Event planners are rethinking travel management, viewing it as an integrated part of the entire event experience, not just a logistical hurdle.

Under the best of circumstances, a meeting planner’s job is fraught with challenges. How does one choose the right destination, and venue(s) — not to mention food & beverage, educational content and entertainment — to meet or even exceed a group’s goals, and do it within budget?

Weighing the benefits and drawbacks of using an in-house AV team for meetings or corporate events versus choosing an outside production company revolves around a host of factors.

Today’s corporate meeting planners recognize that budgeting constraints require a level of creativity that will allow for a similar experience that attendees that have become accustomed to.

Whether there is an in-house planner, third-party event planning company or a combination of the two, a well-executed budget plan must be in place.

The skies may still be friendly, but price increases have also made them costly.

Budgeting for the audiovisual costs of a meeting can be as nuanced as pricing a meeting’s food and beverage package.

Planners who apply their experience and creativity to events are seeing success by putting in the hard work, especially when it comes to sorting out budgets after the pandemic.

Global travel prices are predicted to continue to increase through the end of 2022 and throughout 2023, according to the 2023 Global Business Travel Forecast published by CWT, a travel management platform, and the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).

As social distancing guidelines ease and more companies return to in-person meetings, it means planners need to once again rethink how budgets will be affected in 2022.