It's a well-established fact: by implementing strict travel policies and using online booking tools, companies are managing to control the costs associated with employee travel. On an individual level, of course, but the situation is very different when it comes to spending on meetings, conventions and seminars - in short, all those group events often referred to by the acronym MICE (Meetings, Events, Conferences, Incentives).<\/p>\n
In large companies, these events are traditionally organised by the marketing, communications or human resources departments. \"For just over two years, this task has tended to fall to the Purchasing Department<\/i>says Saskia Gentil, European Operations Director for Meetings & Events at American Express Business Travel, This has an impact on the distance travelled, the number of participants and, of course, the overall budget for each operation.<\/i>\"<\/p>\n
The sums involved in these events are far from negligible, particularly in certain sectors such as pharmaceuticals, banking, consultancy and telecommunications, where there is a proliferation of events: financial roadshows, product launches, reward trips for the best salespeople. \"This expenditure is estimated on average at between 0.5 % and 1.5 % of company sales, but is still difficult to monitor in the absence of reporting.<\/i>\"says a white paper from Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT).<\/p>\n
Until now, there has been a lack of coordination, and even professionalism, among the companies sponsoring events. \"In some large international companies, a trainee is even given the job of organising an event\".<\/i>remarks a professional in private. This is, of course, an extreme case, but far from insignificant. Until now, those responsible for organising events in-house have had several options for carrying out their mission: contacting the various service providers directly, going through a travel agency, or even, more often than not, calling on the services of an event communications agency. In this process, there is little or no trace of the buyer...<\/p>\nObstacles to rationalisation<\/h2>\n
Don't give up<\/h2>\n
The challenge of reporting<\/h2>\n