Setting and Monitoring Travel KPIs to Get C-Suite Buy-In

Corporate travel is an essential component of growth for many businesses. However, managing travel arrangements can be tricky, especially if the C-Suite tends to micro-manage the process and baulk at certain costs. 

Travel managers must walk a tightrope, balancing expenses, traveller well-being, and business objectives to ensure maximum ROI. 

This is tricky because, according to the fifth annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey (2023), 98% of global travel managers say data delays dated analytics make their jobs more difficult, 39% of these say that demonstrating ROI to senior leadership is particularly challenging. 

However, managers have a powerful weapon in the form of KPIs. Key Performance Indicators quantify value and performance, and go a long way towards demonstrating the travel programme’s success. The right KPIs presented in the right way justify spending and convince the C-Suite that buy-in is the only sensible option. 

The Indispensable Role of KPIs

KPIs are metrics that shine a light on the overall success of your travel programme, including crucial, mind-altering components such as cost savings, compliance, and traveller well-being.

KPIs are indispensable when it comes to:

• Allocating resources to optimise processes and improve the cost-effectiveness of each step in the programme.
• Negotiating favourable terms with suppliers based on travel patterns, supplier performance, and market trends.
• Implementing data-based targeted initiatives that enhance the overall efficiency and efficacy of your travel programme.

It boils down to the importance of travel data in informed decision-making that continues to drive robust and sustainable business growth.

Measuring What Matters to Executives

The best way to get buy-in is to give people what they want. This doesn’t mean fudging numbers to keep the C-Suite happy. It’s about providing relevant information; information that speaks to their priorities.

When it comes to business travel, the KPIs that match the C-Suite’s priorities include:

Cost optimisation

KPIs identify hotspots that drain travel budgets, and help you plug the holes. KPIs to consider include:

• Average cost per trip
• Cost savings achieved
• Cost per booking

These, and related KPIs, expose the hidden costs of travel management, and provide the data needed to optimise rates (flights, hotels, car rentals) through supplier negotiation. 

Compliance & risk mitigation

You created a travel policy for a reason, so you’d like your employees to stick to it. If your policy is truly comprehensive, there should be no reason for non-compliance. Still, you want to ensure everyone complies all of the time. There really is only one relevant KPI here:

Policy compliance rate: The percentage of travel activities that fall within policy guidelines. You don’t necessarily want to rap anyone over the knuckles, but you do need to know if your employees have exposed themselves to any risks.

Recruitment, retention, and traveller experience

It’s important for the C-Suite to know how travel policies affect employee satisfaction. Happy employees are loyal employees. They’re also ambassadors who can indirectly recruit new talent. 

The KPI you want to track here is:

Traveller satisfaction rating: How do your travellers feel about their experiences? Does your policy facilitate traveller well-being, as well as successful performance? 

If they answer in the negative, then you need to take corrective action. 

Sustainability and CSR

Sustainability is increasingly important in business travel for all stakeholders, including airlines, hotels, transport companies, buyers, sellers, clients, and employees. It affects everything from employee retention and business reputation to business relationships and expansion.

Sustainability KPIs to track include:

• Carbon emissions per trip: This is quite important in the UK now, as companies are obliged to reduce their carbon footprint in line with net zero goals. 
• Green travel initiatives: The degree to which your employees choose green options, like eco-friendly accommodation and lower-emission flights. The aim is to determine the effectiveness of your sustainability policies, which can be measured via your booking tool. 
• Shift to rail: According to CarbonClick, aircraft produce around 285g of CO2 per passenger-kilometre. UK trains generate only 41g, and the Eurostar generates a paltry 6g per passenger-kilometre.
• Sustainable supplier usage: The percentage of suppliers that either share your company’s sustainability goals or the percentage of your travel budget that goes to suppliers with certified sustainability practices. 

Good green credentials are a magnet for customers who also want to up their sustainability KPIs.

Winning Over the C-Suite

This is all excellent data, but it’s how you present it that will have the most impact on leadership. It must be engaging with diagrams, charts, and small infographics. Break it into chunks so it’s easy to digest. Not because you doubt the C-Suite’s ability to understand that data, but because they’re busy people with a lot on their minds and will appreciate succinct clarity.

• Turn analytics into charts with different colours for each section. 
• Put the big stuff first, for example, start with cost-related data, then compliance, then performance, and so on.
• Turn percentages into simple infographics.
• Emphasise the potential identified by predictive analytics, especially as it relates to your company’s broader strategic goals.  

Keep leadership in the loop with regular updates. They don’t need to know daily stats, but you can send out reports once or twice a month and schedule presentations (video or in-person) once a quarter, depending on your C-Suite’s preferences.

Remember, KPIs are your weapons of choice. Use them effectively, and your C-Suite will become your travel programme’s biggest advocates.

Posted on 1 May 2026 by VMR Travel