How to organize group travel, accommodation, and budgets for a company event

Planning travel for a company event can become complicated quickly. Booking a trip for one employee already involves transport, accommodation, traveler preferences, budgets, and company policy. Add a group of attendees traveling from different locations, and the number of moving parts grows fast.

Whether you are organizing an offsite, all-hands meeting, team-building event, or company retreat, a successful event plan needs to account for the venue, attendee needs, travel logistics, booking status, and total spend in one coordinated process.

This guide explains how to choose an event location, organize group travel and accommodation, track attendees, and stay on budget without relying on endless email chains and spreadsheets.

Why is group business travel challenging?

Business travel planning involves more than booking a flight and hotel. For each traveler, you may need to consider:

These considerations become more difficult when employees are traveling from multiple offices or working remotely. A distributed team may have attendees arriving from different cities, countries, or time zones, making it harder to coordinate arrival times, accommodation, and shared transport.

Travelers may also have different needs. One attendee may require accessible accommodation, while another may need to change their departure airport or extend their trip for “bleisure” travel. Without a centralized process, travel managers can easily lose visibility over bookings, costs, and traveler status.

Research cited by Forbes found that 97% of employees and executives believe a lack of alignment directly affects the outcome of a task or project. For company events, poor coordination can lead to missed flights, incomplete bookings, unnecessary costs, and a disrupted attendee experience.

Start with the event: choose the right location and venue

A memorable company event often starts with the right setting. A venue can shape the atmosphere of an all-hands meeting, offsite, training session, or team-building activity—while also determining how practical and affordable the event will be.

Remote and distributed teams increasingly rely on in-person gatherings to build relationships and collaboration. According to the World Bank, around one-third of jobs in high-income countries could potentially be performed from home. As more organizations embrace remote or hybrid work, internal events can help teams reconnect in person.

However, choosing a location that works for everyone is not always straightforward. A destination that is convenient for a team of five may be expensive or impractical for a team of 50 arriving from different countries.

Factors to consider when choosing an event location

Before contacting venues, assess the practical and financial implications of each potential destination.

Number of participants

The size of the group affects nearly every decision, including venue capacity, hotel availability, transport options, food and beverage costs, and whether group rates are available.

A small team may be able to meet in a boutique hotel or activity venue. A larger company-wide gathering may require a destination with direct transport links, multiple nearby hotels, and sufficient meeting space.

Venue, travel, and accommodation costs

The venue cost is only one part of the event budget. Consider the full cost of bringing the group together, including:

• Flights, trains, and local transportation

• Hotel rooms and taxes

• Meeting rooms and equipment

• Food and catering

• Activities and team-building experiences

• Insurance, cancellation costs, and contingency spend

A less expensive venue in a remote destination may ultimately cost more if most attendees require long-haul flights, additional hotel nights, or complicated airport transfers.

Accessibility and convenience

A convenient venue reduces friction for attendees and makes it easier to coordinate the group. Consider:

• Proximity to major airports, train stations, or public transport

• Direct-flight and direct-train availability

• Airport transfer options

• Whether coach buses or shared transportation can be arranged

• Accessibility for attendees with limited mobility or other specific needs

• Nearby hotels, restaurants, and essential services

Timing and seasonality

Check whether your proposed dates overlap with public holidays, major conferences, local festivals, school breaks, or peak travel periods. These can affect venue availability, hotel prices, transportation capacity, and local opening hours.

Weather also matters, especially for outdoor events. If the venue includes outdoor activities, have a practical backup plan for rain, extreme heat, cold weather, or other disruptions.

The purpose of the event

The type of event should shape the location and venue shortlist. A leadership retreat, sales kickoff, team-building event, training workshop, and company-wide all-hands each have different requirements.

For example:

• A strategy retreat may need quiet meeting rooms and private spaces.

• A team-building event may benefit from outdoor activities or cultural experiences.

• A company-wide meeting may need a large presentation space, reliable Wi-Fi, and accommodation nearby.

• An event involving international attendees may require a well-connected city with straightforward entry requirements.

Attendee needs and preferences

Survey attendees before making a final decision. Ask about likely departure locations, dietary requirements, accessibility needs, travel constraints, and preferred event formats.

This can help you select a location that is fairer for the group and avoid preventable issues later in the planning process. Once you have reviewed responses, create a shortlist of venues, request proposals, compare total costs, and secure the venue as early as possible.

Build a group travel plan before bookings begin

Once the location and dates are confirmed, establish a clear travel plan. The goal is to give attendees enough flexibility to travel comfortably while maintaining visibility and cost control.

A practical group travel plan should include:

• Event dates, venue address, and key agenda times

• Recommended arrival and departure windows

• Approved airports, train stations, and transport options

• Accommodation requirements and hotel options

• Booking deadlines

• Spending limits and approval rules

• Guidance for changes, cancellations, and bleisure extensions

• Emergency contacts and support information

Booking early is particularly important for groups. It can improve availability, help secure attendees on similar flights or trains where appropriate, and reduce the risk of price increases.

For geographically distributed teams, avoid assuming everyone will arrive at the same time. Instead, use clear arrival windows and coordinate transport based on actual itineraries.

Keep track of attendees and bookings in one place

One of the most difficult parts of event travel planning is maintaining an accurate view of who is attending, who has booked, and when everyone is arriving.

Email may work for a very small group, but it quickly becomes unmanageable as attendee numbers grow. A simple message asking employees to book their flights can turn into a long series of reply-all messages, conflicting updates, and missing information.

For each attendee, you should be able to see:

• RSVP status

• Flight, train, or other transport details

• Arrival and departure times

• Hotel booking status

• Check-in and check-out dates

• Rooming or accommodation assignments

• Whether travelers are arriving on the same flight or train

• Changes, cancellations, and outstanding booking tasks

• Event-specific travel costs

This visibility is particularly valuable when plans change. Travel disruption remains common: a report cited by PhocusWire found that 73% of frequent business travelers said a recent trip had been disrupted in some way.

Without a centralized view of bookings, travel managers may have to search through emails, spreadsheets, booking confirmations, and multiple consumer travel websites to understand what is happening.

Set a realistic event travel budget

Travel and accommodation can account for a significant share of total event spend. This is especially true for remote companies, organizations with multiple offices, or teams bringing employees together from across the country or world.

A complete event budget should include more than the cost of transport and hotels. Typical line items include:

• Venue hire

• Flights and rail tickets

• Airport transfers, car rentals, and taxis

• Hotel rooms and accommodation taxes

• Catering and meals

• Team activities and entertainment

• Audio-visual equipment and event production

• Event insurance

• Cancellation and change fees

• Contingency funds

Avoid cost-cutting that compromises attendee comfort

When costs rise, it can be tempting to reduce expenses by asking employees to share hotel rooms. However, this can create privacy, discrimination, and employee-experience concerns.

Look for savings that do not compromise attendee comfort or inclusion. For example:

• Select a location with strong transport connections.

• Book travel and accommodation early.

• Use group rates where available.

• Set clear travel policy limits before booking begins.

• Choose hotels within walking distance or a short transfer from the venue.

• Use flexible booking options when attendee changes are likely.

• Track actual spend against the budget throughout the planning process.

A strong event budget is not simply about spending less. It is about allocating resources to the areas that matter most while avoiding unexpected costs and manual administration.

Choose the right way to book and manage group travel

There are three common ways to organize travel for a company event: travel management software, corporate travel agencies, or consumer booking websites and self-booking.

Travel management software platforms

For most medium and large group events, a centralized travel management platform provides the strongest balance of control, traveler flexibility, and visibility.

Travel management software can centralize flights, rail, hotels, car rentals, travel policy, approvals, reporting, and traveler support in one place. It can also reduce repetitive manual work such as collecting traveler details, chasing booking confirmations, checking spend, and responding to routine itinerary questions.

A Smartsheet survey found that 60% of workers estimated they could save six or more hours per week by automating routine administrative work such as data collection, approvals, and updates. This is particularly relevant for event planners, who often need to coordinate many travelers at once.

Perk Events is designed to help companies organize travel for corporate events and group gatherings. It can support small groups of 1–5 travelers, medium groups of 6–20 travelers, and larger groups of more than 20 people.

With a centralized event travel platform, you can:

• Invite employees and stakeholders to the event

• Track RSVPs and booking status

• View arrival and departure times in one place

• Share event agendas, travel details, and itineraries

• See which attendees are traveling on the same flights or trains

• Monitor hotel booking and check-in details

• Apply automated travel policies to keep bookings within budget

• Label bookings by event to improve cost tracking

• Give travelers the flexibility to self-book within policy

• Keep attendees informed when plans change

This approach can also make it easier to manage the broader travel program. Depending on the platform, companies may have access to expense reporting, VAT reclaim, sustainability tools, and corporate travel discounts.

Perk customers have reported substantial time savings compared with previous booking methods, including savings of three to four hours per day and up to 75% less time spent on travel administration.

For events where plans may change, flexible booking options can also reduce risk. Perk’s FlexiTravel program is designed to provide more flexibility than traditional fares, allowing travelers to cancel eligible bookings up to two hours before travel and receive a refund of at least 80% of the trip cost. According to Perk, travelers can save an average of 40% compared with traditional flexible fares.

Corporate travel agencies and local travel agents

Corporate travel agencies can help manage group bookings, negotiate hotel or flight rates, and arrange activities or transport. They may be a suitable option for organizations that need highly managed service or specialized itinerary support.

However, agencies can introduce additional complexity. Every booking request, itinerary update, traveler question, or change may need to pass through a third party. This can slow communication and limit real-time visibility for both travelers and event planners.

Many agencies also operate with fixed contracts, transaction-based fees, limited travel inventory, or restricted access to low-cost carriers. In some cases, travelers may avoid using the agency altogether and book independently through consumer websites, making policy compliance and cost tracking more difficult.

Support is another consideration. Event travel can be disrupted outside standard office hours, so it is important to understand whether the agency offers responsive, in-house support when travelers need help.

Consumer booking websites and self-booking

Consumer websites such as Skyscanner or Booking.com can be useful for very small groups or businesses that are just beginning to manage travel.

However, this approach becomes difficult as the number of attendees grows. If each employee books through different websites, the travel manager may need to collect confirmations manually, reconcile invoices from multiple suppliers, manage reimbursements, and track changes across many separate bookings.

Self-booking can also make it harder to enforce company policy, negotiate group rates, or monitor total event spend. Many low-cost consumer fares are non-refundable or carry high cancellation and change fees, which can create unexpected costs when attendee plans change.

For larger events, the time spent coordinating individual bookings can outweigh any apparent savings.

Create a travel policy for the event

A clear event-specific travel policy helps attendees understand what they can book and what the company will cover. It can also prevent inconsistent decisions and reduce the need for manual approvals.

Your policy should cover:

• Approved transport classes and booking options

• Hotel budget limits or preferred accommodation

• Booking deadlines

• Approved arrival and departure windows

• Rules for rail versus air travel

• Airport transfer and local transportation reimbursement

• Meals, baggage, and incidental expenses

• Change and cancellation procedures

• Bleisure travel rules, including which costs are employee-funded

• Accessibility and reasonable accommodation requests

If employees are allowed to extend their trips for personal reasons, make the distinction between business and personal costs clear. For example, the company may cover travel required for the event but not additional hotel nights, personal transport, or fare differences related to an extended stay.

A well-designed corporate travel policy gives travelers clarity while helping the company control spend and duty-of-care obligations.

Use group rates and flexible options strategically

Group rates can help control costs, particularly for hotels, rail, airport transfers, and large flight bookings. However, they are not always automatically the cheapest option.

When comparing group offers, consider:

• Total cost rather than headline rate

• Cancellation and change terms

• Minimum room or ticket commitments

• Payment schedules and deposit requirements

• Location convenience

• Availability of individual traveler flexibility

• Whether attendees can book alternative travel within policy

For some events, it may make sense to secure a hotel room block while allowing travelers to book their own transport within established arrival and departure windows. For others, especially where the group must arrive together, centralized transport booking may be more appropriate.

Group booking options and corporate hotel rates can help organizations find suitable rates while keeping bookings visible and manageable.

Support travelers before and during the event

Travel support is essential for group events because disruption can affect more than one employee. A delayed flight, missing hotel booking, or cancelled train can affect airport transfers, event attendance, and the wider agenda.

Make sure travelers know:

• Where to find their itinerary

• Who to contact if plans change

• How to reach the event organizer

• How to access transport from the airport or station

• What to do if their booking is disrupted

• How to report an emergency or accessibility issue

A travel management platform with 24/7 human support can be particularly valuable when travelers are in different time zones or disruptions happen outside office hours.

A practical checklist for planning group event travel

Use this checklist to organize your next company event:

1. Define the event purpose, attendee list, dates, and budget.

2. Survey attendees about departure locations, accessibility needs, dietary requirements, and preferences.

3. Shortlist destinations based on accessibility, total travel cost, venue suitability, and seasonality.

4. Confirm the venue and secure accommodation early.

5. Set travel policy rules, including booking deadlines and bleisure guidance.

6. Create recommended arrival and departure windows.

7. Invite attendees and track RSVP status.

8. Book transport, accommodation, and local transfers—or enable self-booking within policy.

9. Monitor booking completion, traveler itineraries, and actual spend.

10. Share event agendas, transport details, and emergency contacts.

11. Prepare for cancellations, delays, and last-minute attendee changes.

12. Review total event costs and traveler feedback after the event.

Simplify group travel for your next company event

Coordinating a company event does not have to mean managing spreadsheets, chasing booking confirmations, or sorting through reply-all email chains.

By choosing an accessible venue, setting a clear event budget and travel policy, centralizing booking information, and giving travelers reliable support, you can create a smoother experience for both attendees and organizers.

See Perk Events in action to learn how Perk can help you organize group travel, accommodation, attendee tracking, and event spend in one place.