Corporate Trip Planning Checklist: A 12-Week Countdown

Almost every corporate travel problem we are called into late has the same root cause, and it is not budget. It is that a decision was made two weeks after the point at which it still had options.

The countdown below assumes a 50-150 person programme with at least one overnight. Single-day city programmes can compress it by roughly a third; programmes above 200 people or abroad should add four weeks.

Weeks 12-10: the brief

• Write down what must be different after the programme. One sentence. This determines the format.
• Set the headcountband, not a number (for example 90-110).
• Identify your date constraints: quarter close, audit periods, production shutdowns, school holidays.
• Get an indicative budget range approved — a range, not a figure.
• Decide who the single decision-maker is. Programmes with three decision-makers lose two weeks.

Weeks 10-8: options and shortlist

• Request proposals from no more than three suppliers. More than three does not improve the outcome; it delays it.
• Give every supplier thesamebrief. Different briefs produce non-comparable quotes.
• Ask for line-item pricing, not a single total.
• Ask each supplier what they would remove first if the budget dropped by fifteen per cent. The answer tells you what they consider essential.

Weeks 8-6: decision and contract

• Select the supplier and lock the date. From here on, date changes cost money.
• Review the contract: cancellation window, deposit schedule, headcount tolerance, force majeure, insurance scope.
• Confirm that accommodation and transport areheld, not merely quoted.
• Approve the programme flow at the hour level, not the day level.

Weeks 6-4: internal communication

• Announce the programme internally. Earlier announcements raise attendance materially.
• Open registration and start collecting: dietary requirements, accessibility needs, room-sharing preferences.
• If travel documents are needed, check passport validity now — not later.
• Brief line managers. A manager who does not understand the programme will quietly discourage their team from attending.

Weeks 4-2: the detail

• Close registration and share the confirmed list with the supplier.
• Finalise rooming list and vehicle allocation.
• Walk through the contingency plan: bad weather, delayed arrivals, a participant falling ill.
• Identify the on-site decision-maker from your side and give them authority to approve small changes without calling head office.
• Confirm technical requirements: stage, sound, screen, streaming.

Final week

• Send participants a single message containing: meeting point, departure time, what to bring, dress code, and one contact number.
• Confirm the emergency contact list on both sides.
• Reconfirm every booking in writing — not by phone.
• Prepare the arrival desk list and, for larger groups, wristbands or name badges.

After the programme

• Collect feedback within three days. After a week the response rate collapses and the memory blurs.
• Record what you would change, while it is still specific.
• Keep the photographs and the numbers together — you will need both to justify next year's budget.
• Close the file with the final invoice and the reconciliation against the original quote.

The three deadlines that matter most

If you remember nothing else from this list:lock the date at week eight, close the headcount at week two, and communicate internally at week six.Programmes that hit those three rarely go wrong. Programmes that miss them rarely go smoothly, however good the supplier is.