme performance. A variety of educational assets show businesses how to assess and address pain points to gain better oversight over how to organise and improve the management of their travel.

Assets like the travel policy benchmarking tool assist in creating an effective travel policy and allow for benchmarking against others within the industry, while guidance on the Duty of Care essentials prepares travellers for any hitches before, during and after trips. These are just some of the helpful resources available.

Each section features a handy ‘score card’ to enable users to identify where the gaps are in their current programmes, and provides recommendations on how to get back on track.

In keeping with the company’s customer-centric approach, the Business Travel Game Plan also shares examples of relevant client challenges resolved with Corporate Traveller’s guidance.

It envisaged this content will appeal to both growing SMEs that typically organise their own travel, as well as benefit companies looking for advice as they reconsider their own programmes.

“Post pandemic travel is complex and not without its challenges for SMEs. By sharing vital guidance from Corporate Traveller’s team of travel pros, we hope that this playbook will encourage them to reassess and improve how they currently manage their business travel,” added Walley.

The Gameplan is ready to view now via the following link: https://www.corporatetraveller.co.za/resources/whitepapers/your-business-travel-game-plan-how-win-visibility