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Johannesburg – If you do one thing differently in your organisation this year, let it be saying goodbye to ad-hoc business travel for good. The kind that sees your team make three separate trips to Johannesburg (or Cape Town or Nairobi) within a six-week period. Or book flights with less than five days’ notice. Or add unnecessary expense, complexity and stress to already-packed schedules.
It’s time to master trip stacking: the art of grouping client visits, piggybacking on trade shows, clustering commitments by region, and slashing your travel budget while protecting your team’s energy.
The case for consolidation
As Herman Heunes, GM of Corporate Traveller South Africa, explains, the true cost of a business trip extends beyond airfare and accommodation.
“It’s time away from family, productivity lost to airports, and the mental fatigue of constantly being on the go,” says Heunes. “Bundling different commitments into one well-planned journey just makes good business sense. On so many levels.”
For Heunes, trip stacking can:
Boost productivity and engagement. It seems obvious, but combining trips reduces travel days, meaning team members are more available, more productive and a lot less tired – even when on the road.
“Rather than dreading another ad-hoc trip, it pays to plan ahead,” says Heunes. “Of course, you can build in flexibility, but ‘stacking’ means you’ll become more mindful about each trip – and more protective over your energy and productivity.”
Enhance wellness and wellbeing.
Research presented at the GBTA’s Southern Africa Conference in 2025 showed that over and above the demands of business travel (which include length, frequency and intensity of business trips), the number one stressor for frequent travellers is ‘making family arrangements’.
“Business trips don’t happen in a vacuum,” says Heunes. “They often require a serious support network in the background. Someone at home is handling school runs, childcare, and everything else that doesn’t stop just because you’re travelling. When you stack trips strategically, you’re not just saving on airfare – you’re respecting the people covering for you and giving yourself the headspace to actually be present for the work that matters.”
Unlock bleisure opportunities.
When trips are planned weeks ahead rather than days, your team gains something valuable: the option to extend their stay. That might mean catching up with friends in the destination city, exploring somewhere new over a weekend, or simply decompressing before heading home.
“Bundling business and leisure is a key retention tool,” says Heunes. “You’ve saved on flights, they’ve gained an experience, and everyone wins. It’s great for team morale, balance and personal development.”
Drive sustainability.
Fewer trips equal a lighter footprint. Bundled stays cut costs and carbon.
“South Africa’s Climate Change Act 22 of 2024 introduces legally binding climate actions for anyone doing business in South Africa,” explains Heunes. “It includes carbon budgets, caps on greenhouse gas emissions and mandatory reporting. Businesses, big and small, and going to have to consider, measure and report on every trip.”
For Heunes, the wins stack up quickly. Advance booking secures lower airfares and better hotel rates, while one extended stay replaces multiple car rentals and premium last-minute prices.
But the real advantage goes beyond the budget: instead of three fragmented two-day trips stealing six days from the office, one strategic four-day visit accomplishes more while keeping the rest of your fortnight productive. You’re also “in the zone” for consecutive meetings, building momentum that opens unexpected doors – the colleague who suggests lunch, the prospect available tomorrow, the site visit that happens because you’re already there. And when travel becomes purposeful rather than reactive, everyone benefits: smaller carbon footprint, better work-life balance, sharper focus on the work that actually matters.
Ready to put trip stacking into practice?
How to bundle like a pro
- Start with the anchor. Identify your non-negotiables – the conference, quarterly review, or industry event you’re definitely attending. Build everything else around these fixed points rather than booking trips in isolation.
- Map by region, not urgency. When a Durban meeting request lands, ask what else you could accomplish on the east coast. Stack client visits in Umhlanga with supplier meetings in Pietermaritzburg and that networking event you’ve been postponing. Geographic clustering turns one journey into multiple wins.
- Book early, stay flexible. Advance bookings secure better rates and sidestep last-minute premiums – but book flexible fares and leave breathing room in your schedule for opportunities (or challenges) that surface once you’ve landed.
- Choose proximity strategically. Pick venues where you can meet, eat, and sleep within walking distance. Hours saved on airport transfers and traffic multiply across multi-day trips. Sometimes a slightly pricier central hotel beats budget accommodation that demands constant car rentals.
- Think in purposes, not trips. Before clicking “book,” ask: what else needs to happen in this city or region? Can you schedule the team workshop alongside client meetings? Could one extra day accommodate that overdue site visit?
Finally, says Heunes, partner with a travel management company (TMC). “A good TMC will have strong supplier relationships and booking tools which make bundling a breeze. Flights, hotels, and cars – savings compound when it’s all coordinated. But ultimately, the shift from reactive to strategic travel isn’t just about cutting costs, it’s about respecting the most limited resource any business has: time. Companies that master bundling don’t just save money; they create competitive advantage by being smarter about when, where, and why they travel.”
-ENDS-
MEDIA CONTACT
For more information about Corporate Traveller, or to interview Corporate Traveller South Africa GM Herman Heunes, call Sonnette Fourie on 081 072 2869 or email sonnette@bigambitions.co.za.
About Corporate Traveller
Corporate Traveller is a division of the Flight Centre Travel Group, dedicated to saving businesses across Southern Africa time and money. Corporate Traveller has the benefit of being part of the world’s third-largest travel retailer, leveraging its global negotiating strength. It has access to over 50 of the world’s leading airlines and deals with more than 100 000 hotels around the world to guarantee savings for clients. Corporate Traveller provides clear, consolidated reporting of all its clients’ travel activities, helping them to control travel spend and identify opportunities to save costs.
Issued by:
Big Ambitions
Sonnette Fourie
+27 81 072 2869
