Cost saving now leads sustainability as the top business travel priority for travel policy decision makers, according to research*.

The survey of 1,000 UK participants found that two thirds (67%) put cost saving in their top three priorities over the next 12 months, with 39% ranking it number one. This is in contrast to the last five years, which saw greater emphasis placed on sustainability. 

Since 2020, 28% of participants said the main area of increased focus was sustainability – which is marginally higher than the 25% who said the bigger focus was on cost saving. Under half of participants (46%) now say sustainability is a top three priority. Although, more than half (56%) say they are already actively tracking and aiming to reduce carbon emissions.

Despite there now being greater emphasis on cost savings, only 28% say they are planning to reduce spending on business travel over the next year, however. While 21% say they will increase expenditure. 

Jenna Brown, Director of Uber for Business UK, said: “Given the economic uncertainty affecting businesses around the world, it’s unsurprising to see the cost of travel being at the forefront of people’s thinking. Whenever there is turbulence in global markets, decision makers will naturally become more cautious and they will want to evaluate how to best spend their budget. We are always working hard to reduce ground transportation costs for travel managers and appreciate this will be an area of renewed focus over the next year.”    

The research identified ‘ease of use for employees’ as the third most important business travel priority, with more than a third (34%) ranking this in their top three. More than a third (37%) of travel policy decision makers also said they thought ‘ease of booking’ was the most important factor for employees – followed by simple expensing (22%), sustainable travel options (19%) and premium travel options (9%). 

Those priorities do vary, however, from the findings of another survey carried out directly with 250 business travellers in Q4 2024. This research**, found that the comfort provided by premium travel options was the top priority for business travellers, alongside short wait times. 

Jenna Brown added: “Our data shows that comfort and convenience are what matters most to travellers. So it may be that policy makers are slightly underestimating their employees’ preferences for those premium travel options that can make all the difference when it comes to reducing fatigue and increasing productivity. There’s no doubt that ease of booking is important though. Shorter wait times and easier expensing will help significantly when it comes to employee satisfaction.”

*commissioned by Uber for Business.