New Research Reveals Growing Paradox at the Center of Business Travel
Business travelers increasingly experience work trips through two competing realities, according to findings from the eighth annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey. While 93% of business travelers say work trips improve their mental or physical well-being, 67% report feeling hesitant to travel for business this year due to factors such as safety concerns, disruptions, and growing unpredictability.
The findings arrive as companies pour more resources into travel programs. Eighty-two percent of CFOs plan budget increases this year, while geopolitical tensions and cybersecurity risks reshape the travel landscape. Organizations are challenged to meet rising employee expectations while managing unprecedented complexity.
Business travel still delivers value, but expectations are evolving
Despite ongoing disruption relative to global travel, 93% of business travelers say that work trips positively impact their mental or physical well-being. The reasons are varied: 45% appreciate the break from their usual work environment and 44% experience a change of scenery as mental recharge. For 36%, business travel offers opportunities for face-to-face interactions with colleagues and customers that arenât possible day-to-day.
Parents feel this even more acutely. Thirty-three percent say business travel provides a break from family or personal obligations, compared to 26% of non-parents. Parents were also more likely to cite access to hotel wellness amenities (33% vs. 25%) and fitness opportunities they donât usually have (22% vs. 14%).
In an era shaped by burnout and digital fatigue, many workers see travel as an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, customers, and themselvesâsuggesting employees increasingly view business travel as more than a transactional business function.
Yet the value employees place on travel exists alongside mounting uncertainty. Sixty-seven percent of business travelers say they are hesitant to travel for business this year, driven by safety concerns around geopolitical conflicts or tension (31%), the likelihood of travel disruptions such as flight delays or cancellations (28%), and worries over visas, immigration status, and digital IDs (16%).
Overtourism: the hidden cost of peak season travel
Nearly one in four travelers (24%) say overcrowding or overtourism has negatively impacted a business trip. In response, 87% deliberately avoid staying in tourist-heavy areas while travelling for business.
The impact is real: 43% of business travelers report higher costs in crowded destinations, 38% struggle with transportation in over-touristed areas, and 33% canât book preferred options due to overbooking or limited supply. Additionally, 27% cite discomfort being surrounded by so many people, and 26% note greater safety risks or concerns about hostility toward tourists.
On the road: employees expect more support
The survey also reveals a fundamental shift in how employees view employer responsibility during business travel. More than a quarter (27%) of business travelers now hold their employer most accountable for protecting their safety while traveling for work, up from 18% in 2020 when a similar question was asked. This expectation is even more pronounced among younger generations, with only 35% of millennials and 33% of Gen Z holding themselves primarily accountable, compared to 47% of baby boomers.
Confidence in employer preparedness is mixed: only 58% of travelers are mostly or completely confident their organization could successfully extract them if trapped in a country due to a dangerous situation or emergency.
From the travel managerâs perspective, the situation is serious: 86% are concerned their organization is not doing enough to protect employee safety while traveling. Interestingly, only 38% of CFOs say their organization is completely responsible for ensuring employee safety while traveling for workâthe majority view this responsibility as falling primarily on employees.
The greatest threat to business travel, according to travel managers, is the risk of sensitive information being hacked when traveling abroad (44%)âmore common than geopolitical conflicts (43%), last-minute delays (39%), or severe weather disruptions (39%).
Location tracking can help increase employee safety. While travelers are willing to share location data in general, there are conditions. Seventy-nine percent say they are at least somewhat comfortable with employers tracking their location while traveling for work to better protect their safety. But trust remains fragile: nearly one-third (29%) say real-time monitoring of location and expenses would cause them to lose trust in their organizationâs leaders.
The findings highlight a growing balancing act: employees increasingly want reassurance and support from employers during travel, while also expecting transparency around how traveler data is used.
Rising budgets, missing tools, and backup
Finance leaders continue to recognize business travelâs strategic value. Nearly all CFOs surveyed (97%) say business travel is important to their organizationâs overall growth strategy, and 82% expect their companyâs travel budget to increase this year. But growing investment is also bringing greater scrutiny. Nearly nine in ten CFOs (89%) agree that travel managers need to better justify how business travel helps their organization to meet business goals.
Travel managers, however, say they are being asked to prove ROI without adequate organizational support. Eighty-four percent agree itâs impossible to fully meet their organizationâs business goals without more backing from finance leadership. Their top needs include better data and insights to demonstrate ROI (44%), training on effective AI use (43%), greater buy-in on policy changes or new initiatives (42%), and updated technology solutions (40%).
This disconnect reveals a critical challenge: as organizations invest more in business travel, they risk undermining that investment by failing to equip travel managers with the tools and support needed to deliver measurable results.
The trust equation
The 2026 findings show business travel continues to deliver significant value for growth, collaboration, and employee experience. But they also reveal widening gaps between what organizations expect from travel programs and how employees experience business travel on the groundâgaps that increasingly affect traveler well-being, duty of care, compliance, and confidence in leadership.
Organizations that can close those gaps through clearer communication, better governance, stronger traveler support, and tools employees want to use will be better positioned to build travel programs that employees trust and leadership teams can confidently support.
Explore more insights in the eighth annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey.
Charlie Sultan is president of Concur Travel at SAP Concur.
The SAP Concur Global Business Traveler Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 1-20, 2026, among 3,300 business travelers in 21 markets: ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and U.S.
The SAP Concur Global Travel Manager Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 1-20, 2026, among 800 travel managers, defined as those who direct or administer travel programs for businesses, across eight markets: ANZ (Australia and New Zealand), Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, UK, and U.S.
The SAP Concur Global CFO Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 1-20, 2026, among 700 CFOs across seven markets: ANZ (Australia and New Zealand), Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and U.S.
