SAP® Concur®, the world’s leading brand for integrated travel, expense, and invoice management solutions, has released new research highlighting the shifting attitudes of corporate travellers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Despite the prevailing economic volatility, APAC business travellers are displaying a greater willingness to embark on business trips. However, this readiness comes with higher expectations that prioritise safety, flexibility, and sustainability.
The fifth annual survey conducted by SAP Concur involved 1,050 business travellers across ten countries in the APAC region, including Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. The study, conducted in April of this year, reveals intriguing insights into the evolving landscape of business travel.
The findings indicate a steady return of business travel, with 94% of APAC travellers asserting that the future of their careers relies on successful business trips in the upcoming year. Notably, 60% of respondents expressed a high willingness to travel for business, representing a significant 12% increase from the previous year’s figure of 48%. Maintaining customer relationships emerged as a vital aspect of business travel, with 46% of respondents emphasising its importance.
While there is a growing inclination to travel, the survey revealed that 93% of APAC business travellers expect flexibility to book travel outside of company policy when it conflicts with their needs or values. This flexibility encompasses arrangements that promote a healthy work-life balance (53%) and the rising priority to opt for more sustainable travel options (40%).
The study underscores the fact that for business travellers, value is not the sole consideration; their values also play a crucial role. Approximately 40% of APAC business travellers expect their companies to allow them to make travel choices outside of company policy, specifically to book more sustainable travel options. Furthermore, an overwhelming 90% of respondents expressed their commitment to taking extra steps in the next 12 months to reduce the environmental impact of their business travel. In fact, 24% indicated that they would decline a business trip if they had concerns about its environmental impact.
The survey warns that companies must swiftly adapt to accommodate these employee sentiments, as failure to do so may compromise business and financial operations. The study indicates that many travellers already book business travel outside of their company’s purview, limiting their employer’s visibility into travel spend.
Half of APAC business travellers (50%) directly book their travel through airline, hotel, or car rental websites or apps, while a slightly lower percentage (41%) utilise their company’s travel agency or department. Additionally, 41% of respondents typically change or cancel flights using the airline’s website or app, while 19% directly call the airline. This behaviour of taking matters into their own hands may gain momentum if employees’ expectations for greater control over their trips remain unmet. In fact, more than a third of APAC business travelers (34%) stated that they would decline a business trip if they were not given the flexibility to make adjustments outside of company policy.
The survey also highlights the need for employers to maintain spend visibility and control. Despite the advantages and opportunities presented by corporate travel, 93% of APAC business travellers perceive threats to their business travel today. Already, 89% of respondents reported that their business travels are being affected, primarily through reduced travel budgets (42%). Other impacts include policy changes that compromise the comfort and pleasure of business travel, such as staying in lower quality accommodations and/or less safe areas (34%), and taking cheaper flights with layovers, indirect routes, or alternative airports (32%).
Charlie Sultan, President of Concur Travel at SAP Concur, emphasises the importance of recognizing business travellers’ experiences and seeking solutions that align with their expectations while considering corporate travel programs and budgets. Sultan states, “Tools, policies, and practices to maintain spend visibility and control, meet compliance, and deliver employee duty of care obligations must be top of mind.”
For more information on the study, please download the full report here.
