When businesses plan their travel budgets, the conversation usually starts with flights, hotels and transportation. These are the expenses that are easiest to track, compare and negotiate. But managing the cost of international business travel involves more than securing competitive rates. It also means understanding the processes, resources and everyday challenges that shape the experience of employees travelling for work.
As companies prepare for 2027, I believe there is an opportunity to look more closely at how travel programmes are managed. For organisations operating across multiple markets, the objective should not simply be to control individual expenses. It should be to make international travel easier to organise, more predictable and better aligned with commercial priorities.
Business travel is an investment, not just an expense
International travel continues to play an important role in how businesses develop relationships and pursue opportunities. According to Holafly’s Global eSIM & Travel Report 2025–2026, 52% of surveyed professionals travelled more for work in 2025 than in 2024, while another 29% reported similar travel levels.
For commercial teams, being physically present can be valuable when developing partnerships, meeting customers and entering new markets. But the value of these trips also depends on how effectively they are organised. An employee travelling internationally should be able to concentrate on the purpose of the visit rather than spending time resolving avoidable administrative issues.
This is why I believe travel planning should be viewed as an operational decision, not simply a procurement exercise. Negotiating competitive prices remains important, but so does creating processes that work consistently for employees, finance teams and travel managers.
The costs businesses don’t always see
Mobile data expenses provide a useful example of how relatively small purchases can introduce additional complexity into a travel programme.
Holafly’s research found that, among companies with fewer than 50 employees, 27% of surveyed business travellers relied on reimbursement after their trips, while 18% paid their mobile data expenses themselves. In organisations with 500 or more employees, 53% reported having company-covered plans, although 26% still used reimbursement processes.
These figures illustrate the different ways businesses manage a service that employees may need throughout their international trips. They also raise a broader question: how much administrative effort is involved in managing expenses that could potentially be organised before departure?
The research does not measure the financial impact of these processes. However, from a commercial perspective, it makes sense to examine whether individual purchases, expense claims and fragmented arrangements are the most practical approach for teams that travel regularly.
Greater visibility over these expenses can help businesses make more informed purchasing decisions. Just as importantly, clearer policies can reduce the number of arrangements employees need to manage independently.
Employee experience is part of operational efficiency
Cost control matters, but the lowest-priced option is not always the most suitable one for a business.
Holafly’s report found that 79% of surveyed business travellers said their employers provided some form of mobile plan or digital service for international travel. Yet 93% reported experiencing at least occasional problems staying online abroad.
These findings suggest that providing a service and ensuring a satisfactory experience are two different considerations. For employees travelling between meetings or working across several destinations, reliable access to mobile data can be important for communicating with colleagues, accessing information and responding to changing schedules. This is particularly relevant for international sales teams, where employees often need to remain available while moving between markets. A travel policy should therefore consider more than the initial purchase price. Coverage, straightforward activation, employee support and ease of administration all deserve attention.
For me, this is where the conversation about business value becomes more interesting. A solution should be evaluated not only by what it costs, but also by how well it supports the people expected to use it.
A more strategic approach to corporate travel
There is no single model that works for every organisation. A company with employees travelling internationally every week will have different requirements from one whose teams make only occasional trips abroad.
That is why businesses should begin by understanding their own travel patterns. Which destinations do employees visit most frequently? How are mobile data expenses currently managed? How much responsibility falls on individual travellers, and where could clearer processes make their experience easier?
For some organisations, centrally managed mobile services may offer greater consistency and expense visibility. For others, flexibility may be the priority. Technologies such as eSIM can simplify certain practical arrangements, but the purchasing decision should always reflect the organisation’s actual needs.
In my experience, the most productive B2B conversations start with understanding the customer’s operational challenges rather than presenting a solution immediately. The same principle should guide corporate travel planning: identify where complexity exists, determine what matters to employees and choose arrangements that make commercial sense.
As businesses prepare their travel programmes for 2027, I would encourage them to look beyond the most visible expenses. Flights and hotels will always represent an important part of the budget, but smaller operational decisions also deserve attention.
Ultimately, a well-managed travel programme should allow employees to spend less time dealing with arrangements and more time building relationships, supporting customers and pursuing the opportunities that made the journey worthwhile.
