The real cost of sending somebody abroad

A training budget line records a fee. The decision to send somebody to another country involves at least four other costs, and whether the training was worth it usually turns on those rather than on the fee.

The obvious ones are travel and accommodation, and they are usually estimated well. The two that get missed are the week of that person's output, and the visa timeline.

The week is the largest number

For most professionals the fully loaded cost of a week away exceeds the course fee, often substantially. This is not an argument against training. It is an argument for being precise about what the week is supposed to produce, because a week is being spent either way.

It also reframes the online question. The comparison is not a lower fee against a higher one. It is a lower fee and no lost travel days against a higher fee and two or three of them, set against whatever the room adds. Sometimes the room is worth it and sometimes it is not, but the calculation is rarely done in those terms.

The visa timeline is a risk, not a cost

Where a visa is needed, the failure mode is not expense, it is a place paid for and not taken. The mitigation is unglamorous: decide early, get the invitation letter early, and treat the cutoff as the visa timeline rather than the registration deadline.

What to actually compare

Fee, travel, accommodation, days out, and the probability of the whole thing falling over. Then ask what the alternative delivery would cost on the same terms. A private cohort for six people frequently wins that comparison outright, and it is the option nobody prices because it is not on the booking page.