Why Business Continuity Planning is Crucial for Corporate Travel

By Dee Iylia Business Travel Blog Tips Travel Discussion Travel Safety July 9, 2025

In today’s unpredictable landscape, companies are navigating more risks than ever before. From climate-related disruptions to the growing dependence on intricate tech systems and global supply chains, a single unexpected event can throw business travel plans into disarray. In fact, one in three organisations experienced travel disruption last year due to extreme weather, IT failures, or geopolitical tensions.

For businesses that rely on mobility—whether to close deals, manage international teams, or attend industry events—having a solid business continuity plan isn’t just smart; it’s essential. It’s the difference between a brief inconvenience and a costly setback.

That’s why managing these risks with a robust continuity plan is more important than ever. Read on to discover why business continuity planning is crucial for corporate travel.

What is business continuity planning?

Business continuity planning (BCP) is the process of preparing an organisation to maintain operations during and after an unexpected disruption. It involves identifying key risks—whether operational, environmental, or technological—and developing strategies to ensure the business can continue functioning with minimal interruption.

For corporate travel, this means having clear procedures in place to manage scenarios such as flight cancellations, geopolitical unrest, natural disasters, or technology outages that affect bookings and communication. A strong continuity plan outlines how travel-related operations can adapt in the face of disruption, with steps for quick decision-making, traveller safety, and recovery protocols.

Rather than reacting to issues as they arise, BCP provides a structured approach to navigating uncertainty—ensuring that business travel doesn’t come to a halt when the unexpected occurs.

Why is business continuity planning important for corporate travel?

In today’s interconnected business landscape, a single disruption can cause a domino effect across multiple departments and regions. Corporate travel is no exception. Whether it’s a cancelled flight, a natural disaster, political unrest, or a cyber incident affecting your booking systems, any unexpected disruption can derail business objectives, put employees at risk, and result in substantial financial loss.

According to IDC, infrastructure failures can cost companies an average of USD $100,000 per hour—while critical application failures can reach up to USD $1 million per hour. For organisations managing large-scale or frequent travel, the costs of disruption can quickly spiral, from missed meetings and delayed deals to reputational damage.

This is why a well-structured business continuity plan is no longer just a “nice-to-have”—it’s essential. A robust BCP helps ensure that your business can:

Respond swiftly to travel-related disruptions
Keep employees safe and informed
Maintain business operations with minimal downtime
Protect sensitive data and client trust
Comply with internal risk protocols and regulatory standards

What does a good business continuity plan look like?

A strong business continuity plan isn’t just a document that sits in a drawer—it’s a practical, well-integrated strategy that enables your organisation to continue operating smoothly, even when the unexpected hits. In the world of corporate travel, this means keeping travellers safe, maintaining communication, and ensuring minimal disruption to operations.

Here are the three key pillars of an effective BCP:

1. Resilience

Resilience is all about building strength into your operations from the ground up. This could involve creating backup systems for booking platforms, maintaining alternate supplier relationships (such as secondary hotel or transport providers), or rotating team responsibilities to cover absences.

For travel teams, resilience might also mean having access to real-time travel updates or emergency contact networks to support employees on the move. The goal is to ensure that essential travel services can continue without significant interruptions—whether remotely or on-site.

2. Recovery

While you can’t predict every crisis, you can prepare to bounce back quickly. A good BCP outlines clear recovery time objectives (RTOs) for systems and operations—helping you prioritise what needs restoring first.

For example, if a flight-booking system goes down or a region faces sudden political unrest, recovery measures might include activating backup travel vendors or rerouting trips based on preset risk thresholds. The faster your recovery, the less costly the disruption.

3. Contingency

When Plan A fails, your BCP should already have a Plan B—and C. Contingency planning ensures your business can adapt swiftly by assigning responsibilities, securing alternate workspaces or communication channels, and engaging third-party partners where needed.

In travel terms, this could mean pre-approved hotel alternatives, emergency evacuation protocols, or outsourced support for stranded employees.

How to create a business continuity plan for corporate travel

Putting together a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) doesn’t have to be overwhelming. When broken down into practical steps, it becomes a straightforward way to protect your business travellers, minimise disruptions, and ensure smooth operations—even in the face of uncertainty.

Here’s how to approach it:

Step 1: Appoint a responsible team

Start by assigning a core team responsible for creating, activating, and managing the BCP—especially in moments where quick decisions are crucial.

Identify who will lead the response if a travel disruption occurs.

Assign coordinators to manage different areas: trip rebookings, traveller safety, and communications.

Make sure all roles are backed up with alternates.

Keep an updated contact list that includes key personnel, travel managers, destination partners, and emergency support teams.

For corporate travel, this means ensuring someone is always available to step in—whether it’s rerouting flights, finding last-minute accommodation, or liaising with affected employees.

Step 2: Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)

A BIA helps you understand how various disruptions could impact business travel activities and your wider operations.

List out critical travel-related functions—such as itinerary approvals, emergency travel support, visa processing, or executive travel logistics.
Assess how disruptions to these functions could affect the business: delayed client meetings, loss of revenue, damaged reputation, or compliance issues.
Prioritise these functions based on how time-sensitive and business-critical they are.

This step will help you focus resources where they matter most if things go off track.

Step 3: Identify key risks

Travel comes with its fair share of unpredictability. From severe weather to transport strikes, cyber-attacks, or health alerts—many risks can derail even the best-laid travel plans.

Identify what could go wrong: cancelled flights, natural disasters, sudden border closures, supplier failures, or data breaches involving traveller information.
Consider both the likelihood of these risks and their potential impact.
Focus on building strategies for the most disruptive and probable scenarios first.

Step 4: Define recovery measures

Once you know what’s at stake, plan how to get things back on track—quickly.

Set recovery targets: Decide how quickly you need to get each essential function running again (e.g. rebooking support within 2 hours).
Have backup options: Arrange alternative suppliers or accommodation providers, and ensure travellers know how to access help.
Back up systems: Ensure your travel platforms, apps, and communication tools have secure backups.
Prepare travel-specific workflows: Have response templates and escalation steps ready, so you’re not starting from scratch mid-crisis.

These strategies ensure continuity—whether you’re dealing with a cancelled meeting in Paris or a major network outage affecting your booking platform.

Step 5: Prepare a clear communication strategy

Smooth communication is key during a travel crisis.

Internal updates: Ensure travel managers, HR teams, and leadership are informed of disruptions and responses.
Traveller communications: Notify affected employees quickly with concise, reassuring instructions.
External messaging: If needed, update clients, partners, or media using pre-drafted templates for press releases, social updates, or emails.
Leverage tools that allow for mass, real-time notifications to avoid confusion and delays.

Step 6: Test, review, and update

Even the best plans can fall short if they’re never tested. Regular drills and mock scenarios help your team practise and refine the plan.

Run simulations focused on travel disruptions—like airport closures or natural disasters at key destinations.
Gather feedback after each test to improve your response time and coordination.
Review the plan at least annually—or more often if you expand to new markets or adopt new technologies.

You might also consider consulting with a travel risk management expert to benchmark your BCP against industry best practices.

Plan ahead with Holiday Tours: Your partner in travel continuity

Disruptions don’t wait—and neither should your planning. Building a solid business continuity plan ensures your corporate travel stays resilient in the face of unexpected events, from flight cancellations to geopolitical unrest.

At Holiday Tours, we understand that business travel is more than logistics—it’s a critical part of your operations. That’s why we offer tailored travel management solutions, real-time support, and the expertise to navigate complex scenarios seamlessly. Whether you’re managing risk, safeguarding your team, or staying agile during a crisis, we’re here to help you keep business moving—anywhere in the world.