SAP Concur Delivers Must-Have Tools for Managing Today’s Business Travel

As this year’s Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Convention kicks off in Atlanta, we honour the hardworking travel managers who juggle the challenges of business travel and bring tremendous value to their organizations. SAP Concur teams are focused on providing the industry’s best travel and expense solutions to manage corporate travel costs, deliver exceptional traveler experiences, and simplify the travel and expense process from start to finish.

We recently conducted our sixth annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey of 600 travel managers across six markets and, for the fourth year in a row, found that virtually all (99%) say that their job will be more challenging in the next 12 months. Thirty-seven percent say that continuing to deliver high-quality travel programs despite increased stress is making it difficult for them to succeed, and 31% say they are struggling to remain motivated in the role due to feeling undervalued. In response, 21% of surveyed travel managers say they are likely to search for a travel manager position at a different company in the year ahead, while 20% are likely to search for a new position outside of travel management altogether.

At SAP Concur, we understand the difficulties that travel managers face today and aim to simplify their work. We develop and deliver to customers the tools that help them ease the complexity of market forces, like growing needs for compliance and flexibility, rising costs, managing content fragmentation, and calls for sustainability through truly integrated corporate travel.

Managing Rising Costs with AI

We recently analyzed Concur Expense data collected in 2019 and 2023. The average expense for airfare was $770 in 2023, up 10% from $698 in 2019. The average gasoline expense transaction increased by 37%, and the average expense for a meal increased by 30%, in the same time period. Today, about six in 10 travel buyers (59%) expect to see an increase in their company’s business travel spending and volume compared to 2023—opening the door to even higher costs in 2024.

There’s an incredible opportunity to control costs with generative AI. We recently debuted new Business AI capabilities in SAP Concur solutions, including Request Assistant, which uses generative AI to provide intelligent cost estimates for trip planning with efficiency. Additionally, ExpenseIt now itemizes hotel folios using generative AI, increasing the accuracy of the results and saving employees time.

SAP has made incredible progress as an industry leader with generative AI. In June, at our Sapphire annual customer event, SAP and Microsoft announced plans to integrate their AI copilots Joule and Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365. With the integration, Joule would automatically block travel dates in an employee’s Outlook calendar when they use Joule to book a flight in Concur Travel.

We’re continually meeting with our customers to understand other applications of responsible AI that can make employees, travel managers, and accounting teams more productive. 

Ensuring Compliance—With Flexibility

Travel managers must balance competing interests: sustainability regulations to improve transparency, pressure from leadership to manage costs, and traveler expectations for flexible booking options. Our survey found that nearly all (99%) face disconnects in the tasks they are being asked to perform and the tools, support, or budget their company has provided, making it difficult to be successful in their role.

It would be nearly impossible to balance these competing priorities without an online booking tool that enforces policy compliance. Recent updates to SAP Concur solutions address both compliance and flexibility. When booking via Concur Travel, for instance, Concur Request automates requests and approvals to help travel managers better control budgets and monitor for policy compliance—and is now available on mobile.

Additionally, the advanced booking experience in the new Concur Travel enhances flexibility and user experience with omni-search capabilities that automatically merge options for many locations, such as airports, city centres, or company locations. In March, SAP Concur unveiled greater choice of hotel content and the ability to search, book, and purchase UK Rail content. Also, employees can now conveniently share travel itineraries and deep links from their Concur Travel trip list to a Microsoft Teams chat, making it easy for their coworkers to book the same trip.

New Distribution Capability (NDC) content, which has been available in Concur Travel since 2019, is now also available to corporate travellers through the Sabre and Amadeus Global Distribution Systems (GDSs); TMCs and corporations using the new Concur Travel can shop, book, fulfill, and service NDC content from a number of carriers.

“The new Concur Travel platform provides users with a modern interface, intuitive features and comprehensive content, reducing the number of clicks and time travellers need to spend—leading to increased productivity,” said Teri Miller, Executive Vice President, Global Client Team, BCD.

Addressing Content Fragmentation

Our survey found that around two in five travel managers (38%) anticipate a more challenging year ahead due to employees not booking or updating travel plans using company tools. Thirty-six percent cite airlines not sharing full content from traditional channels as a factor that will make their job more challenging in the next 12 months.

Getting on top of content fragmentation is an important step toward ensuring employees get the best rates and business travel stays on budget. The booking experience in the new Concur Travel makes browsing content seamless and intuitive by consolidating everything—including cost information and ancillary services—into one view. Also, as NDC furthers the trend of booking travel directly with suppliers, we recommend using a solution like Concur TripLink for increased visibility and control, or enabling Concur Travel’s Air Connector available under the  Select Access feature for access to additional supplier content.

We’ve continued to invest in Concur TripLink with the addition of Amtrak, the U.S. National Railroad, and upcoming integrations with Aeromexico and Ryanair. The Concur TripLink hub, a new home within SAP Concur solutions, helps streamline enrolment in TripLink and TripIt Pro and allows users to directly manage bookings, partners, and connections.

“When one of our employees books on an airline or hotel website that information flows directly into Concur. You can’t manage what you can’t see so there’s been a great benefit to having visibility into all of our spending and being able to leverage it to negotiate better rates,” said Cathy Sharpe, Director, Strategic Sourcing, Global Travel and Expense Management Services, Illinois Tool Works.

Tackling Sustainability Challenges

Our new survey showed that a third of travel managers globally (33%) rank increasing the use of sustainable travel options as their company’s top focus when it comes to business travel, and 39% say that new or increasing sustainability regulations and requirements will make their job more challenging in the next 12 months. In fact, 36% of travel managers say that providing more sustainable travel options without an adequate travel budget is making it difficult for them to be successful in role.

SAP Concur is addressing these challenges through our partnerships and solutions. Thanks to an integration with Thrust Carbon, a leading independent sustainability intelligence platform, Concur Travel users can view and sort the greenhouse gas emissions of their flights, as well as rental car and rail options, while providing valuable data that travel managers can use to align with company goals. UK Rail is now live within the new Concur Travel. More European rail providers will be added over the next 12 months, making it even easier for travellers to make informed environmental decisions.

What’s Next

Business travel is always changing, and travel managers: We are here for you! Amid rising costs, environmental regulations, and calls for greater compliance that are often in conflict with travellers’ demands for flexibility, SAP Concur will continually update solutions to help make the travel manager role less challenging and deliver even better traveler experiences—both now and in the future.

Download our travel manager whitepaper for more insights from the annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey.

The SAP Concur Global Travel Manager Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 5-26, 2024, among 600 travel managers, defined as those who direct or administer travel programs for businesses, across six markets: Germany, Canada, Japan, ANZ Countries (Australia and New Zealand), UK, and U.S.