IS BREXIT REALLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SAFETY OF OUR TRAVELLERS?

Our annual Business Travel Show survey revealed that Brexit is not only the biggest challenge facing buyers next year, it will continue to cause them problems as far ahead as 2022.

For the first time in four years, cost-cutting was knocked off the top spot of the list of forthcoming challenges to be replaced by Brexit, which shot up from fourth place – its home for the last two years. Airbus UK travel manager and one of our advisory board members, Geoff Allwright, even admitted that Brexit is the one thing that ‘keeps him awake at night’.

With the news agenda saturated by Brexit, none of this comes as much of a surprise. But there were two interesting results from our survey. The first is that our poll (of 134 European buyers) showed that 65 per cent of travel managers don’t have a post-Brexit plan in place. Whether that’s a cause of concern or simply a side effect of the fact it’s impossible to plan for something so uncertain, is hard to know, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

And the second thing? While Brexit rocked up the chart and pricing, the value of sterling, globalisation and technology also make the 2019 top ten, duty of care and traveller risk have dropped out of the chart completely after taking the second slot for the last two years. Completely dropped out. In a world where terrorism and natural disasters are not getting any less frequent; at a time when travel managers claim that duty of care, traveller risk, traveller tracking – all of these things – are the ultimate priority to them.

In line with the Business Travel Show’s Travel 2022 theme for 2019, buyers were also asked what they expect to be the biggest challenges facing them in three years’ time. Similarly, to the 12-month forecast, Brexit and cost-cutting topped the table. Visas also made an appearance at number seven, mirroring the general concern about the impact that Brexit will have on the free and easy movement of people across borders.

1	Brexit	6	Consolidation
2	Rising costs	7	Visas
3	NDC	8	Climate change
4	Traveller safety	9	Personalising travel
5	Travel alternatives	10	Sharing economy

Whether for or against the UK leaving the Europe Union, the last few months have been particularly frustrating and baffling for both sides leaving everyone possibly even more uncertain about any potential outcomes than they were a year or two ago. Because of that, I think our poll captures the Zeitgeist perfectly and it doesn’t surprise me that – right now – buyers are more concerned about Brexit than cost cutting.

This post was written by Business Travel Show marketing manager Kye Blackett. 

The Business Travel Show is the leading event in Europe for corporate travel professionals, taking place 20-21 February 2019 at Olympia London. Buyers can register for a free visitor pass at www.businesstravelshow.com/register. Buyers with a minimum annual spend of £1 million can also apply to attend as a hosted buyer at http://www.businesstravelshow.com/hosted-buyers.

GUEST BLOG: Expenses: a waste of time? 10 reasons you might want to consider automation…

Automating your expense management process brings with it a number of benefits. If you’re still not sure we hope this list might change your mind…

1) Reduced Costs

By connecting various sources of expense data, and reducing the need for manual data entry, the cost of processing expense reports can be reduced by as much as 78% per transaction. Plus, with accurate and consolidated data, you can make smarter business decisions.

2) Connected Travel

Automating expenses enables your business to explore travel integration too. With an end-to-end process, business travel information can be prepopulated into expense claims. Then it’s much easier for employees to quickly and accurately submit claims for reimbursement.

3) Improved Compliance

Compliance is high on the agenda for many businesses. After all, non-compliance could result in fines that damage your bottom line and your reputation. Using an automated solution enables you to quickly update your policies when necessary or flag exceeded spend thresholds to employees.

4) Mitigated Risk

Data accuracy is essential. Using a solution that imports feeds from travel suppliers and corporate credit card providers means that data is increasingly reliable. This integration creates an accurate audit trail that protects your business from penalties when the tax office pays a visit.

5) Ongoing Savings

Having access to consolidated data makes it easier to analyse spend and identify potential savings. This insight can help your business when developing policies, spotting where better deals could be negotiated with suppliers or where employees may be submitting improper expense claims.

6) Simple Implementation  

Cloud solutions offer minimal implementation costs so ROI can be realised sooner. Mobile and web-based tools means there’s little to no additional infrastructure required. Concur manages maintenance and functionality upgrades too, meaning less work for your business.

7) Growth Ready

As your business grows, you might open new offices or expand into new countries. This brings more expense claims, more complex regulations and sometimes additional currencies. Concur offers a scalable solution – as your business grows, we grow with you. We help you prepare for the future with confidence.

8) Unbiased Approvals

Different employees have different expectations when it comes to booking travel and claiming expenses. What may have been acceptable at their previous company may not be acceptable now. Automated solutions ensure that fair and consistent rules apply to everyone and makes fraud easier to spot.  

9) Increased Productivity

When expenses go digital, managers can access them anywhere at any time. Finance can also see all the open but unapproved expenses in the system, giving them visibility of their upcoming cash flow. Plus, they can easily report on spending across each department to identify areas of excess.  

10) Mobile Optimised

Concur offers a mobile app that enables employees to manage travel and expenses quickly and easily on the move – including photographing receipts and attaching them to their expense claim. Time once spent on expenses becomes time spent on more valuable activities.

This blog was written by Eric Tyre, VP, chief data scientist, CWT. Visit CWT at stand B230 at the Business Travel Show to learn about integrated solutions for your travel programme that offer a seamless, personalised and integrated experience for your travellers.