Earlier this year, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Uber for Business teamed up for a brand-new report—The Corporate Travel Comeback: The Evolution of Ground Transportation and Other Trending Business Travel Topics—which surveyed North American corporate travel managers.
The report finds that travel managers are focused on specific key considerations for their post-pandemic travel management plans. According to the data, 75 percent of employers are more focused on traveler safety/well-being, 55 percent on sustainability/social responsibility, and 53 percent on travel policy compliance/enforcement compared to the same time two years ago.
“As we’ve moved through the pandemic, business travel and travelers have changed and therefore company travel programs must evolve accordingly. This research puts a spotlight on some of the important and thoughtful considerations happening across companies and corporate travel departments when it comes to serving employees traveling for business moving forward,” said GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang.
Some key takeaways from the report:
- Rideshare and rental cars top the list. Most travel managers say their company’s employees “frequently” use rental cars (82 percent) and rideshare apps (70 percent) on work trips, but fewer than half (48 percent) say employees frequently use taxis.
- Most travel policies at least sometimes allow chauffeured transportation/black car service (74 percent), premium ridesharing (68 percent), and premium/luxury rental cars (51 percent). Roughly one-third say their company’s employees “sometimes” or “frequently” use chauffeured transportation (36 percent) or premium ridesharing (30 percent).
- Half of travel programs (49 percent) currently have a business account with a rideshare platform and one-third (35 percent) would consider it. The most important features cited by travel managers were reporting (76 percent), integration with expense platforms (69 percent), and ability to apply company policies (62 percent).
- An overwhelming majority (84 percent) say sustainability is at least somewhat important in the design of their company’s travel program, with 50 percent saying it is very or extremely important.
- 73 percent are tracking or considering setting up tracking ground transportation sustainability efforts. However, only 6 percent say their company currently allows employees to spend more on sustainable travel options, and an additional one-quarter (26 percent) are considering allowing employees to spend more.
- Ninety percent say employees are more (30 percent) or equally as interested (60 percent) in bleisure travel compared to pre-pandemic times. And although 36 percent say their company’s travel policy expressly allows bleisure trips, 49 percent their policy does not, but employees are often allowed to take these trips in practice.
GBTA members can download a full copy of the research report on the GBTA Hub.
[07.12.22]