Indian companies slow to adopting tech to manage business travel: SAP Concur

PUNE: A recent study by travel and expense management firm SAP Concur found that 77% of Indian business travellers feel that their employers are lagging when it comes to adopting latest technologies to manage business travel.
Safety was a key concern, with 88% saying that they have experienced safety concerns when travelling in the past 12 months.

“Societal issues and employee experiences are increasingly impacting the way we travel. With these shifts come new expectations from travelling employees that shouldn’t go unnoticed,” said Christopher A Juneau, senior vice president, Global Cloud Strategic Programs, SAP Concur. “While companies continue to try and maximize traveller satisfaction, the reality is that employees are hungry for more empathy, guidance and better technology as they run into both common frustrations and unique individual concerns, leaving room for improvement among organisations of all sizes,” he said.

Juneau, who was in India recently, spoke to ET about how India was emerging as an important market for the company.

“The Indian market is starting to behave like the Western market, with millennials expecting the same experience they get on a consumer app,” he said. In the past year, 52% millennials have reduced travel to a location because of political unrest or health hazards, compared with 43% of Gen Xers and 50% of Boomers. Half of them selected a flight based on aircraft type, compared with 48% of Gen Xers and 29% of Boomers, found the study.

SAP Concur India managing director Mankiran Chowhan said: “I believe there is great potential in the Indian market for the adoption of latest automated travel technologies. Since India is an evolving and fast-growing business travel market, it’s imperative for us to ensure a safe and secure environment for all business travellers.”

The company, which started catering to the Indian arms of its multinational clients, is now starting to see demand from Indian enterprises as well.

Chowhan said the company was seeing demand from companies across the size spectrum, and from sectors like manufacturing and pharma.