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SMEs looking to grow their business in 2023 are now able to apply for a travel grant with Flight Centre Business Travel which could transform their operations through increased travel and face-to-face contact with customers and business partners.
Flight Centre Business Travel’s Corporate Travel Grant is back from a hiatus following COVID-19 with over $40,000 in travel prizes available to successful grant applicants.
Flight Centre Business Travel’s Global Leader Cameron Harris said with the world opening up many businesses are looking to increase their business travel to take advantage of opportunities.
“We know that face-to-face travel is extremely beneficial for our customers and SMEs across the board,” Harris said.
“We understand the unique challenges that SMEs and start-ups face and know just how beneficial grants of this size can be.
“This year, we’ll be awarding one business a Corporate Travel Grant, valued at over $30,000 to help support their growth and success, whilst four runners-up will share in $10,000 worth of travel credit.”
Mr Harris said SME owners usually depend on human connections, so it’s unsurprising that Flight Centre Business Travel’s customers find in-person meetings to be more influential in building stronger relationships and getting a stronger sense of a client’s needs first hand.
The value of meeting face-to-face for business extends to the ability to have more productive and engaging internal company meetings and building stronger network and partnership connections.
‘Zoom fatigue’ is driving the trend back to more face-to-face meetings, where personal interaction can be less pressured and building rapport possible with more beneficial results for all parties.
“Online videos and phone calls have a place and are effective to a certain degree, but we’re seeing a strong willingness for businesses to get back to meeting in person,” Harris said.
“We know that providing these grants and assisting with travel management can be particularly worthwhile to entrepreneurs who are already juggling a host of responsibilities and SME leaders and decision makers who are looking for cost efficiency.”
A previous Corporate Travel Grant winner, Almo Milk, said winning the grant was absolutely transformational for their business. It helped them grow brand awareness by exhibiting across Australia and Asia, resulting in a 200% increase in online sales.
To apply for the grant, SMEs need to simply submit a one to two-minute video outlining what travel means to their business, and how winning the $30,000 Corporate Travel Grant will help them.
Flight Centre Business Travel will then select the top five entries and fly two representatives from each business to its Global Head Office in Brisbane, to present their pitch in more detail to the selection panel.
Four runners up will win a share of $10,000 in Virgin Australia travel credit and two Velocity Gold memberships each.
Q1. What does travel mean to your business?
Q2. What will this travel grant allow you to do?
At Flight Centre Business Travel we recognise the pressures that are placed on business people every day. When you work with us you can take off with the confidence that you’ve got a dedicated Travel Manager working behind the scenes to get you the best corporate fares and rates on your flights and accommodation, saving you both time and money.
