VWB Blog Statistics from 2021 showed that 13.6% of US travel was considered to be business travel. This went up from 2020 when the percentage was only 13%.
If you need to plan business trips, you may feel overwhelmed. After all, you are responsible for all of the different parts that make up a good business trip.
You need to have a business trip checklist to help you stay on track. There are specific things that you need to do before focusing on less important details.
Keep reading to find out how to plan business trips with this guide.
Make Travel Arrangements
The first thing you need to do is start with the arrangements. This includes picking a business trip destination that everyone will enjoy.
There are several ways to go about doing this, but you should have a few destination options. This will limit the variety so that everyone can make a better decision.
You will also need to start booking flights online. Most business trips are taken with commercial airlines, which offer affordable options.
If you really want to impress on this trip, there is another option that you can choose. You can book a private jet charter, allowing everyone to travel in style.
This gives the group privacy and avoids the hassle of having to go to the airport. This can also reduce the risk of late flights or people missing their flights.
You will also need to consider the smaller details, such as how to get to the plane. Do you have a business bus that can take all of the employees to the private jet charter?
Or will you need to arrange for people to have Uber drivers or taxis? These are all small details that may seem insignificant but need to be addressed.
Keep Everyone Notified
Another important aspect of traveling for business is communication. Depending on how many employees are going on the trip, this can feel overwhelming.
Most business trips are comprised of at least a dozen employees if not several dozen. This can make it difficult to make sure everybody knows what is going on.
You will need to find a way to make sure everyone stays notified about the trip. This could be through a text group or an online chat room that everyone has access to.
You need to let everyone know how they are getting to the plane and how travel will go. Everyone will need to know what times they need to be there so that no one misses the flight.
This is also a great way to answer any questions that people have.
Have Travel Buddies
If you have to plan business trips, there are a few tips that can help out with this. One tip is to create travel buddies so that you don’t have to keep track of everyone individually.
Buddies usually consist of groups of two people who are responsible for each other. This takes some of the weight off of your shoulders and ensures that no one will get left behind.
This is also a great way to make traveling more fun for everyone in the company. It can also help to promote better employee relations and encourage more mingling.
Keep Packing Light
It is important to make sure that everybody understands packing requirements. Everyone should understand the kind of clothes that they need to bring.
But they should also understand that they need to pack lightly. You will most likely not have much room for luggage, so luggage needs to be scarce.
Everyone should know how much luggage they are allowed and how heavy it can be. Most people should be allowed a suitcase and one carry-on depending on the situation.
Have a Backup Plan
It is important to make sure you plan for some things to go wrong. It is very likely that at least one thing will not go as planned, and you don’t want to be surprised by this.
For instance, you should have already looked at hotels for business travel. You should already have a hotel booked and ready to go when everybody lands.
It is a good idea to hang onto one or two other options just in case something goes wrong. It is rare, but a hotel may lose your reservation or may not have enough rooms.
You should hang onto additional resources for other aspects of the trip just in case you need them.
Don’t Rush
When you reach the business trip destination, you don’t want to go crazy. Many people make the mistake of planning it too aggressively for when everyone to lands.
You may have a lot of activities planned, but you want to still leave some room. Especially when everybody lands, the rest of the day should be left empty.
This allows everybody to go to the hotel and rest before the next day. This will help to prevent jetlag and reduce the chances of anyone getting sick from traveling.
This is the perfect option since it allows people to rest if they need to rest. Those who don’t need to rest can entertain themselves in other ways until the business trip officially starts.
Tips for How to Plan Business Trips
If you need to know how to plan business trips, this business trip checklist should help. As overwhelming as this can feel, there are certain ways to make it simpler.
Did you enjoy reading this article about planning business trips? Keep reading for more business-related content that you may find useful.