Travel managers in Europe are looking to take greater control of ground transport spend amid rising fuel prices and an increased focus on green alternatives to air travel, according to new research from the Global Business Travel Association and mobility platform Freenow.
A recent GBTA survey of 105 travel buyers and 740 business travelers across the U.K., Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Poland found that cost is an ongoing challenge.
Close to half (49 percent) of European travel managers cited cost containment/savings as their company’s single greatest priority related to ground transportation, followed by sustainability (22 percent) and employee experience (12 percent).
Travelers too expressed concerns over inflation, with 50 percent stating the rising cost of fuel had impacted their business travel over the last year.
The survey also revealed a sharpened focus on sustainability and eco-friendly ground transportation options compared to pre-pandemic times, but priorities differ between travel managers and travelers.
Nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of travel managers said their program now is more focused on sustainability and eco-friendly vehicles than in 2019. An additional one in four (24 percent) said their company’s approach to ground transport hasn’t changed since 2019, and one in five (22 percent) characterize their company’s approach as more cost-focused.
When asked to indicate the top three strengths of their ground transport program, travel managers cited policy enforcement, traveler safety/duty of care, cost savings and ease of payment/expense management. However, they also identified traveler satisfaction, reporting/ spending visibility and sustainability as top pain points.
Travelers, meanwhile, prioritize comfort and experience, followed by cost containment/savings and sustainability, in that order. A notable exception is among French business travelers, who rank cost containment/savings higher than comfort and sustainability.
Ground transport programs in the region are also showing increased complexity, with more options for travelers including the addition of carsharing and micromobility options.
Two in three (68 percent) travel programs now include carsharing, compared with 54 percent in 2020, while e-scooters (present in 58 percent of programs compared with 42 percent in 2020) and e-bikes (57 percent compared with 44 percent in 2020) are also on the rise.
Almost all European travel programs allow travelers to use long-distance passenger rail (98 percent) and public transport (98 percent), which the report suggests could be linked to the growing emphasis on sustainability in the EU with incoming legislation, such as the Multimodal Digital Mobility Services regulation and European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
Rental cars (89 percent) and taxis/black cabs (73 percent) also are largely permitted, as are private hire vehicles/independent vehicles (56 percent).
On average, travel managers said 30 percent of their company’s ground transport spend is on public transportation—up from 16 percent of spend in 2020—while approximately 20 percent is allocated to traditional taxis and 14 percent to private hire vehicles.
When it comes to traveler preferences, most are interested in using long-distance passenger rail/trains (with more than 70 percent in each market interested) and rental cars (64 percent to 81 percent in each market expressing interest).
However, there are some differences, including business travelers in France, who are less interested in using traditional taxis and limos, while those in Spain are more interested in utilizing private hire vehicles and those in Italy are more interested in e-scooters.
Originally published by BTN Europe.
