SAP Concur points to decline in direct bookings

According to the study conducted by SAP Concur and Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), 69 % of business travellers made direct bookings in 2018. This is down from 81 % in 2017. By improving their booking channels, companies could help to confirm this trend.
direct bookings SAP Concur
In 2018, 68 % of travellers booked their flights directly online.

Carried out among 1,250 passengers European business leaders, the SAP Concur reveals a fall in the number of direct bookings hotel and airline bookings. From 2017 to 2018, these bookings fell from 79 % to 68 % and from 83 % to 70 % respectively. "62 % business travellers consider their company to be fairly or very advanced in terms of the technology offered for bookings," notes Pierre-Emmanuel Tetaz, Managing Director of SAP Concur. He continues: "This probably explains why direct bookings have been less common than the use of online booking tools.

Avenues for improvement

However, corporate booking channels still face competition. In fact, 41 % of business travellers say they have used a direct channel for its simplicity. On the French market, 45 % of those surveyed chose this type of booking for its ease of use. ease of use and 44 % because the price was more advantageous.

SAP Concur also asked business travellers where they would like to see improvements to corporate channels: 42 % would like to be able to personalise their journey and integrate upstream validation. In addition, one travel policy This strict policy would discourage employees from booking directly with a company. However, according to this SAP Concur-GBTA study, only 15 % of business travellers say that their company's travel policy has become stricter over the last five years.