Fear, Anxiety, and Trust: The Human Lens Behind Business Travel

A growing trust and perception gap is emerging across business travel: what CFOs and travel managers believe is happening doesn’t always match what travelers experience or how they behave in real life. In this episode of SAP Concur Conversations, Sara Sarwar, Strategist at alan. shares the findings behind the eighth annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey.

The data makes that disconnect clear: 48% of travelers say they’ve bent or broken policy, while 84% of travel managers say they can’t fully meet business goals without more CFO support. But the research also reveals that pressures are converging from several directions at once. Rather than viewing travel challenges individually—policy compliance, AI, fraud, duty of care, cost, or traveler experience—trust becomes the underlying lens.

Organizations need a more connected way of thinking, with better communication, stronger alignment between finance and travel leaders, and governance that reflects how employees actually work and travel.