Sharing Economy Trends and Business Traveler Behaviors

Concur, the world’s leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions, today released its innovative State of Business Travel 2016 report at the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) convention. In the report, Concur delivers a comprehensive look at where and how business travelers are spending. With business travel rapidly changing, and travel and expense representing the second-largest area of controllable business spend, the insights in this report will allow companies to better design their travel and spend policies, which in turn influences their bottom line.

Concur analyzed business travel booking and expense reporting data from its database of more than 40 million users, representing more than $76 billion in annual spend. By presenting this mass of data in the context of six business traveler personas – a first in the industry – Concur makes this information more relevant and actionable for companies.

BusinessTraveler Personas

Meet the personas:

  • Savvy Sam is a power traveler who travels 40 percent of the time, taking approximately 25 trips per year.
  • Jet Setter Jeremy is typically a C-suite executive who travels frequently, preferring to fly first-class and stay at five-star hotels.
  • High-tech Hannah is a young millennial who travels once a quarter, often combining personal and business travel, while staying budget conscious.
  • Approving Manager Alan doesn’t travel much himself, but is responsible for approving travel and expense reports and keeping budgets in line.
  • Travel Arranger Tanya books for others and files expense reports for teammates several times a week.
  • Cautious Carl travels just once or twice a year for business. He typically plans far in advance and isn’t familiar with policies and process.

“Developing these rich personas is a brilliant idea. Concur is uniquely qualified to provide such a comprehensive perspective, due to its extensive treasure trove of business spending data,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder and industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. “Concur’s State of Business Travel report transforms data from endless pages of dull numbers into relatable and understandable characters. The personas make planning and administering business travel programs easier, more accessible, more relatable, and more useful for travel managers and financial decision makers.”

Business Traveler Behaviors

The State of Business Travel report confirms that not all business travelers are created equal. In some cases, a company may want to tailor its travel policy to account for the unique needs of its travelers, from frequent flyers and road warriors to once-a-year travelers.

Read rest of the article at Hotel Online