Optima Conseils – Travel & Expense Intelligence

The findings

What the data reveals

Analysis of 50 million air tickets, 109 companies, and $49 billion in travel spend across 2019–2023.

33%

of trips recorded with no stated purpose in 2023

82%

of journeys with no identifiable business objective

91%

of travel requests approved automatically

62%

of companies with no reliable MICE spend data

Sources: Professional thesis — Philippe Chausson, Executive MSc RSEDD, Mines Paris PSL, 2024 (CWT data) · AFTM MICE White Paper, 2019

Travel policies define how to travel – which cabin, which hotel, which rate. They rarely address whether the trip is necessary.

Covid proved the business could run differently. Budgets are back. The framework hasn’t changed.

Managers approve travel with no shared criteria. Two employees at the same level can have very different experiences. This is a common source of frustration: employees are not treated equally when it comes to business travel.

Between 25% and 65% of business trips are considered avoidable – by the travellers themselves.

What about MICE?

Seminars, conventions, trade shows, incentives: MICE accounts for roughly a third of corporate travel spend. It is largely absent from travel policies – yet it is through MICE that companies build the human connections that hold them together.

Our framework

4 legitimate reasons to travel

Every business trip should meet at least one of these criteria. Everything else requires justification.

Obligation

Legal, contractual or operational. The trip is non-negotiable.

Ground truth

Seeing, observing, sensing what no report or video call can convey.

Connection strategy

Building, repairing or maintaining a relationship with a client, team or partner.

Managerial presence

Being physically there to support, coach or make a decision that matters.

Our conviction

Connection strategy: the foundation of organisational culture

The resilience of a company depends on the quality of its internal and external relationships. Those relationships are built through physical presence — not video calls. MICE (seminars, conventions, corporate events), when well targeted, can become the primary instrument for cultivating them.

MIT — Sandy Pentland Synchronising coffee breaks in a call centre generated millions of dollars in annual savings — simply by enabling face-to-face interaction.

Google — Project Aristotle What sets high-performing teams apart is not who is on them — it is the quality of their interactions and the level of psychological safety they share.

Gallup — 2023 Highly cohesive teams are 21% more productive, show 37% less absenteeism, and cut staff turnover by half.

Our services

Independent modules — your pace, your entry point

Data diagnostic

Consolidating TMC data, expense reports and group event spend to give you a complete picture of your business travel footprint.

Travel policy audit

Benchmarking your current policy against best practices and the 4-criteria framework.

Decision framework

Trip utility scoring, differentiated approval workflows, and full travel policy redesign.

Stakeholder interviews

Consulting managers, frequent travellers and travel managers to understand actual behaviour on the ground.

Change management

Targeted awareness programmes for approvers and key populations to embed new practices that last.

Governance & tracking

KPIs, dashboards and governance structures to sustain performance over time.

The Business Travel & MICE Workshop

A 90-minute workshop with your Executive Committee. No slides, no jargon. To raise awareness, share a diagnosis, and define first actions together.

We'll get back to you within 48 hours.

The founder

Philippe Chausson

      I don't sell technology. I don't sell tickets. I help companies see what they are missing — and act on it.
    

Over 15 years at CWT, one of the world's three largest TMCs, with dual expertise:

Advisory to corporates on their business travel strategy, for 7 years: data analysis and diagnostics, savings target-setting, supplier sourcing strategies, reporting, travel policy compliance.
Operational and strategic programme management for 8 years: strategic support to Travel Managers, IT configuration, traveller journey optimisation, programme performance audits across 7 pillars, deployment into new countries, partnership development, client retention.

As companies increasingly sought to reduce the carbon footprint of their business travel, I chose to build a rigorous academic foundation by completing the Executive MSc RSEDD at Mines Paris PSL. My professional thesis (defended in November 2024) proposes an operational framework to ensure the relevance of emissions linked to business travel and MICE — drawing on the analysis of 50 million air tickets, $49 billion in spend and 109 companies over five years.

I also created the Business Travel & MICE Workshop®, a proprietary facilitation tool registered with the INPI, designed to help executive teams recognise the need to transform their Travel Operating Model.

Turning your business travel budget into a strategic asset