CFO & HR Directors Balance Cost Control and Traveller Well-Being

During the post-Covid years, business travel, which was particularly hard hit, has clawed its way back to its pre-pandemic value. In fact, according to a report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), business travel has reached a record high of $1.5 trillion in 2024.   

Lockdown is cited as one of the reasons for this growth. Movement was severely restricted. People seemed to crave human contact, so when restrictions were lifted, face-to-face interactions became a priority for businesses. These in-person connections drive business relationships and global collaborations.

It’s not all good news. Business travel might be easier to access, but cost is still a valid concern. So is traveller well-being, which often increases expenses. 

How to Resolve the Problem

At face value, it looks like a straight shootout between CFOs and HR directors: Cost vs People.

There’s a lot more to it than that. But you can’t resolve a problem like this without fully understanding the players. Let’s take a deeper look at their roles. 

CFOs Maximise ROI & Financial Discipline

Chief Financial Officers are responsible for maximising ROI on every penny spent. This requires careful strategising and resource allocation based on current data.

Maximising ROI is challenging because, according to a Mastercard report, 59% of travel managers are faced with employees who don’t comply with spending policies and controls. 

According to the Global Business Travel Association (which puts global business travel spending at $1.4 trillion in 2024), the lion’s share of travel budgets goes to lodging, followed by air travel, food and beverages, and then ground transportation. 

You can reduce these costs without sacrificing quality, comfort, and safety by:

• Using comprehensive travel management systems that integrate travel and expense (T&E) policies for real-time insights on spending. 
• Using company travel volume to negotiate more favourable rates for flights and accommodation. 
• Setting spending limits to prevent bookings that fall outside company guidelines.

It’s important that all the guidelines and requirements in your T&E policy fit within your company’s broader financial strategy and aren’t considered separate or over and above traditional spending.

HR Prioritises People, Safety, & Retention

HR managers also operate with cost in mind, but their job is to allocate expenses properly to create frictionless travel experiences that meet their duty of care responsibilities. This requires clear travel policies designed to optimise business trips (e.g., one trip to meet clients, suppliers, partners, etc.) without placing undue pressure or stress on your employees. 

HR managers can achieve this by:

• Providing rest periods between each “set” of meetings. For example, scheduling morning meetings only, so employees can rest and reset their brains in the afternoons to prepare for the following day.
• Booking hotels with R&R amenities, like swimming pools, gyms, spas, coffee shops, and restaurants. Or, book hotels close to these amenities and provide a guide that points out downtime options, like cinemas, parks, and theatres.  
• Providing a designated driver for business-related travel, for example, driving employees to and from meetings, onsite locations, and formal events, like celebratory dinners.

These are some of the comfort and well-being requirements included in duty of care. Physical security includes safety protocols that cover medical emergencies and disruptions due to natural disasters and political unrest. For example, medical insurance for hospital visits and evacuation plans. 

Providing for these needs is essential to employee motivation, performance, engagement, and, most importantly, retention.

Bridging the Divide

HR directors and CFOs must work in concert to develop people-centred and cost-focused business travel policies. HR ensures policies are clear and applied consistently. Processes are managed on a central platform that integrates travel-related tasks, like bookings, schedules, employee behaviour, and expenses. 

CFOs set budget limits or caps. For example, accommodation can be booked up to $X amount. Dynamic pricing can be used to keep air transport costs down. Alerts can be set up to flag overspending, so finance managers can assess expenses in real-time.

Finance and HR must collaborate to provide some flexibility in the policy. 

• Perhaps this means employees can choose their hotel, provided it’s within policy limits. 
• Maybe they can decline the designated driver and hire a car instead. 
• It definitely adjusts meal budgets based on a city’s cost index because the cost of living varies between cities, let alone countries. This ensures travellers can eat and drink without worrying if their allowance will last the entire trip.

One of the biggest benefits of central platforms is the control finance has over costs, without putting pressure on HR to micromanage traveller behaviour. 

Modern Technology Transforms Travel Management

Modern technology includes automation that streamlines approvals and enforces policies without human input, saving time and increasing efficiency.

Automation also provides real-time tracking features and 24/7 support in case of emergencies. They can analyse data to detect patterns in the travel industry, for instance, the optimum number of days before departure to book flights. These insights can be leveraged to save costs. 

Policy compliance rate is an important metric to consider when determining the reasonableness of budgets. For instance, constant overspending on hotel accommodation could mean you have to reassess your budget. The system can also detect consistent overspending by specific employees, so you can take corrective action. 

As you can see, finance and HR are intertwined when it comes to travel policies. Collaboration is the only way to ensure you get the best of both.

Posted on 3 April 2026 by VMR Travel