CFOs are likely keeping travel budgets intact for now, but their confidence in travel’s strategic value may also be faltering. According to SAP Concur’s 7th Annual Global Business Travel Report, 43% of CFOs believe more than half of their company’s travel could be replaced by virtual meetings.
SAP’s findings also signal a potential shift in sentiment around the ROI on travel. A large majority (90%) of CFOs expect travel budgets to stay flat or rise in 2025. Data shows that although most CFOs are still allocating towards travel budgets, some are increasingly questioning the value of travel given the high costs, fraud potential and risk it puts on the business.
SAP Concur’s report, based on input from 600 CFOs, 700 travel managers and 3,750 business travelers, suggests business travel may be entering a new phase that is focused on cost efficiency and fraud prevention. After the post-pandemic bounce back pushed companies to encourage travel and event attendance among their staff, SAP data indicates CFO tolerance is replacing enthusiasm, and scrutiny may be replacing assumptions on ROI. The value of face-to-face meetings is still acknowledged, but some CFOs are struggling to see returns.
Travel tolerance, spending and safety concerns
While budgets may appear healthy, companies are quietly cutting travel perks in what the report calls “travelscrimping.” Sixty percent of travelers, alongside 59% of travel managers and CFOs alike, say they’ve seen subtle cutbacks: fewer premium flights, less willingness to pay for direct routes and pressure to avoid overnight stays. At the same time, 85% of travelers say they’re willing to spend their own money to improve trip quality.
At the same time, CFOs acknowledge that the travel they are funding may not be enough. Eighty-one percent of CFOs say budget limitations prevent employees from traveling as often as needed. Yet this doesn’t necessarily reflect confidence in travel’s strategic importance. Instead, it may reflect a budgeting reality they’re managing, not a commitment to expanding travel long term.
Even so, many travelers admit to spending more freely on work trips than personal ones. Among those surveyed, 84% say they book nicer hotels, take direct flights and splurge on meals when the company pays, often being a bit more frugal when paying themselves. Over nine in 10 (93%) of U.S. travelers said they do this, surpassing the global rate.
Meanwhile, 90% of business travelers say they would consider refusing a trip, with 40% citing safety or social concerns and 38% citing health risks. The U.S. air safety concern figure is still considerably high at 62%, but falls into the middle of the pack among global concern rates.
These issues have not gone unnoticed by CFOs. When asked about top business risks, nearly half (45%) cited employee reluctance to travel, placing it on par with geopolitical conflict. While 48% of CFOs are focused on cost savings, another 40% said evolving sustainability regulations could impact business performance.
Fraud and AI oversight
CFOs are also keeping a close eye on how technology is reshaping business travel from a risk and fraud perspective, particularly around expenses. Seventy percent of U.S. travelers say they believe coworkers are already using AI tools to fabricate expenses. Globally, more than half (55%) of CFOs said they expect AI systems to catch more fraud and errors in travel expenses than humans.
That optimism is kept in check by caution. More than half (56%) of business travelers said it would be easier to deceive a human approver than an AI platform, but just 44% said the contrary. And, while more than half (52%) of travel managers are comfortable using AI to support the booking process, only 28% are comfortable using it to file expenses.
Cybersecurity is also an emerging concern. Nearly half (48%) of travelers said they are more worried about digital threats while abroad than they were a year ago. In response, 66% of CFOs and 56% of travel managers say their companies have already updated their cybersecurity guidelines. Another quarter of each group said updates are under review.
The future of business travel isn’t just about cost control or comfort. It’s about risk management, employee sentiment and technology-driven efficiency. CFOs may not be totally pulling the plug on travel, but they are watching closely — and increasingly asking whether every trip for every team is worth the price.
