All published updates

SAP Concur Survey: 78% of Travel Managers Expect 2025 Budget Growth

SAP Concur's Global Business Travel Survey polled 700 travel managers across seven markets from April 30 to May 12, 2025. 78% expected their company's 2025 travel budget to increase, versus only 7% expecting a decrease, with Canada at 92%. 69% said budgets do not reflect how important business travel is to success, and 67% said company leaders undervalue their role. 43% of travel managers said they have the most influence over travel program changes, while 41% named the CFO. 99% said their company has updated, is updating, or is considering updating travel policies or training to protect employee data from cyber threats; 99% would be comfortable with travelers using AI for booking, rebookin…

Amadeus and SmartRyde Partner to Simplify Airport Transfers in Japan and South Korea

Japanese airport transfer provider SmartRyde has integrated with Amadeus, making its services available through Amadeus Transfers. The first phase rolls out to travel sellers in Japan and South Korea, offering travelers pre-booked door-to-door transfers and travel sellers a single booking flow within Amadeus. SmartRyde's network covers over 1,000 airports worldwide, with options from standard vehicles to premium chauffeur services, featuring real-time availability, instant confirmation and transparent pricing.

Amadeus Report: Mexico Emerges as a Key Travel Hub in 2025

The Travel Insights 2025: Focus on the Americas report by Amadeus and UN Tourism shows Mexico emerging as a leading destination and international air hub. Air traffic across the Americas rose 1.8% year on year, and Mexico's searches grew 22%, ranking it among the top five origin markets. North American hotel occupancy reached 74% by June 2025, with Mexico's ADR under USD 140. Mexico is attracting new long-haul routes from Asia and Latin America, while the U.S. still accounts for over 80% of new air routes in North America.

Amadeus and UN Tourism Report: North America Travel Demand Steady, China Origin Grows 7%

Amadeus and UN Tourism published the Travel Insights 2025: Focus on the Americas report, based on Amadeus Navigator360 data. From July 2024 to June 2025, air traffic to North America grew 1.1% year-on-year. The U.S., Canada, and Mexico remained the top three origin markets, while the UK rose to fourth. China (+7%) and Japan (+4%) were the fastest-growing international origin markets. North America hotel occupancy reached 74% in June 2025, slightly ahead of June 2024; ADR held steady above $160 in most months, with Canada peaking at $187 in June. New York and Los Angeles were the most booked destinations, Orlando rose to third, and Chicago rose to fifth. Nashville (+3%), Calgary (+2%), and D…

Survey: How Business Travel Perspectives Differ by Generation

SAP Concur's seventh annual Global Business Travel Survey covered 3,750 business travelers across 24 markets, analyzing differences among Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers. 97% are willing to travel for business, but Gen Z and millennials are more likely dissatisfied with current travel frequency. Younger generations more often report company travel cuts and are more open to AI and recommendations; older generations prefer manually sorting options. Air safety concern is similar across generations, 64% for Gen Z versus 52% for boomers.

SAP Concur Annual Survey: 2025 Business Travel Budgets Rise but Policies Tighten

SAP Concur released its seventh annual Global Business Travel Survey, covering 3,750 business travelers across 24 markets, 700 travel managers across seven markets, and 600 CFOs across six markets. The findings show 89% of travelers, 93% of travel managers, and 90% of CFOs expect travel budgets to increase or stay the same this year, yet 69% of travel managers say budgets do not reflect business travel's importance and 81% of CFOs agree budget limits prevent employees from traveling as needed. Meanwhile, 87% of travelers report their company cut back on previously allowed items over the past 12 months, including overnight stays, business class, and non-client travel.

Japan - Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions

The U.S. Department of State reissued its Japan travel advisory after a periodic review without changes, keeping the country at Level 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions). The advisory reminds U.S. citizens to always exercise caution when traveling abroad and recommends enrolling in STEP, reviewing the Country Security Report for Japan, preparing a contingency plan, checking CDC travel health information, and buying insurance covering evacuation assistance, medical insurance, and trip cancellation.

Impact and considerations

Japan is a major business travel and MICE destination. Remaining at Level 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions) means no new restrictive risk, so corporate travel policies need no adjustment based on this advisory, though routine safety and insurance arrangements still apply.

Survey: CFOs Prioritize Cost Optimization for 2025 Growth

SAP Concur released its third CFO Insights report, based on a survey of 350 CFOs and senior finance leaders across eight countries from December 2024 to January 2025. 69% of finance leaders cite optimizing costs and efficiency as the top goal for growth, with 58% turning to automation and AI. 94% say AI has helped improve decision-making, and 73% say AI has positively impacted cost and risk reduction. Top external challenges cited are worsening economic conditions (41%), geopolitical tensions (37%), and supply chain constraints (32%).

SAP Concur Survey: Safety and Sustainability Shape Business Travel

SAP Concur released its 2024 Global Business Travel Survey of 3,750 business travelers in 24 markets and 600 travel managers in six markets. 44% of travelers would consider declining a trip over destination safety concerns, 35% over political or social concerns and 33% over transport-mode safety. 39% of travel managers said geopolitical safety concerns will make their job harder over the next 12 months, and 37% said duty of care is hard without full trip visibility. Only 23% of travelers said their company requires use of its booking tool. On sustainability, 27% would decline a trip over environmental impact, up from 23% in 2023.

SAP Concur Launches Global Tax Management Solutions Amid E-Invoicing Mandates

SAP Concur has launched global tax management solutions to help companies keep up with rapidly evolving tax regulations. The solutions support various phases of the tax management process, from expense report creation to approval, payment, and reconciliation, and leverage AI and machine learning to maximize tax recovery. Digitized receipts and e-invoice mandates are already in place in countries such as China, Japan, and Mexico. SAP Concur's solutions currently support France, Spain, Japan, China, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, with support for Portugal, Belgium, and Switzerland coming soon.

JTB-CWT Concur TripLink Integration: Enhancing Business Travel in Japan

SAP Concur announced the integration of JTB-CWT with Concur TripLink, enabling companies with domestic business travel in Japan to book air, hotel, and rail through JTB-CWT's B+PLUS online booking tool, with automatic syncing to SAP Concur. The integration offers flexible booking options, real-time data integration, enhanced visibility and compliance, and improved duty of care.

How CFOs Can Foster Sustainability and Growth Through T&E

SAP Concur published a CFO insights paper recommending finance leaders look at travel and expense processes and technology to improve both sustainability and growth. The report notes 31% of businesses struggle to put the right sustainability programs and policies in place, and 61% of finance leaders lack near-real-time visibility into spending data. Automated T&E solutions can reduce paper, offer sustainable travel options, free employee productivity, and deliver data to measure sustainability. Gina McNamara, CFO of SAP Asia Pacific and Japan, says measuring financial and non-financial KPIs is critical to turning sustainability into a leading indicator of business health.

What Is Top of Mind for SMB Travelers in 2022?

The SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey polled over 1,100 business travelers at SMBs (fewer than 1,000 employees). Key findings: 34% cite diminished travel budgets as a top-three threat; 50% include rising oil prices and inflation as a threat, higher than 44% at larger organizations; 98% are willing to travel in the next 12 months, but 60% say their current travel schedule falls short of expectations; 48% of unhappy travelers are willing to take action, and 26% will search for a new position; 89% are willing to decline a trip for safety, personal, or environmental reasons; 94% value sustainability info when booking, and 94% plan to act to reduce environmental impact in the next 12 mont…

Business Travelers Can Make a Bigger Environmental Impact

A SAP Concur blog post notes that business travel decisions are typically optimized for cost and time efficiency, not environmental sustainability, and many organizations still use paper-based booking and expense processes. IOFM found the average business receives 63% of invoices as paper, and 62% manually handle over 75% of paper invoices. APQC research shows finance workers spend 49% of their time processing transactions. The article recommends digitalization and automation to reduce environmental impact, citing NEC's case: reduced T&E management time by 40% and saved about $1.8 million annually with SAP Concur.

NEC Reduces T&E Management Time by 40% with SAP Concur

NEC deployed SAP Concur solutions to reduce travel and expense administration time by approximately 40%, achieving annual savings of ¥200 million (US$1.8 million). Employees can photograph receipts and submit via mobile app, with integration to TMCs, corporate credit cards, and GDS for booking. The e-Bunsho timestamp feature aids Japanese administrators in compliance. During a major earthquake in Taiwan, NEC used risk management features to confirm employee safety within hours, compared to two to three days previously.

SAP Concur Tokyo Employees Survey Ginza Accessibility via Wheelchair Experience

SAP Concur's Japan team took part in Mirairo Inc.'s "Bremen Survey Team" event, using the map-based accessibility app Bmaps to survey the Ginza area around its Tokyo office from a wheelchair perspective and post accessibility information. The event began with basic disability education, noting barriers affect not only people with disabilities but also the elderly, stroller users, and foreign visitors, and highlighting the "information barrier." Participants surveyed Ginza in groups, taking turns as wheelchair user and supporter, finding even slight slopes, height differences, and obstacles in passageways difficult; some older buildings lack elevators and have stepped surfaces of seven inche…

SAP Concur Names Six 2022 Innovation Award Winners

At SAP Concur Fusion in Orlando, SAP Concur recognized six 2022 Innovation Award winners: Infineon, IDP Education, NTT DATA Philippines, Ocean Network Express, Dover Corporation and The Walt Disney Company. Their projects span travel-compliance risk engines, invoice capture, faster expense reimbursement, global policy consolidation and single-instance deployment.

What Are Companies Doing to Prepare for the Return to Travel?

The SAP Concur blog analyzes the outlook for business travel resumption in Asia-Pacific, noting wide variation in restrictions. China's domestic seat bookings were up 7% year-on-year, while international seats were down 98%. It recommends companies understand employee concerns, track fast-changing information, and build traveler safety into processes. It also mentions travel insurance exclusions for COVID-related costs, the burst Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble, and the impact of supplier safety commitments on traveler confidence.

Digital Receipts: Good for Business and the Planet

This SAP Concur blog post highlights the benefits of digital receipts for both businesses and the environment. It notes that most paper receipts are non-recyclable due to BPA or BPS coatings, and their production consumes millions of trees and billions of gallons of water annually. Adopting digital receipts simplifies receipt management, saves time and money, and improves employee satisfaction. SAP Concur offers tools to automatically integrate electronic receipts and digitize paper ones via mobile app photos. The article also mentions collaboration with the Japanese government to reform regulations and an e-receipt solution integrated with WeChat in China.

Smith & Nephew Implements Global T&E Program Across 40+ Countries with SAP Concur

A SAP Concur podcast features Jorge Monge, T&E lead at Smith & Nephew, discussing the company's implementation of a Global Business Services (GBS) program across more than 40 countries using SAP Concur solutions to centralize and standardize processes. 80% of Smith & Nephew's volume comes from the U.S., and the GBS center is in Costa Rica. Monge emphasizes cultural factors and compliance challenges, requiring partnerships with the chief compliance officer, legal, and audit. The company deployed Concur Detect AI auditing tool, identifying anomalies no human could. The project returned over 20K productivity hours, benefiting over 9,000 employees globally, and won the GBS Giants Award in all c…

SAP Concur and Deloitte Discuss the Evolution of AP Automation

SAP Concur Value Consultant Ryan Hamilton and Deloitte Specialist Master Oren Geshuri discuss the current state and future evolution of accounts payable (AP) automation in a podcast. The conversation focuses on employee experience and spend governance, noting that COVID-19 accelerated the digitization of AP processes and highlighting the strategic value of automation in improving efficiency, optimizing cash flow, and enhancing organizational resilience.

SAP Concur President Reflects on 2017 Industry Trends

The president of SAP Concur reflects on 2017, noting key industry trends: duty of care became a priority for customers; digital transformation accelerated, such as e-Fapiao in China and e-Bunsho in Japan; the end-user became a key stakeholder; global solutions need to be local; and businesses became more accepting of spend outside preferred channels, managed via TripLink and the NDC standard.

SAP Concur Releases 2018 and Beyond Business Travel, Expense and Invoice Predictions

SAP Concur experts released predictions for business travel, expense and invoice trends in 2018 and beyond. Predictions include: paper receipts becoming obsolete as e-receipts standardize and countries such as France, Spain, China and Japan deregulate paper receipt requirements; non-traditional payment technologies like blockchain and vCards changing transactions and reimbursements; cloud technology enabling small businesses to adopt enterprise tools faster; predictive analytics and personalization transforming business travel; duty of care remaining a C-level priority; and employee-initiated spend becoming the largest unmanaged spend category.

Fusion Exchange Tokyo: Charting New Frontiers with Concur Labs

A SAP Concur blog post describes Concur Labs joining Fusion Exchange Tokyo to showcase emerging technologies including virtual reality and machine learning. The event had roughly 2,000 attendees and 40 partners. It says Japan is one of Concur's fastest-growing markets. Concur Labs explores the future of travel and expense, with latest initiatives involving connected cars, conversational and voice-based interfaces, IoT integrations, machine learning, and virtual reality. It mentions a proof of concept called Project ARC created with the Concur Mobile team to improve mobile app usability for people with visual impairment, and announced Concur for Slack now supports Japanese. Concur Labs and C…