As someone who has been lucky enough to work on several continents throughout my career with Concur, I am passionate about taking the integrated travel and expense message out to audiences across the globe. For that reason, I was excited to present at the ACTE's Executive Forum in Johannesburg on last Thursday 18th November. The whole session was an opportunity for attendees from organizations of all sizes to learn about streamlining processes, managing expenses and tracking travelers. 
 

Business travelers across the UK were faced with another challenge a couple of weeks ago as the UK government announced that air passenger duty will rise for the second time in as many years. But this is no small rise; the minimum increase will be nine percent, whilst some long-haul destinations will see a 55 percent increase in the levy. What has been a challenging couple of years for business travelers in the UK appears to facing a new hurdle. But what can be done to cope with the new charges?

In light of the recent European travel alert issued by the U.S. government, we have created a two-part series on what you should know and tips for traveling internationally.

International business travel is on the upswing as corporations look to global markets for growth. With that increase also comes a heightened concern for travelers, not only as they navigate unfamiliar cities and cultures abroad—but also as civil unrest, terror threats and extreme environmental conditions touch nearly every major and emerging business market.

In part I and part II of our three-part series we discussed specific greener travel and carbon offsetting options to decrease your travel program’s ecological footprint. In today’s post, we talk about what actions other organizations are taking to enhance their corporate social responsibility. Read on…

Corporate social responsibility

Corporations are becoming increasingly aware of climate change and their environmental footprint. Through Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, organizations are taking their environmental impact into their own hands not only to address climate change, but also to realize cost savings. According to Elizabeth Baer from Conservation International, "being a good global citizen is smart business sense! Although it sometimes requires upfront investment, in many cases, businesses can achieve cost savings over the long term when they implement sustainability measures. Cutting energy use, reducing travel miles, increasing recycling, and other initiatives can save companies money and improve their standing in the eyes of consumers."

Read part I of our three-part series discussing ways some organizations are decreasing their ecological footprint.

Have you ever considered what impact business travel has on the environment? Truth is, more and more individuals are taking their environmental footprint into consideration when it comes to their travel decisions. A recent survey conducted by travel research firm PhoCusWright discovered that almost half of all travelers try to be environmentally friendly when they travel. And, one third of travelers don't mind paying more for green rental cars, hotels and resorts. The study also indicated that this trend remains strong, even in the face of current economic conditions.

Do you know which U.S. cities charge the most and least travel taxes? We do.

As a business traveler, have you ever wondered which cities are charging visitors the most in discriminatory fees levied on top of local sales taxes? While these additional taxes and fees are almost everywhere, it is important to note that they can vary widely from city to city and region to region. In some cases, these fees can increase a visitor’s total tax burden by up to 144 percent.

To help companies wade through and compare these complex and multilayered taxes, Concur has partnered with the NBTA Foundation (the education and research arm of the National Business Travel Association) to release the third annual in-depth study of destination travel taxes. Researching and consolidating various tax rates and fees applied to hotel rooms, rental cars and meals from the top 50 U.S. destinations, this latest report breaks down what travelers are actually paying for similar services when they come to town.

Last week UK airport operator BAA announced that passenger numbers flying from its airports in August 2010 were down compared to the same time last year, with the exception of Heathrow. The capital’s biggest airport reported its busiest ever August on record, with 6.5 million people walking through the airport doors in August, a 2.5 percent increase from July. BAA commented that the surge in passengers through the airport was largely due to its greater exposure to the business travel sector.

It’s encouraging to see that after months of businesses tightening the purse strings and cutting back on business travel, organisations are beginning to get their employees back on the road. For many businesses, a certain amount of business travel is an essential part of their income and growth pipeline; however, it also brings about an increase in expense claims.

As we head out of summer and business travel starts gearing up again, we conclude last week’s post from Elizabeth West, Director, Content Solutions from ProMedia.travel on getting the most out of your corporate travel program:

After months of designing, planning and testing work, today we are excited to unveil a number of new enhancements to our travel booking tool, Concur Cliqbook Travel, and our flagship product, Concur Travel & Expense. We’ve made some big changes to the look, feel and performance of Concur Cliqbook Travel, and hope that travelers will enjoy using it as much as we do. The new user interface is easy to navigate, customize and in our opinion is downright good looking.

I’m one of the original architects and principal software engineers behind Concur’s market-leading travel technology. Back in the late 90’s, while at Outtask, I helped develop the original travel booking tool that eventually became Concur Cliqbook Travel. In 2005, we rewrote the user interface, and in 2006, after Concur acquired Outtask, I was thrilled to stay on and help integrate it into Concur Travel & Expense.

I’ve been involved in several iterations of this travel booking tool and am thrilled with the updates we’ve made to it; we hope you will be too. In approaching the redesign and update process, I, along with a team of engineers, designers and a small army of software testers, set out to create what we feel is the best corporate travel booking tool available today.

How often do you travel by train? In FY 2009, Amtrak welcomed aboard over 27.1 million passengers, an average of more than 74,000 passengers per day, riding more than 300 Amtrak trains per day. Whether you use Amtrak or not, one thing’s for sure: millions of people rely on Amtrak to get them where they need to go everyday.