This week marked the 54th annual Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Convention where travel managers, suppliers, and other industry members come together to discuss the current and future state of corporate travel. We look forward to the event each year as an opportunity to connect with our partners and customers, showcase what’s new with SAP Concur, and contribute to the success of the industry as the global leader for travel and expense management software.
This year is especially notable as we marked new milestones in the return to business travel. Concur Travel bookings are up eight percent from the second quarter of 2022, ticking ever closer to pre-pandemic levels. Employees are keen to get a jump on their career: the fifth annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey finds that nearly all respondents (94%) are willing to travel for business in the next 12 months and 92% say the future of their career depends on successful business travel, because it’s important for maintaining client relationships (42%) and starting new ones (41%).
Business travel is changing. So are we. At SAP Concur, we’re continuing to roll out new experiences as part of the evolution of Concur Travel — a journey that will reshape corporate travel programs as we create a world where travel and expenses practically manage themselves.
Evolution of Concur Travel
Reinventing the world’s leading online booking tool is no small feat. We are evolving Concur Travel to better address the current and future needs of our travelers, customers, and partners more quickly and effectively, by leveraging new, adaptable technology. Next quarter, we will introduce a new end-to-end booking experience across air, hotel, and car rental bookings for Sabre GDS from U.S. point of sale.
Our customers are at the center of everything we do — as their needs change and the corporate travel industry continues to advance — so do we. The evolution of Concur Travel rises above a flashy user interface. We’ve designed it to be scalable and ready for future innovation, capable of quickly deploying new features, functionality, and UI enhancements to benefit the entire corporate travel ecosystem.
The new booking experience within Concur Travel features a consumer-grade user experience (UX), robust content, and smart solutions. It aims to make everyone involved in booking and expensing business travel more productive. Customers can expect:
- Content and Images: Increased global content coverage including NDC, better imagery, and richer descriptions, all consolidated into one view. The new UX will make browsing content seamless and intuitive, with the ability to easily view sustainability ratings and cost information.
- User Experience: A streamlined booking and checkout process, including a more user-friendly and intuitive UI, makes the experience more like that on consumer sites and apps. The new UX is adaptable on both mobile and desktop, designed to give users the ability to meet their needs and drive compliance across the end-to-end process.
- Sustainable Options: Sustainability continues to be a major priority for our customers. With the new Concur Travel experience, travelers can view information and filters to help limit their carbon footprint and make sustainable choices, making it easier to comply with company policies and limit the environmental impact of business travel.
- Search Capabilities: Omni-search capability that automatically merges options for many locations, such as airports, city centers, or company locations, delivered by a robust travel ecosystem. Companies have the freedom to choose from among a wide range of suppliers, sources and content to support global travel requirements.
- Time Savings: Optimized booking workflows and faster checkout process. The new experience integrates with Concur Expense for a seamless end-to-end travel and expense process — from planning and booking to expensing, auditing and reimbursement all the way to the company general ledger.
SAP Concur has been working closely with Delta Air Lines and other airlines to revamp our new airline shopping experience in Concur Travel. We are pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with our airline partners to deliver the best travel experience for our customers in a modern travel management solution.
“The evolution of Concur Travel is an exciting breakthrough moment for booking tool displays,” said Steve Sear, executive vice president of Global Sales at Delta Air Lines. “We’re delighted to contribute to SAP Concur’s modernization and provide feedback based on our experiences and conversations with corporate customers.”
Sabre, Amadeus, and Travelport+ Users
The new booking experience will be available first on Sabre, for customers whose configurations use the settings and features available at release time and whose TMCs are ready for migration. For organizations that need more time, we will help them manage through the transition period and maintain their current experience until they are ready.
Amadeus customers can expect the new booking experience within Concur Travel in 2024.
Additionally, SAP Concur will add connectivity to Travelport+ to the road map for the evolution of Concur Travel for delivery in 2024. Connectivity will include support for both legacy/EDIFACT and NDC, as well as full access to the Travelport+ hotel and car rental content and services.
The addition of Travelport+ means that the enhanced Concur Travel will be available to users of Sabre, Travelport+, and Amadeus in 2024.
Charlie Sultan is president of Concur Travel at SAP Concur.