Here’s a roundup of very effective cost-saving methods during business travel that you might want to consider for yourself.
- Book a standard hotel room instead of staying on the executive floor. If you book a standard room, you can save a substantial amount of money and still get a good night’s sleep.
- Negotiate room rates. Hotels are experiencing much lower occupancy rates these days and it’s worth negotiating a better rate, especially if you plan to become one of their long-term customers.
- Fly economy class. If you book an economy flight with one of the airlines famous for their good on-board service, you’ll also end up with a decent meal, better-than-average legroom, reasonably comfortable seats, and you can still save a lot of money.
- Use public transportation. Cities like Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai have an excellent public transport system that offers you a much cheaper and mostly faster alternative to taxis. Many hotels and fair operators offer free shuttle buses to exhibitions that you could use. You can save a considerable amount of money by staying further away from the exhibition centers in a comfortable hotel at a much lower room rate.
- Online registration. Use the online registration services of the fair operators and receive your entrance badge free of charge in advance and avoid the queues at the entrance.
- Save on your meals. Why not try the much cheaper local food and reduce your dining expenses? A local noodle soup costs only a few dollars and tastes delicious. Instead of having breakfast at your hotel, you can visit one of the many coffee shops around your hotel area and even get a free coffee or tea refill.
- Shorten your trip or reduce the number of trips per year. If visiting fairs in China is a must for you, perhaps you should consider focusing on the most important ones. In many cases there is a spring and a fall version of the same fair and you may want to skip the spring version because it may not carry the same importance as the fall version.
- Don’t miss out on anything by hiring a local Consultant. The American president is a very busy man and he doesn’t have time to read all the newspapers by himself. There are experts who cut out vital items for you and allow you to receive the necessary information. The same is true for importers. He can’t cover everything during his trip and he can’t visit all the factories as he should be. In these difficult times you need the help of experts who are already on the ground. They can take over some of the duties from him even if he has decided not to travel to China. His decades of experience with Chinese factories will help him maintain his import activities while substantially reducing his costs during importation.