Global Business Travel Manager Report 2022

Travel Managers Under Pressure

As travel managers work to ensure the successful return of business travel, they face challenges from a changing landscape and increasing demands from superiors. The continued fallout from the Great Resignation and “work-from-anywhere" trends means they are catering to a revolving pool of business travelers who are no longer as centered in primary markets, where travel is easier to arrange. 

• Nearly half of travel managers (49%) anticipate challenges adjusting to frequent staffing changes, as the Great Resignation has led to increased turnover among business travelers.​
• Nearly half (47%) are dreading the challenge of accommodating more travelers in secondary markets and smaller towns.

In addition, nearly half of travel managers say they’re facing increasing pressure from senior leadership to demonstrate their ROI. These challenges, among others, are taking their toll: over half say this year is already as stressful or more than the year prior, and nearly all expect their role to be even more challenging in the year ahead. 

• Nearly half of travel managers (49%) report the stress is caused by increased scrutiny from above.

With the pandemic moving towards an endemic, and companies reevaluating their travel policies, this may be the change travel managers need to get business travelers back on board with booking their travel using company-provided tools, something that most travel managers say makes their role easier. It will be a challenge, as many travelers view booking via supplier websites as an essential means to help ensure their health and safety while traveling. 

SAP Concur surveyed 700 travel managers in 7 global markets, conducted by Wakefield Research, to gain insight into the state of business travel and what the next year will bring for travel managers.