A significant majority of business travellers (67%) view business travel as essential to their careers, with 51% also enjoying it. However, the enjoyment is tempered by reduced flexibility, experienced by 91% of travellers over the past year.
Business travel has become increasingly complex, with challenges arising even before departure. SAP Concur research reveals that the pre-trip phase, including planning and booking, is the most stressful for 43% of business travellers—a 4% increase from the previous year.
The SAP Concur research surveyed 3,750 business travellers across 24 global markets, exploring business travellers’ challenges faced today such as increased travel disruptions, geopolitical concerns, and corporate travel restrictions. It also provides travel managers insights into how travellers perceive critical topics including equal opportunities, sustainability, work-life balance, and artificial intelligence in travel.
João Carvalho, Managing Director of SAP Concur in Southern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, says that additional hurdles, such as unexpected travel disruptions and time-consuming expense reporting, further complicate the journey.
“As a result, business travellers seek intuitive, consumer-oriented solutions to manage their trips. Without these tools, employees may book outside corporate channels or endure frustrating processes within approved systems. Both scenarios negatively impact businesses, affecting travellers, travel managers, and HR alike.”
Key Challenges with Business Travel
The study revealed that a significant majority of business travellers (67%) view business travel as essential to their careers, with 51% also enjoying it. However, the enjoyment is tempered by reduced flexibility, experienced by 91% of travellers over the past year.
Further, there is an increasing gap growing between employee expectations and company priorities, as evidenced by 92% of travellers willing to decline trips due to concerns about safety, social issues, environmental impact, or work-life balance.
So, it may come to now surprise that 36% of travel managers cite managing conflicting expectations between travellers and the company as a key challenge anticipated in the coming year.
AI Offers Solutions
From multilingual assistance to automation of addressing regular queries, AI has a wide array of solutions to help with bookings and enhance the overall experience. As per the SAP research, 91% of business travellers are open to AI-enabled options for booking travel.
Travelers express interest in AI-powered automation for wellbeing and safety guidance (37%), visa and documentation support (37%), expense capture and reporting (37%), and sustainable business travel options (37%).
With this in mind, Carvalho outlines four ways consumer-grade tools are setting the standard for corporate travel:
- Balancing Traveler Safety with Efficiency When employees book independently, visibility is lost, creating challenges for travel and HR managers to fulfil duty-of-care obligations. As such, user-friendly travel and expense (T&E) management solutions are crucial to encourage the adoption of corporate tools. These tools also allow employees to book directly with suppliers, while professional management systems capture and integrate these transactions into the company’s T&E solution, ensuring company visibility and support.
- Mitigating Risk and Enhancing Compliance: Risk and compliance are significant challenges for travel managers. User-friendly systems that integrate company travel policies can alleviate this burden. These solutions empower travellers to make compliant choices, avoid manual filtering, and stay updated on policy changes. This simplifies the booking process and increases compliance rates.
- Streamlining Business Travel: A seamless booking process with minimal clicks is essential for efficient travel management, encompassing all trip stages: pre-, during, and post-travel. Tools offering consumer-like interfaces and streamlined processes improve employee satisfaction and free up travel managers to focus on strategic tasks rather than troubleshooting.
- Advancing ESG Commitments: Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards are fundamental to modern businesses. As sustainable travel gains prominence, companies need tools to empower travellers to make eco-conscious choices.
Seamlessly providing accurate information is crucial. For instance, by automatically offering data on the carbon emissions of different travel options, businesses can help travellers make informed decisions that align with the organisation’s ESG goals.
“A superior user experience is crucial for navigating the complexities of business travel. By investing in user-friendly technology, companies can enhance traveller satisfaction, reduce administrative burdens, and empower employees to make eco-conscious and compliant decisions, ultimately transforming business travel management,” Carvalho concludes.
The report adds that both companies and travellers must redefine flexibility and harness it to achieve their respective objectives in this environment fraught with concerns over business travel safety, costs, and sustainability.
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