Summer, sun and bleisure travel: the combination of leisure and business travel is particularly popular during the warmer months.

However, this flexible travel model is under threat from companies’ cost-cutting measures, as new data shows.

While it may seem simple for employees to work from anywhere, or to combine vacations with business travel, the reality for businesses is much more complex.

Indeed, companies’ concerns about costs and sustainability can prevent employees from taking full advantage of their flexibility.

What about Switzerland, Germany and Austria?

Flexible business travel is attractive to employees because they can often more easily reconcile business travel with their private lives.

A global business travel survey provides insight into current travel flexibility in the DACH region.

Employees’ feelings

38% of business travelers say their company is focused on meeting their travel flexibility needs, ahead of other priorities. However, about 31% said their company is more focused on reducing travel costs.

More than 26% of companies are reducing the possibility of remote work for their employees, when they travel for pleasure or when they combine personal and business travel.

A majority (65%) of business travelers say travel is essential for their professional development.

23% of employees would decline a business trip if they couldn’t extend it for personal travel and 22% would also decline if they couldn’t make adjustments outside of company policy.

Balancing sustainability and cost management

93% of business travelers found that their company had reduced travel allowances, and 28% of them found that their company no longer allowed employees to pay for more sustainable travel options.

When it comes to business travel, companies are primarily pursuing three priorities:

Increasing the possibility of using sustainable travel options – a priority for 43% of Travel Managers
25% of them are looking to meet demands for travel flexibility

32% finally focus mainly on reducing costs

Some 31% of travelers say their company prioritizes sustainable travel options.

But many travel managers struggle to book trips because they are expected to offer more sustainable travel options without having an adequate travel budget (46%).

The need to improve travel policies

Almost all travellers (90%) have had to rearrange their trip at the last minute in the last 12 months.

This means they have planned more stopovers (37%) or extra nights (35%), or used alternative means of transport (31%). 40% of them have been faced with unexpected travel costs.

These changes have prompted 76% of business travelers to dedicate extra time to their trip to prepare for potential disruptions either at the beginning of their trip (35%), the end (22%), or both (19%) highlighting the need for better travel policies.

Götz Reinhardt , Managing Director MEE at SAP Concur said that their research demonstrates that companies face a complex balancing act between cost-cutting measures and the needs and desires of their employees.

By recognizing the importance of flexible travel options for business travelers and the potential impact of economic measures on employee satisfaction and motivation to travel, companies can better align their travel policies with employee expectations.

Data from travel management solutions plays a crucial role in this process.

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