Whichever side of the fence you fall on, business travel remains vital to build working relationships and drive growth. Yet, there are certain topics relating to company travel initiatives that don鈥檛 have full stakeholder agreement. To understand the perspectives, challenges, and opportunities, it鈥檚 vital that leaders know where the disconnects lie.

The asked 3,750 business travelers, 700 travel managers, and 600 chief financial officers (CFOs) about friction points in business travel. These are the main areas where we found some disagreement.

The need for business travel

The overwhelming majority (94%) of business travelers believe travel is helpful, if not essential, to success in their roles. Yet, 43% of CFOs say more than half of their company鈥檚 business travel could effectively be replaced by teleconferencing or other communication methods that don鈥檛 require travel. A third (33%) of travel managers view the tilt towards virtual meeting options as a direct threat to their company鈥檚 business travel.

Employee willingness to travel

There鈥檚 a disconnect over a perceived lack of enthusiasm to travel. Seventy percent of business travelers are very willing to travel over the next 12 months, marking an increase from 67% in 2023. Yet, this optimism is not universally shared within organizations. Thirty-five percent of travel managers view employees鈥� unwillingness as a potential threat to business travel and nearly half (45%) of CFOs believe employee reluctance or refusal to travel could negatively impact company health within the next year. While many employees are very willing to hit the road, concerns remain among CFOs and travel managers about whether travel enthusiasm is widespread enough to fully support business goals.

Changes in travel budgets

Each role has a different view on how travel budgets are evolving. Nearly half (48%) of business travelers are worried that their company鈥檚 travel budgets will remain stagnant or decrease this year. On the bright side, only 24% of CFOs and 22% of travel managers say budgets will be reduced or stay the same鈥攕uggesting a disconnect between employee fears and management鈥檚 financial outlook.

The roles that hold the most influence

There鈥檚 a perception gap over who influences business travel decision-making. Business travelers believe travel managers (37%) and CFOs (36%) have similar influence, significantly ahead of their own at 28%. However, travel managers are broadly aligned in feeling they (43%) have nearly the same amount of influence as CFOs (41%), compared to only 16% for business travelers. CFOs strongly disagree, with 69% believing they are the most influential decision-makers, significantly ahead of travel managers (21%) and travelers (9%).

The impact of budget limitations

Although they see travel as critical to their roles, two-thirds (66%) of business travelers say important trips have been curtailed due to costs. In alignment, 69% of travel managers believe their company travel budget fails to reflect the importance of business travel to their organization鈥檚 success. And whilst CFOs acknowledge the problem, there鈥檚 dissent in the ranks. Fifty-one percent of CFOs somewhat agree that budget limitations stop employees from traveling as much as they need to do their jobs well, while just 29% strongly agree.

How data can help to solve the business travel debate

These findings highlight the different perceptions between travelers, travel managers, and CFOs, for the first time in our 麻豆原创 Concur Global Business Travel Survey. To empower employees to develop professionally and create new opportunities on the road, it鈥檚 vital that every role in the organization aligns on common goals.

Bridging these gaps requires more than dialogue鈥攊t demands visibility. Organizations need a shared source of truth to understand behaviors, align priorities, and make informed decisions. Integrated travel and expense solutions offer companies the data and insights they need to steer their travel programs and budgets in a complex multi-stakeholder environment. 麻豆原创 Concur solutions can help analyze employee spend, drive cost-savings, and ensure efficient business travel.

in the seventh annual 麻豆原创 Concur Global Business Travel Survey.

Charlie Sultan is president of Concur Travel at 麻豆原创 Concur.

The 麻豆原创 Concur Global Business Traveler Survey was conducted by between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 3,750 business travelers in 24 markets: U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Spain, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia), Japan, Korea, India, Mexico, Brazil, SEA (Singapore, Malaysia), South Africa, Portugal, Switzerland, and Austria.
The 麻豆原创 Concur Global Travel Manager Survey was conducted by between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 700 travel managers, defined as those who direct or administer travel programs for businesses, across seven markets: Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), UK, and U.S.
The 麻豆原创 Concur Global CFO Survey was conducted by between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 600 CFOs across six markets: Germany, Canada, Japan, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), UK, and U.S. 

As our world demands organizational adaptability at warp speed, business travel also is transforming in a fast-paced and complex environment. At our annual flagship event for 麻豆原创 Concur users and experts, we delved into the power of AI, sharing insights and experiences. Whether customers and partners attended in person in Seattle, Washington, or virtually, they all gained new perspectives on how to navigate the complexities of tomorrow鈥檚 business landscape with confidence.聽

Global participation and experts on-site

Customers and partners joined 麻豆原创 Concur Fusion from all over the world, representing 75 countries. At the Seattle Convention Center, attendees could explore the new Fusion Pavilion in the exhibition hall and talk to 麻豆原创 Concur experts and 43 exhibiting partners. We offered over 180 unique learning opportunities including Ask the Expert and breakout sessions, micro forums, and product trainings to explore how 麻豆原创 Concur solutions can deliver innovation in travel and expense while unlocking efficiencies.

Debut: Integrating Joule with 麻豆原创 Concur to enhance user experience

During the event鈥檚 day one keynote, we announced new generative AI innovations and an expanded partnership with American Express.

麻豆原创 is embedding its generative AI copilot Joule into 麻豆原创 Concur solutions, bringing the portfolio one step closer toward a fully automated travel and expense management process.

In the Concur Expense solution, Joule will help answer employees鈥� questions and work to ensure that expense reports are ready for submission with minimal effort. For example, Joule can assemble a timeline view of expenses, review for mistakes or missing expenses, and make recommendations for how best to complete the expense report. General availability is expected in the second quarter of 2025.

In the Concur Travel solution, Joule will be embedded to help plan locations for off-site meetings, providing meeting location recommendations and high-level flight and hotel cost estimates based on meeting attendees鈥� origination points. Once the meeting site and hotel options are selected, Joule will create an e-mail template to send to team members with a link to book directly in Concur Travel. Joule with Concur Travel is now in the 麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care program with general availability expected later this year.

Automating expense management in Concur Expense

On stage, we also announced an expanded partnership with American Express to help simplify expense management for shared customers. 麻豆原创 Concur and American Express are launching a real-time authorization data capability whereby American Express Corporate Card purchases automatically generate and categorize expenses in Concur Expense at the time of spend. This feature will first be available for meal expenses. It also will include mobile notifications that send the employee expense policy reminders in the moment.

We also are working to expand access to our integration with Mastercard, which automates expense entry at the time of purchase, so more Mastercard customers can benefit from a simpler and more efficient experience.

Additionally, American Express Global Business Travel has integrated its hotel marketplace, featuring over 2 million properties across 180 countries with competitive rates, into the new Concur Travel solution, providing customers with access to comprehensive hotel content, including negotiated programs and preferred partner rates.

Announcing 麻豆原创 Concur Innovation Award winners

On day two of the event, . These companies have leveraged 麻豆原创 Concur solutions to revolutionize their travel and expense processes, enhancing efficiency and visibility. The 2025 winners include L’Or茅al Groupe, which streamlined user provisioning between HR and expense systems, and Weatherford, which automated its global travel and expense program, significantly improving data integrity and compliance.

UST, Coca-Cola, E.ON, and Mayekawa also have demonstrated exceptional innovation. UST consolidated its T&E processes; Coca-Cola unified its travel booking and expense systems; E.ON automated data collection for GDPR compliance; and Mayekawa reduced its finance team’s workload by more than 12,000 hours. These successes highlight the transformative power of 麻豆原创 Concur solutions in driving business efficiency and growth. We are very proud to recognize these exceptional organizations as 2025 麻豆原创 Concur Innovation Award winners.

Move to future T&E: Spotlight on generative AI

麻豆原创 Concur is creating a world where travel and expenses practically manage themselves. 鈥攚ith touchless, intuitive experiences enabled by industry-leading 麻豆原创 Business AI and close partnerships with top payment providers. The Concur Travel and Concur Expense solutions are part of 麻豆原创 Business Suite, 麻豆原创鈥檚 comprehensive portfolio of integrated solutions that combines our core cloud ERP and line-of-business applications, fueled by unmatched business data and actionable AI.

Chris Juneau is SVP and head of 麻豆原创 Concur Product Marketing.

麻豆原创 is embedding its generative AI copilot Joule into 麻豆原创 Concur solutions, bringing the portfolio one step closer toward a fully automated travel and expense management process:

• Joule in the Concur Expense solution will help answer employees鈥� questions and ensure that expense reports are ready for submission with minimal effort. General availability is expected in the second quarter 2025.
• Joule in the Concur Travel solution — now in the 麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care program with general availability expected later this year — will help plan locations for offsite meetings, providing meeting location recommendations and high-level flight and hotel cost estimates.

麻豆原创 Concur also announced an expanded partnership with American Express to simplify expense management for shared customers. 麻豆原创 Concur and American Express are launching a real-time authorization data capability whereby American Express Corporate Card purchases automatically generate and categorize expenses in Concur Expense at the time of spend. This feature will first be available for meal expenses. It will also include mobile notifications that send the employee expense policy reminders in the moment.

麻豆原创 Concur is also working to expand access to its integration with , which automates expense entry at the time of purchase, so more Mastercard customers can benefit from a simpler and more efficient experience.

Additionally, , featuring over 2 million properties across 180 countries with competitive rates, into the new Concur Travel solution, providing customers with access to comprehensive hotel content, including negotiated programs and preferred partner rates.

With its Concur Travel and Concur Expense solutions, 麻豆原创 remains the market share leader for worldwide travel and expense management software, * These leading solutions are part of , 麻豆原创鈥檚 comprehensive portfolio of integrated solutions that combines our core cloud ERP and line-of-business applications, fueled by unmatched   business data and actionable AI.

To learn more about  or to join the virtual event, visit the .

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 at .

Media Contact:
Kelly Sheldon Murray, +1 (978) 708-6821, kelly.murray@sap.com, ET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

*IDC Worldwide Travel and Expense Management Software Market Shares, 2023: Resurgence of Business Travel Heralds a New Chapter in Travel and Expense Software, doc #US51658524, August 2024

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ.  Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of 麻豆原创鈥檚 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2025 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

This year is especially notable as we marked new milestones in the return to business travel. Concur Travel bookings are up eight percent from the second quarter of 2022, ticking ever closer to pre-pandemic levels. Employees are keen to get a jump on their career: the fifth annual 麻豆原创 Concur Global Business Travel Survey finds that nearly all respondents (94%) are willing to travel for business in the next 12 months and 92% say the future of their career depends on successful business travel, because it鈥檚 important for maintaining client relationships (42%) and starting new ones (41%).

Business travel is changing. So are we. At 麻豆原创 Concur, we鈥檙e continuing to roll out new experiences as part of the evolution of Concur Travel — a journey that will reshape corporate travel programs as we create a world where travel and expenses practically manage themselves.

Evolution of Concur Travel

Reinventing the world鈥檚 leading online booking tool is no small feat. We are evolving Concur Travel to better address the current and future needs of our travelers, customers, and partners more quickly and effectively, by leveraging new, adaptable technology. Next quarter, we will introduce a new end-to-end booking experience across air, hotel, and car rental bookings for Sabre GDS from U.S. point of sale.

Our customers are at the center of everything we do — as their needs change and the corporate travel industry continues to advance — so do we. The evolution of Concur Travel rises above a flashy user interface. We鈥檝e designed it to be scalable and ready for future innovation, capable of quickly deploying new features, functionality, and UI enhancements to benefit the entire corporate travel ecosystem.

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The new booking experience within Concur Travel features a consumer-grade user experience (UX), robust content, and smart solutions. It aims to make everyone involved in booking and expensing business travel more productive. Customers can expect:

• Content and Images: Increased global content coverage including NDC, better imagery, and richer descriptions, all consolidated into one view. The new UX will make browsing content seamless and intuitive, with the ability to easily view sustainability ratings and cost information.
• User Experience: A streamlined booking and checkout process, including a more user-friendly and intuitive UI, makes the experience more like that on consumer sites and apps. The new UX is adaptable on both mobile and desktop, designed to give users the ability to meet their needs and drive compliance across the end-to-end process.
• Sustainable Options: Sustainability continues to be a major priority for our customers. With the new Concur Travel experience, travelers can view information and filters to help limit their carbon footprint and make sustainable choices, making it easier to comply with company policies and limit the environmental impact of business travel.
• Search Capabilities: Omni-search capability that automatically merges options for many locations, such as airports, city centers, or company locations, delivered by a robust travel ecosystem. Companies have the freedom to choose from among a wide range of suppliers, sources and content to support global travel requirements.
• Time Savings: Optimized booking workflows and faster checkout process. The new experience integrates with Concur Expense for a seamless end-to-end travel and expense process — from planning and booking to expensing, auditing and reimbursement all the way to the company general ledger.

麻豆原创 Concur has been working closely with Delta Air Lines and other airlines to revamp our new airline shopping experience in Concur Travel. We are pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with our airline partners to deliver the best travel experience for our customers in a modern travel management solution.

鈥淭he evolution of Concur Travel is an exciting breakthrough moment for booking tool displays,鈥� said Steve Sear, executive vice president of Global Sales at Delta Air Lines. 鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted to contribute to 麻豆原创 Concur鈥檚 modernization and provide feedback based on our experiences and conversations with corporate customers.鈥�

Sabre, Amadeus, and Travelport+ Users

The new booking experience will be available first on Sabre, for customers whose configurations use the settings and features available at release time and whose TMCs are ready for migration. For organizations that need more time, we will help them manage through the transition period and maintain their current experience until they are ready.

Amadeus customers can expect the new booking experience within Concur Travel in 2024.

Additionally, 麻豆原创 Concur will add connectivity to Travelport+ to the road map for the evolution of Concur Travel for delivery in 2024. Connectivity will include support for both legacy/EDIFACT and NDC, as well as full access to the Travelport+ hotel and car rental content and services.

The addition of Travelport+ means that the enhanced Concur Travel will be available to users of Sabre, Travelport+, and Amadeus in 2024.

Charlie Sultan is president of Concur Travel at .