Five Levers for Reducing Travel Costs in Public Administration
Public administration is digitizing its processes at a pace never seen before. Yet one area is often left out: business travel, conferences, and overnight stays. They are booked decentrally, processed manually, and barely managed. Yet they account for billions in taxpayer money every year. Organizations that make progress here rarely introduce a new travel policy. Instead, they leverage five concrete measures that bring the entire process into one system. The result is measurable.
Key Takeaways
- Travel and conference expenses are the last major analog block in public administration modernization: booked decentrally, processed manually, and barely visible in the budget.
- Best-in-class negotiated rates and an end-to-end process reduce direct travel costs by up to 20%.
- Administrative effort and process costs decrease by up to 90% once booking, payment, and expense processing run without media breaks.
- The carbon footprint of the travel program is reduced by up to 30%.
- HRS Copilot automates up to 80% of procurement, booking, and payment processes and reduces the visibility gap caused by decentralized bookings by up to 50%.
- Personal data remains in Germany through HRS Vault: stored in isolation, tokenized, and GDPR-compliant.
The brochure on this topic. “Digitalization of Public Administration” summarizes in eight pages what an end-to-end digital travel process means for your organization.
1. Consolidate bookings before negotiating rates
As long as each organizational unit books independently, public administration negotiates without the leverage of volume. The budget ultimately shows totals, but provides little insight into the underlying causes. Consolidating bookings in one system first puts the administration in a stronger negotiating position. Best-in-class negotiated rates combined with an end-to-end process can reduce direct travel costs by up to 20%.
2. Make the process seamless, from request to archiving
Most savings are lost between the individual steps. A booking is initiated digitally, the invoice arrives on paper, expenses are processed manually, and the documents are stored in a fourth system. Every break in the process costs time and creates errors. When the entire process runs seamlessly from the initial booking request through to final archiving, administrative effort and process costs can be reduced by up to 90%. Sustainability benefits as well: the carbon footprint is reduced by up to 30% because choices can be managed within the same process.
3. Delegate routine tasks to AI, keep the decision-making
Artificial intelligence doesn’t replace jobs in public administration; it frees up employees’ time. HRS Copilot, the AI agent made in Germany, automates up to 80% of all procurement, booking, and payment processes. It analyzes booking data in real time, identifies savings opportunities, closes compliance gaps, and recommends the right strategy. The visibility gap caused by decentralized bookings is reduced by up to 50%. With the 1-click function, a recommendation becomes an action. Strategic analyses that once took hours are now available in real time. The decision remains with employees.
4. Treat data sovereignty as a requirement, not an add-on
For ministries and government agencies, many decisions come down to one question: Where is the data stored? At HRS, digital sovereignty is an architectural principle, and every technical decision follows the same philosophy: maximum control for the customer, minimal exposure to risk. Personal data is hosted in Germany through HRS Vault and stored in complete isolation. Tokenization and hashing protect it, along with confidential travel, hotel, and meeting data, from unauthorized access. The solution meets the requirements of German and European data protection law and is GDPR-compliant.
5. Build auditability in, rather than adding it later
Public financial management requires documentation for every single transaction. A system that only establishes auditability at the end creates exactly the manual work it was supposed to eliminate. HRS meets the highest international and national security standards: ISO 27001 for information security, PCI DSS for payment data security, registration with the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) under NIS2, KMLZ certification for invoice digitization in accordance with EU law, as well as automated screening against EU sanctions lists, including anti-money laundering measures. Every transaction leaves a complete, auditable record.
What this means in practice
35% of Fortune 500 companies work with HRS, including leading German corporations. Customers in the public sector are already using the same technology. It is scalable, secure, and ready to deploy immediately.
In a global partnership with Siemens, HRS made its hotel program more efficient and sustainable. The result: more than 20% savings on hotel procurement and process costs, over 90% online adoption, and 30% lower CO₂ emissions from hotel stays worldwide.
In its long-standing partnership with Deutsche Telekom, HRS achieves savings of up to 25% in its hotel and business travel program. Digital payment processing reaches up to 91.2% acceptance, with 99.9% automated receivables collection.
The HRS Perspective
Every booking outside a digital process is a missed savings opportunity. The difference between an administration that actively manages its travel costs and one that simply records them rarely lies in the travel policy. It lies in whether procurement, booking, payment, and expense processing take place within the same system. HRS provides the infrastructure to make this transition securely, with control and immediate, measurable benefits for the budget.
See it in your own numbers.
We’ll show you where the biggest savings opportunities lie within your organization.
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FAQs
All your questions, answered.
Why are business trips often left out of public administration’s digital transformation?
Because they are spread across many organizational units and are not fully captured in any single specialized application. Bookings are made decentrally and expenses are processed manually. In the end, the budget shows a total figure, but provides little insight into what caused it.
What does an end-to-end digital travel process actually include?
Procurement and negotiated rates, booking of overnight stays and conferences, payment, invoice processing, and archiving. Everything in one system and without media breaks.
Where is our data stored?
In Germany. HRS Vault hosts personal and sensitive data in isolation and protects it from unauthorized access through tokenization and hashing. The solution meets the requirements of German and European data protection law and is GDPR-compliant.
Which security standards does HRS meet?
ISO 27001, PCI DSS, registration with the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) under NIS2, KMLZ certification for invoice digitization in accordance with EU law, as well as integrated screening against EU sanctions lists.
Does AI replace our employees?
AI takes over time-consuming routine tasks and provides recommendations. The decision remains with employees. The freed-up time can be devoted to tasks that require experience and judgment.
Has the solution been proven in the public sector?
Yes. Customers in the public sector are already using this technology, as are 35% of Fortune 500 companies and leading German corporations.