Companies focus on non-brokered travel expenses

Small metallic expenses incurred during business travel are in the spotlight for companies. Their monitoring and control has increased in the last year, according to the 2017 European Business Travel Barometer by American Express Global Business Travel, a study in which nearly 1,000 companies participated.

The report's findings indicate four very clear trends for 2017:

Security: As last year, it is emerging as the top priority for European companies. Sixty-four percent use technology to locate the traveler in case of emergency, up five percentage points from last year. Travelers are also starting to demand guarantees.

Technology and traveler satisfaction: This year 57% of European companies are measuring traveler satisfaction, up from 49% last year. In the specific case of Spain, 51% of the companies surveyed confirm that they take satisfaction into account for improvements to their travel program. Companies are putting the emphasis on millennials and digitization. The challenge lies in the integration of previously adopted tools and solutions.

Cost Optimization: Emphasis on new non-intermediated expenses, such as parking, meals and other extra expenses. In addition to economic control, it is also a matter of security.

This study was presented at the fourth edition of Supplier Day Spain, an event organized by American Express Global Business Travel Espa a and attended by leading travel industry suppliers. Luis Dupuy de Lôme, general manager of the company, was in charge of reeling off the main conclusions drawn from this Barómetro.

The economic forecasts of the report show that the investment of Spanish companies in corporate travel will grow by 2.7% this year compared to 2016, somewhat above the European average, which will be around 2.5%. The survey data have been obtained in 11 countries: France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Among many other aspects, the report also analyzes the impact of the collaborative economy on business travel to reveal a surprise: its penetration is declining. Some 21% of participants say they will use this type of provider within 1 or 2 years, a percentage that has decreased compared to last year's figure, when it stood at 30%. As Luis Dupuy points out, business travel still has some barriers to overcome, especially in terms of payment methods, reporting and security.Regarding the possible impact of Brexit, European companies are optimistic: 79% believe that this issue will not affect them in terms of business travel. Likewise, 73% believe that the UK's exit from the EU will not have an impact on the domestic business travel market and 67% believe that it will not have an impact on business travel at the European level.