FCM Consulting, part of FCM Travel, has urged businesses to demonstrate the value of corporate travel as rising costs put pressure on budgets.
Its latest report, Trends & Strategies for H1 2027,
identifies four gaps travel programmes should address in 2027 to improve
investment decisions and link trips to business priorities.
Economy airfares have increased by around 21% in 2026, with
further rises expected into 2027 as airlines pass on higher fuel costs.
Meanwhile, global hotel rates eased to $216 in Q3 2026, just
0.9% above the previous year.
“Every
business trip is an investment in a customer, a deal or a team,” said Jo Lloyd,
Chief Customer Officer, FCM Travel. “When travel managers can show senior leaders
why each trip happens and what it delivers, managed travel is seen as a
strategic asset, and it’s easier to invest in the trips that matter. Our job is
to help clients build that case.”
The report
identifies four gaps and how to close each:
The
Articulation Gap: Standard
travel reports cover cost and compliance without recording why people travel,
so it’s hard to explain how the budget supports company goals. To close that articulation
gap, add a short list of trip purposes to the booking process, using terms
business already recognises. You can then report spend against priorities and
set policy rules that suit the purpose of each individual trip.
The AI
Governance Gap: AI
is moving from experiment to everyday use, and the rules for how it’s governed
need to keep pace. Enforcing policy is hard even before AI is involved, so AI
shouldn’t be relied on to interpret rules on its own. “A strong approach is fail-safe
by default: when there isn’t a compliant option, AI should stop and pass the
decision to a person,” said Felicity Burke, Strategy Lead, FCM Consulting. The
report advises buyers to make sure their contracts say how AI use is checked,
who reviews its decisions, and who is responsible if it makes a mistake.
The
Contracted vs. Real Gap: A negotiated rate only saves money if travellers book it. FCM data shows
42% of Americas travellers book outside policy and only 56% use approved tools.
Hotel rates with last room availability (LRA) rates are available 60-85% of the
time, and 25-50% for non-LRA rates. With hotel rates now levelling off, it is
easier to see where a company pays more than the market. Rachel Newns, Global
Hotel Practice Lead, FCM Consulting, said: “The actual rate achieved is the
best measure of how well a negotiated rate is performing in the
programme.”
The Disruption Readiness Gap: Disruption is an everyday feature of business travel. Programmes need to be ready for it. The Middle East seat capacity is down 10.7% this year. Nearly a quarter of European flights were late in 2025, US on-time performance was its worst since 2014. The EU’s Entry/Exit System has added airport queues at participating airports, with processing times up by as much as 70%. “Before they set off, travellers should know how to rebook and who to contact if something goes wrong,” said Juan Antonio Iglesias, Strategic Advisor, Market Intelligence, FCM Consulting. Newns also said hotel booking is largely unmanaged, which makes it harder to know where travellers are, and that companies should treat compliance as a risk measure as well as a financial one. -TradeArabia News Service