Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking to expand their business in 2023 now have the opportunity to apply for the Flight Centre Business Travel Corporate Travel Grant.
With over $40,000 in travel prizes available, the grant can significantly boost a company’s operations by enabling increased travel and face-to-face interaction with customers and business partners.
After a pause due to COVID-19, the grant is back and ready to help SMEs reach their full potential through business travel.
How to apply
To apply for the Flight Centre Business Travel Corporate Travel Grant, SMEs must submit a short video (one to two minutes) explaining the importance of travel for their business and how winning the grant will impact their operations.
The top five entries will then be invited to the Global Head Office in Brisbane to present their pitch in person to the selection panel.
In the video, SMEs need to address the following questions:
Q1. How does travel play a role in your business?
Q2. What will this travel grant allow you to achieve?
The first prize, worth $30,000, includes $20,000 in travel credit with Virgin Australia, two Platinum Velocity memberships, $5,000 in IHG Hotels & Resorts accommodation credit, $2,500 in Hertz travel credit, a $1,000 voucher from Flight Centre Business Travel, and a $500 luggage voucher.
Four runners-up will each receive a share of $10,000 in Virgin Australia travel credit and two Velocity Gold memberships. The deadline to submit entries is 5 PM AEST on Friday, March 31st, 2023.
Cameron Harris, the Global Leader at Flight Centre Business Travel, stated that as the world reopens, many businesses are eager to increase their business travel in order to seize new opportunities.
“We know face-to-face travel is extremely beneficial for our customers and SMEs across the board,” Mr 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 having more productive and engaging internal company meetings and building a 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,” Mr 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 looking for cost efficiency.”
For full details, terms and conditions, and to upload your video pitch, please visit: https://www.flightcentrebusinesstravel.com.au/corporate-travel-grant-2023
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