One of the less helpful and unintended consequences of the move over recent years towards an otherwise overdue and welcome move to greater transparency in event costing is the temptation laid before an inexperienced corporate organiser to save money by dispensing with the services of a professional trip escort, sometimes referred to as a tour director.

In our experience at TMG Events this is usually a mistake. The presence on a trip of one or more professional escorts should not be regarded as an option. Attempting to strip out trip costs in this way is simply a false economy.

Consider the role of the trip escort.

Essentially he/she is there to manage the supply side of the event. These are usually complex projects which take many weeks or even months of detailed planning - plans which are then enshrined in precisely worded contracts with everybody, large and small, in the supply chain.

People trained in the trip escort role will ensure that all suppliers deliver exactly what has been agreed and specified at every step of the planning process and that all the finer points have been grasped and are set to become a reality. They will run or effectively 'stage-manage' every phase of the trip in detail covering minutiae from transfer bus timings to table settings, from sorting room deliveries to briefing local guides and entertainers.

Surely a corporate organiser can't expect to cope with all this and look after his or her guests properly? Diazepam addiction would be a short step away.

A trip escort will also deal calmly and effectively with the unexpected, when arrangements, for example, are thrown into disarray by a delayed flight or bad weather. Then it becomes a question of implementing well prepared contingency plans.

But in addition to all this, trip escorts need to be highly personable individuals who will of course spare no effort to ensure that your guests are given the VIP treatment, able to handle most things that are thrown at them during the course of the trip, from questions requiring a grasp of local knowledge to urgent cases of first aid or even repairs to clothing. They come prepared.

Above all a good escort is there to reassure the corporate host that all is under control and will happen according to plan, even if circumstances conspire to demand that last-minute changes be made to the plan. Without a competent escort or two (the exact optimum number will be determined by the number of participants and the complexity of the trip programme), an organiser's stress levels would go through the roof. This is surely not a subject for financial negotiation.