Sustainable business travel with SAP Concur

Growing environmental awareness is increasingly putting sustainability in the focus of business travel.

Today, many companies are rethinking their employees’ travel habits. Fuel-efficient flights, electric ground transportation and virtual meetings are more popular than ever. This rethinking can also be proven statistically*:

• 97% of business travelers would increase travel time if it significantly reduced their environmental impact. 
• 80% of business travelers are more inclined to work for a company with a sustainability strategy. 
• 69% of travel managers have updated their travel policies to include a greater focus on sustainability.

* 2022 Global Business Traveler Report

SAP Concur is not only considered one of the best solutions for business travel management and expense control. The platform also provides business users with many opportunities to advance their sustainability goals. Since sustainability has become crucial to responsible business practices, SAP Concur plays an increasingly important strategic and economic role.

Through its “Steps to Build a Sustainable Travel Program” initiative, SAP Concur is underscoring its commitment to helping companies develop and implement sustainable travel programs. This has far-reaching implications for companies and helps them achieve both their environmental and business goals. 

How companies benefit from sustainable business travel.

Supported by SAP Concur and corresponding sustainability tools, companies can reduce CO₂ in air travel, transportation, and accommodations. This benefits the environment as well as the company’s image.

But, a sustainable travel strategy can also help optimize costs associated with business travel. This is done by better managing expenses, avoiding unnecessary travel, and using more environmentally friendly means of transportation. Companies can thus improve their financial performance.

Less CO₂ emissions, improved company image

Companies that embrace sustainable business travel can significantly strengthen their corporate reputation with employees, investors, and customers. This makes sense because more and more people appreciate and support sustainable business practices.

There is even an opportunity to positively influence the development of travel resources and destinations through sustainable travel. One example is companies that prefer to book seminars or essential events in sustainable regions or at sustainable locations to strengthen sustainability-oriented tourism.

Thrustcarbon’s integration with SAP Concur is recommended for organizations that want to manage business travel while minimizing their environmental impact. The platform specializes in calculating, monitoring, and reducing CO₂ emissions from business travel.

Thrustcarbon integrates seamlessly with SAP Concur, enabling the organization to develop and implement green and sustainable travel strategies. Based on booking data from SAP Concur, Thrustcarbon calculates the precise CO₂ emissions generated by business travel. This is the only way to reliably assess the environmental impact of business travel.

The “Rocketrip” app is an innovative solution that helps companies reduce travel costs without compromising employee satisfaction. With Rocketrip, you create an incentive system that rewards employees for making more cost-effective travel decisions.

Your benefits with “green hotels” in conjunction with SAP Concur:

• Green choices: Employees in your organization can select hotels that implement environmentally friendly measures such as energy efficiency, waste reduction, and the use of renewable energy.
• Reduce costs: Green hotels are often more cost-efficient because they conserve resources and invest in sustainable practices. Businesses can benefit from these cost savings.
• Achieve sustainability goals: Companies that have set sustainability goals can help achieve them by choosing green hotels. This helps them to implement a comprehensive sustainability strategy.
• Satisfied employees: Staying overnight in environmentally friendly accommodations can increase employees’ satisfaction and motivate them to make environmentally conscious business travel decisions.
• Transparency and reporting: Green Hotels provides a user-friendly platform for monitoring and reporting on green bookings. Companies can document and communicate their efforts toward more sustainable travel behavior.

Sustainability also provides a critical competitive advantage and an opportunity to enhance your corporate reputation. SAP Concur’s tools and solutions provide your organization with more opportunities to successfully implement sustainability in your business practices and achieve long-term benefits in terms of environmental impact and cost optimization. By leveraging these tools, companies can positively shape not only the future of their business but also that of the world.

As experienced SAP Concur implementation experts, KPS’s SAP Concur teams are happy to support companies in their sustainability efforts.