Most finance managers and business travelers alike expect a "boom" in business travel by the end of this year, though business travelers are a bit more confident in that boom, according to a recent survey commissioned by SAP Concur.
The survey of 1,000 U.S. business travelers and 100 U.S. finance managers with titles of vice president and above, which was conducted Jan. 3-13 by Wakefield Research, showed that slightly more than half of finance managers said a "business travel boom" within their own industry was very or extremely likely by the end of 2022. Business travelers were more bullish, with 73 percent predicting such a boom and 62 percent saying they personally expect to travel more this year than in 2021.
In terms of the highest level of confidence, however, only 12 percent of finance managers said it was "extremely likely" that business travel would increase in their industry this year. For business travelers, that confidence was at 36 percent, according to Concur.
Finance managers largely were in agreement about the importance of business travel, with 88 percent saying that employees being unable to travel has caused a revenue loss at their company. Just under half of business travelers said their company would not be viable beyond this year without an increase in business travel.
The survey also showed a decrease in expense policy compliance over the past year. Ninety-eight percent of finance managers said noncompliant expenses have increased during that period, and 89 percent of business travelers said they submitted an expense over the past year that might have been in violation of company policy, according to Concur.