2016 business travel barometer amex gbt by concomitance

American Express Global Business Travel (“GBT”) is a joint venture that is not wholly-owned by American Express Company or any of its subsidiaries (“American Express”)

“American Express Global Business Travel”, “American Express” and the American Express logo are trademarks of American Express, and are used under limited license.

With the collaboration of

European Business Travel

Barometer - EVP 2016

This document contains unpublished confidential and proprietary information of GBT. No Disclosure or use of any portion of these materials

may be made without the express written consent of GBT. © 2015 GBT III B.V. i

Table of Contents

Executive summary .................................................................................................................................................. 1

Spending and market trends ................................................................................................................................... 2

Better than expected growth in spending ............................................................................................................... 2

Business development plans are driving travel spend ........................................................................................... 2

Business travel spending is still mostly seen as a necessary cost ........................................................................ 3

Implementing a travel policy : a paradigm shift or continuity to control costs ............................................... 3

Safety is now top priority ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Reducing process costs is the top priority for the second year running ................................................................. 4

Some spending categories still under scrutiny with new entrants ......................................................................... 5

What about the share economy? ............................................................................................................................ 5

Employee satisfaction – but not at any price .......................................................................................................... 5

The issues in 2016 ................................................................................................................................................... 6

Price optimization, safety solutions, data reliability and quality of travel management program ........................... 6

Which is the most capable operator in the market? ............................................................................................... 7

What about future trends? ..................................................................................................................................... 7


may be made without the express written consent of GBT. © 2015 GBT III B.V. Page 1 of 10

Executive summary

Growth in corporate travel spend was better than expected and driven by business development plans

Business travel spend increased by 1.42% in 2015, more than double the 2015 Barometer forecast of 0.7% and

ahead of GDP growth.

The Barometer finds that half of all companies surveyed intend to expand their business internationally over the

next three years compared with only 38% in 2014. And one third of them (versus 18% the previous year) plan to

increase their business travel budget within the next three years.

However 76% of companies still see business travel as a necessary cost while only 24% see it as an investment,

although this figure has risen 7 percentage points from 17% in 2014.

21% said they would be interested in knowing how to measure the return on investment of their business travel,

which confirms that this perception should continue to evolve as they begin to put the relevant indicators in place.

A shift in company priorities

The Barometer study revealed a shift in the top three priorities for companies. The top priorities are now safety,

cost and employee satisfaction.

No. 1 – Safety

This key concern has gained a lot of ground in the past five years and moved up to top priority in 2015 from

second place in the 2014 Barometer.

96% of companies have systems for locating and contacting travelers. But a reactive approach still dominates,

with only 24% training their travelers in risk prevention. Yet companies know full well that safety issues involving

their travelers can have a negative impact on reputation and therefore generate a financial risk.

No. 2 – Control over indirect and direct costs is almost equally important

From its former top priority spot in recent years, cost control dropped to second place this year. 58% of companies

believe they can still optimize their cost management "to a certain extent".

45% said that they are focusing more on improving processes (more thorough upfront evaluation of the

importance and cost of a business trip, introducing online tools, and using payment and expense management

solutions). Reducing direct costs came second with 42% (advance booking, best prices and preferred suppliers).

Companies are exploring new cost optimization ideas (for subsistence, taxis/parking expenses) with the budding

emergence of share economy operators.

No. 3 – Increasing the importance of traveler satisfaction

Traveler satisfaction has leapt into third place in company priorities compared with sixth place in 2014.

Almost 50% of companies now measure business traveler satisfaction compared with 45% from one year ago.

22% use the feedback to improve their travel policies. But their perception of satisfaction focuses mainly on



improving the travel experience rather than on the traveler's personal comfort, so it tends to be analyzed from a

productivity and therefore cost perspective.

Trends taking shape in 2016

The upswing in business travel spending should continue in 2016, with a forecasted growth between 1% and 3%

depending on the country.

The companies surveyed cited four issues that will be of growing importance during the coming year: price

optimization (50%), safety solutions (41%), data reliability (41%) and quality of overall travel program

management (40%).

Better than expected growth in spending

On average, companies spent more than twice the amount they announced in the previous Barometer (January

2015). The last time we saw growth of more than 1.5% was in 2011 (2.1%). In the French market, spending

growth was also double the forecast made at the start of 2015 (0.8% vs 0.4%).

The key driver was an increase in the number of business trips taken in the year. There was an overall drop in

spend per trip of about 1%, particularly in air travel, despite a small increase in accommodation spend of about

2%.

54% of companies traveled in economy class, 33% in premium economy and 13% in first class. 34% used hotels

in the luxury and premium, 53% in mid-range and 13% in budget categories.

The spend breakdown has been relatively stable for four years with changes equal to or less than 2 percentage

points. This year, air travel accounted for 42%, accommodation for 26%, rail travel for 11%, car hire for 8% and

subsistence for 6%.

In regard to reasons for travel, business development (retaining and acquiring customers, breaking into new

countries) accounted for 54%, a 3 percentage points increase over 2014 and 8 percentage points over 2013.

Growth in spending is continuing into 2016, with an expected increase of 1% and even around 2% if economic

and safety conditions do not worsen, which is in line with European GDP forecasts. For information, 1% growth in

European spending would be worth about an extra €4 billion in 2016.

However, there are some marked differences between European countries; for example a fourfold difference in

growth between France and Germany (0.8% and 3% respectively).

Business development plans are driving travel spend

The upswing in spending is due to growth in both domestic business development plans (up 5 percentage points)

and international expansion plans (up 6 percentage points).



Only 7% of companies said they would have to cut back their activity or not invest for the next three years. Those

with business development plans intend to increase their spend by much more than the average (12 percentage

points). Their main markets are Europe (66%), Asia Pacific (43%), North America (29%) and Africa/Middle East

(25%).

Business travel spending is still mostly seen as a necessary cost

No fewer than 76% of companies still see business travel as a necessary cost while only 24% see it as an

investment, although this figure has risen by 7 percentage points from 17% in 2014.

Factors driving the perception of business travel as an investment are business development plans (up 6

percentage points) and the number of companies using online booking tools (OBT) and/or expense management

systems (up 5 percentage points).

Despite high use of online booking and expense management tools (half of companies use them), one third of

companies do not measure the full cost of a trip and only 50% measure its return on investment.

There are several possible explanations for this. Only 20% of companies have a fully automated value chain

control process giving the most comprehensive overall view of spending. Another difficulty lies in finding a

benchmark for measuring return on investment. Indicators used by companies vary widely across industries

(different project life cycles, weight of the sales force at various stages, differences in sales margin, etc.).

Companies therefore tend to focus on measuring costs and employee satisfaction. 6% use benchmarks from

other industries. More than 20% say they need a method of measuring the return on investment of a business trip,

such as those that exist for participating in trade fairs.

Implementing a travel policy: a paradigm shift or continuity to control costs?

For several years, the Barometer has been tracking the broad trends underlying companies' business travel

policies. This year, the traditional priorities have been shaken up, with safety moving into top place ahead of cost

control and employee satisfaction (which has risen from sixth to third place).

Safety is now the top priority

Safety awareness has been an ever-growing trend in the past five years partly because of the company's duty of

care towards its employees and partly because growth opportunities are often to be found in higher risk areas

(international expansion plans). In this context, 96% of companies now have systems to locate and contact their

employee travelers.

However, these systems are more reactive than preventive. Only 24% of companies give their employees risk

training. In this respect, online tools now play a crucial role in supporting risk management policies. It is

predominantly the companies that make the most use of online tools, such as warning systems for risky travel,

that have developed a reactive approach (37%).



Cost control is the real issue that lies behind safety concerns. Companies are well aware of the financial and

reputational risks involved in not having a proper travel risk management policy.

Cost control: reducing process costs is the top priority for the second year in a row

Until 2014, companies were mostly concerned with controlling direct costs. However, things have changed in the

last two years. Direct costs seem to have reached a plateau although 58% of companies claim they can still be

optimized "to a certain extent". This is borne out by the fact that they consider that 82% of their budget is now

under control. This figure rises to 87% for companies that have online booking and expense management tools.

For the second year in a row, reducing indirect costs is considered as a higher priority than direct costs (45% vs

42%). Companies making the most use of online tools are the ones that place the greatest focus on indirect costs.

This same prioritization can be found in all cost optimization drivers. The mix is moving more towards drivers that

have an influence on process optimization (more thorough evaluation of the importance of a business trip, use of

online tools, use of payment and expense management solutions).

Evaluating the importance and cost of a business trip is becoming a major issue thanks in part to "door-to-door"

solutions. Growth in the use of online tools is a decisive factor (companies claim that 66% of their bookings are

now made online). Finally, the increase in available payment methods will probably also lead to rationalization of

their use – many companies continue use an increasingly broad mix of payment methods including new entrants

(virtual card 6%, prepaid card 1%) as well as the more traditional methods (business card 40%, reimbursement of

employee's card 43%, TMC billing 41%), as well as expense advances (21%).

In regard to direct costs (advance bookings, seeking out best prices and using preferred suppliers), there has

been little change compared with the previous year, with priorities remaining broadly stable except for best prices,

which has moved up to fifth place. Compliance with the travel policy has dropped out of the top 14 (83% of

companies claim that compliance with their policy is over 70%).

Note: Use of these drivers is a long-term process. Half of the companies surveyed want to use them more

often. Yet some available drivers, such as videoconference type solutions, have been used more as an

alternative to internal travel (training, recruitment, project management) than for business development

purposes. Finally, the use of share economy suppliers such as Uber™ and AirBnB™ come last on the list of

cost optimization drivers, with only a modest 17% of companies saying they intend to use them more in the

future.

Automating the value chain for better integration of management and control processes seems to be a top priority

for controlling direct and indirect costs. Compared with previous years, the figures are relatively stable. 23% of

companies claim to have fully automated processes (22% in 2014, 15% in 2013) combining several tools or using

a single solution.

The three key advantages are:

› improved traveler safety,

› control over spending,

› more effective processes (particularly reimbursement of expenses).



Some spending categories are still under scrutiny with new entrants Accommodation and air travel spend logically come first and second (accounting for almost 70% of total spend)

with a greater weight allocated toward accommodation because of the complexity of the market (fragmented offer,

multiple booking channels, numerous payment methods), that requires control over both spending and the traveler

for safety reasons. Air travel logically plays a key role. Interestingly, optimization drivers for this spend, such as

using low cost airlines, rank only thirteenth in the top fourteen. Companies said that the low cost in their air travel

spend has remained relatively stable at around 25% for the past three years.

Some categories such as subsistence and taxis/parking now rank higher due to the emergence of end-to-end

solution providers (La Fourchette and Business Table for example) and expense management tools. MICE

(Meetings, Incentives, Congress, Events) and ancillary expenses are low-key on the corporate radar. For MICE,

this is probably a reflection of the survey sample, as this spend category is still typically shared across several

departments and functions of a company. It is difficult to track ancillary expenses even though they account for

nearly 10ù of initial booking cost. As a general rule, companies that make more use of booking and expense

management tools focus more on these types of spend because they have a more comprehensive overall view of

their spending.

What about the sharing economy? Companies are clearly reluctant to open the door to sharing economy operators. 64% of companies are very

undecided about whether and how to use them. 30% said that they see it as medium-term option and only 6% as

a short-term option (see spending optimization drivers).

There are several possible explanations for this. Alternative suppliers like Uber™ are often lumped together with

sharing economy suppliers like AirBnB™ and Blablacar™. There are no clear choices being made yet between

the various operators. Companies will turn to operators with a stable legal and fiscal structure that guarantees the

location of their employees. This is clearly not yet the case for these new operators and no doubt account for why

only 6% of companies that say they would be prepared to use them within the next few months. The debate is

also a cultural one: northern European countries (UK, Germany, Scandinavia) seem to be more prepared to use

these solutions, with 45% thinking about doing so in the medium term.

Employee satisfaction – but not at any price Measuring satisfaction is a core pillar in developing the business travel policy and has risen three places since

2014.

Almost 50% of companies now measure business traveler satisfaction compared with 45% last year.

But looking more closely, companies perceive employee satisfaction more from an ease of travel point of view, in

other words, really with a view to improve the travel process rather than the traveler's personal comfort. The main

factors put forward as contributing to satisfaction are helping the traveler with:

› making a new booking when difficulties arise during a trip (63%),

› proposing solutions in response to safety-related issues (52%),

› improving the process of reimbursing expenses (43%),



› streamline systems for getting trips approved and tracking expenses (34%).

Solutions that help the traveler stay in touch via social media come in last (only 10% of companies).

Satisfaction is clearly analyzed more from a perspective of improving the travel experience and, therefore,

productivity and ultimately cost. In this context, only 22% of companies use employee satisfaction feedback to

revise their travel policy.

However, traveler feedback is nonetheless increasingly used as an input in developing travel policies, but to a

limited degree for 45% of respondents. Those that measure employee satisfaction most closely are those that

claim to take more account of the traveler’s point of view. Also, the more companies measure the return on

investment of a business trip, the more likely they are to include this variable (60% vs 54%).

Lastly, full automation of the value chain is also gaining quite a bit of ground (63% vs 54%). This illustrates the

growing trend towards more personalized travel policies taking better account of employee satisfaction. In this

respect, the ability of market solutions to better detect, measure and guarantee the economic benefits of

implementing this type of policy is vitally important.

Four key issues in 2016

The Barometer noted four key issues to be addressed, which will become increasingly important over the coming

years:

› price optimization

› safety solutions

› data reliability

› quality of travel management program

As was the case for optimization drivers, again we find a mix between issues related to process costs and those

related to buying services.

The companies that are most sensitive to price optimization are those that make the most use of booking and

expense management tools, which gives them the ability to anticipate needs and use different price mixes (e.g.,

accommodation combining corporate and dynamic rates). Safety solutions are important to all companies

regardless of their maturity level on the value chain. Companies that will have increasing issues with quality of

travel program management are those with business development plans, particularly international expansion,

where content, service continuity and geographic coverage are key factors. As regards data reliability (ranked in

the top four), companies that manage the value chain manually, whether entirely or partially, are the most

sensitive to this issue (see benefits of value chain automation in improving spending control).

Process improvement issues are also important to 40% of companies. Compared with previous years, new issues

have emerged, including the need to monitor new innovations and the ability to take new technology on board. In

concrete terms, within these two categories, new booking and payment systems and the integration of new



solutions are gaining the most traction. Mobile is still largely seen as a complement to current systems rather than

a substitute (92% vs 8%). What is noticeable is the expectations of companies in terms of service and taking

account of the specifics of each company in its travel policy management.

What is the most capable operator in the market?

In response to the question "in your view what operator is best able to fulfill this role", travel agencies were the

most frequently cited.

If we take the principal operators in the value chain, companies say that only travel agencies have capability

across the whole spectrum. It is also interesting to note that companies have a clear view of the operators' relative

positioning despite the occasional overlap in their value propositions.

What about future trends?

For companies with business travelers the focus is now on improving safety, controlling direct and indirect costs,

and traveler satisfaction. The challenges to be addressed are diversity of supply (new, alternative market

entrants), permeability (open booking and non- GDS) and an increasingly complex value chain (multiple

solutions).

As in other industries such as telecoms and IT, the operators most likely to meet these challenges are the ones

that can guarantee compliance and cost control while taking account of traveler preferences.

How to integrate non-traditional operators and data?

How to globalize content and services to support clients in their development?

How to offer a personalized model guaranteeing optimum traveler service?

These are the key issues facing the industry. There is very little room for maneuver and this will force operators to

adapt their business models in the short term.



*American Express Global Business Travel (“GBT”) is a joint venture that is not wholly-owned by American Express Company or any of its

subsidiaries (“American Express”). “American Express Global Business Travel”, “American Express” and the American Express logo are

trademarks of American Express, and are used under limited license.

About the American Express Global Business Travel* Barometer

The 2016 Barometer was prepared by B3TSI/Concomitance from a telephone and email survey conducted

throughout Europe between October 20 and November 16, 2015 (90% before the Paris terrorist attacks of

November 13), to present the main trends for the coming year. 580 people in charge of corporate travel budgets

(general management, travel manager or equivalent, purchasing and finance departments) were interviewed,

representing an aggregated spend of €1.3 billion. The companies surveyed are based in 10 major European

countries: France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway,

forming a representative sample of major accounts, mid-corps and small- and medium-sized companies.