Global Business Travel Association has predicted that annual business travel spend will surpass pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, and a large driver of that will be group events like offsites, team-building, and conferences. For distributed and global teams, in-person events can help keep employees feeling connected and motivated. Brex has seen offsite spend more than triple across our customers since the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating a higher demand for gathering in person.

However, most existing T&E solutions fall short, making this increase in group events and travel a growing burden on companies. Most solutions are insufficient to meet the needs of modern, distributed workforces. For many years, companies have been stitching together multiple disjointed and outdated solutions to book travel, plan and execute events, enable spend, and close the books. Disparate systems frustrate finance teams, managers, and employees and waste valuable time on non-strategic work.

Employee experience managers planning an offsite often encounter similar frustrations and logistical challenges as event planners face when hosting conferences. As a travel manager, you choose an event location, set the dates, and block out a rough estimation of hotel rooms. And of course, you have a strict budget to adhere to — so you are constantly forecasting spend and running scenarios to maximize your event dollars.

Then you have to get everyone, including external guests, there — which takes much more work. You need to send out invites and track RSVPs, ensure attendees book their travel and comply with your expense policy, and collect their confirmation numbers. Employees may contact you to make a change, cancel, or rebook part of their trip. You also get countless one-off requests for safety information, contact info, and meal plans. You’re juggling separate spreadsheets with traveler details, hotel rooms, and budgets — with lots of back and forth over email or Slack that makes overall plans and expenses unclear. Once the event is happening, it’s difficult to track spend and control costs. Only after the event is over will you know whether you exceeded your budget.

With hybrid and remote work remaining common in modern workplaces, the importance of gathering teams in person for offsites, conferences, client gatherings, or strategy meetings will likely continue to increase. In a multi-industry survey of 100 executives, McKinsey found that “organizations that have kept employees connected have also tended to see their productivity increase.”

The ROI of group events is clear — as long as you have the right tools. To maximize the benefits and minimize team travel costs, you need an integrated travel, group events, and expense management solution:

Control and manage all types of travel: From individual travel to group offsites to conferences to meetings with partners or prospects, Brex makes it easy to enable, book, and manage any type of travel – alongside your other spend, such as procurement and stipends.

Track spend and logistics in one dashboard: With Brex, all event-related logistics, spend, travel plans, and communications are easily accessible in one place, so costs and guest list details are clear at every step — across reimbursements, invoices, and card.

Get better visibility and more control: Using an integrated travel and expense management software solution that includes group event management means that you can control event travel arrangements and costs at the most detailed level with spend limits or blocks within specific categories like flights, meals, and entertainment. Plus, speed things up with customized, multi-level approval flows.

Leverage group discounts: Individual bookings made outside of a travel solution prevent you from getting bulk discounts from airlines or your TMC. Brex gives you exclusive rates on group travel.