Buyers have been urged to make cost savings by tackling hidden costs such as taxis, restaurant bills and phone roaming charges.
BCD Travel’s Tony McGetrick told the BBT Forum in London that secondary spending on business trips added up to 26 per cent of total costs.
“Secondary spending is a huge area for potential saving – you could use taxi companies and specific restaurants in certain cities where you can get discounts,” said McGetrick.
“There are opportunities to send marketing messages to individuals when they arrive at a destination to use this taxi firm or particular restaurants.
“This area is another black hole in corporate’s budgets and they could get big benefits from tackling these hidden costs. Costs are going up – an average London taxi journey has gone up from £13 to £19 in the last four years.”
John Dickens, shared services manager of NEC, said it was important to assess any potential savings before setting up processes to tackle these costs.
“You have to work out how scientific you can afford to be. You need to know what the rewards are going to be before you decide whether it’s worth doing,” he said.
HRS’s London managing director Jon West highlighted the time employees spent on completing a hotel booking instead of doing their normal tasks.
"These are costs that people do not think about," added West.
Gail Cooke, Optimum Procurement’s principal advisor for travel, said that analysing hidden costs was the key to securing savings.
“Do some analysis on the hidden costs with ancillary spend and then alert the budget holders to these costs,” she said.
“You can then tell travellers who are the top preferred suppliers where you can get rebates and additional benefits. If you need a taxi then this is who you book with. They are small value but it’s habitual and can add up to a huge saving.”