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GLOBAL: Travel and expense management company SAP Concur has released the sixth edition of its Global Business Travel Survey.
The global survey features insights from 3,750 business travellers across 24 markets and 600 travel managers across Germany, the UK, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The survey results are as follows:
• 67% of business travelers globally feel that business travel is essential to career advancement, yet 66% feel they do not have equal opportunities to travel compared to their colleagues.
• In the past 12 months, nearly nine in 10 (88%) were forced to take unexpected action during a business trip due to an unexpected delay, cancellation or need to be rerouted.
• Safety concerns are the top reason (44%) for business travelers to forego business trips, but more than a quarter (29%) of respondents would be prepared to forego a business trip due to potential delays or cancellations.
• Nearly one in five (22%) say they would be prepared to turn down a business trip that couldn’t be extended to accommodate personal travel.
• Nearly all business traveler respondents (91%) say their company has reduced the amount of flexible travel options they allow in the past 12 months.
• When asked what will make their job harder this year, two in five travel managers (42%) say their company’s directives to cut travel costs.
• According to travel managers, the top corporate focuses are meeting employees' flexible travel needs (35%), increasing access to sustainable travel options (33%) and reducing business travel costs (32%).
“The current economic environment is creating tensions among business travelers, travel managers and company executives,” said Charlie Sultan, president, Concur Travel, SAP Concur. “It's a delicate balance between flexibility and cost, not to mention pressures from new distribution channels and ongoing geopolitical issues. This year's report demonstrates the need for a mutual understanding of these realities and compromises in corporate travel programs.”
To read additional takeaways from SAP Concur's sixth annual Global Business Travel Survey, click here.
Our next SAN webinar will focus on the changing role of the travel buyer on Thursday, June 27. Learn more from Paul Dear, Regional VP Supplier Services EMEA at SAP Concur, Souhilla Taarabit (Al-Futtaim), Claire Bryson (edyn), and Beverly King (AltoVita). Register for free here.
