Research Reveals UK business travellers unhappy with current travel

New research commissioned by SAP Concur, the world’s leading provider of integrated travel, expense and invoice solutions shows that 99 per cent of business travellers in the UK are willing to travel in the next 12 months, with many missing the sense of ‘normalcy’ in business travel.

The research of 300 business travellers and 100 travel managers across the UK finds that 55 per cent of travel managers agree that their role is less stressful compared to 12 months ago and 98 per cent of business travellers are eager to get back on the road again.

Although 45 per cent of business travellers miss feeling the ‘normalcy’ of business travel, many now have multiple concerns about its return. The top perceived threats to business travel include health and safety concerns from Covid-19 (54 per cent), the cost of oil prices and inflation (48 per cent) and the conflict in Eastern Europe (42 per cent).

Because of the ever-changing climate, businesses need to be wary of the duty-of-care that exists for their employees and 83 per cent state that their company has already adopted a ‘more travel on fewer shoulders’ approach, returning to pre-pandemic levels of business travel but with a smaller group of travellers.

The research shows a continuing sense of unhappiness and uncertainty among business travellers at the amount of business travel they are expected to do, as more than a quarter of those dissatisfied with their travel frequency (28 per cent) will search for a new position if business travel at their existing company continues at its current pace.

Travel managers are seeing this too, with 60 per cent stating that staffing changes will make their jobs challenging over the next 12 months, as business travellers move onto new opportunities.

On top of this, business travellers are feeling more empowered to decline trips, with nearly half (49 per cent) stating that they would decline if there were safety concerns about travelling to certain parts of the world.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important to travellers, with 95 per cent believing that it is important to have sustainability information for each travel option available when booking business travel, including visual indicators of the environmental impact of their travel options such as labels or greenhouse gas emissions.

Commenting on the findings, Ami Taylor, senior director Global Product Strategy at SAP Concur said, “As the climate continues to be unpredictable, it is important for UK businesses to consider their employees. Business travellers are fed up and anxious and intend to take some level of action when they return to business travel if their company does not agree with their concerns.”