[November 08, 2018]

Chrome River Survey Shows Sharing Economy Services Becoming More Ubiquitous in Business Travel as Adoption Grows, Restrictions Subside

Ride-sharing is a firm fixture of corporate travel policies, although hotels still dominate for lodging, according to a survey conducted by Chrome River, a global leader in expense and invoice management solutions.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181108005002/en/

Infographic: Corporate expense policy adoption of sharing economy services (Graphic: Business Wire)

In the online survey of travel and finance professionals from medium to large organizations, 54 percent of survey respondents said that employee use of ride sharing services (e.g. Uber, Lyft) is addressed in their travel expense policy. In comparison, only 19 percent of organizations have formally adopted shared accommodation (e.g. Airbnb) services into their expense policies, with 49 percent saying they have no plans to do so. However, in both cases, the absence of a formal policy doesn't mean that employees are prohibited from using these services. Ride-sharing is universally allowed, and only three percent explicitly bar their employees from staying in Airbnb-style accommodations.

Although organizations are become more accustomed to their employees adopting sharing economy services while on business travel, few of them actively encourage their employees to use them over traditional options. Seventy-two percent of respondents have no preference over what form of ground transportation their team members use, and only 15 percent encourage ride-sharing as their preferred or mandated option. In addition, just 16 percent of respondents had a preferred ride-sharing partner, with Uber narrowly edging out Lyft.

Rearding accommodations, 44 percent of respondents have no preference over their travelers' choice, while 19 percent mandate the use of hotels, with a third preferring, but not mandating them. No respondents say that they prefer or mandate Airbnb-type accommodations.

"Organizations want to see the full travel picture-not just the data from their booking tool. By integrating sharing-economy services into their formal travel policy, they achieve a new level of visibility," said Alan Rich, co-founder and CEO of Chrome River. "In addition, by evolving their travel and expense policies to offer more choices and equipping travelers with intuitive, mobile tools for travel planning and expense submission, companies can improve the total travel experience for their teams."

One area of the sharing economy that organizations have not yet embraced are electric scooter services, (e.g. Bird and Lime) - with only 12 percent of respondents saying that their use is allowed while on business travel.

An infographic of this survey can be found here.

Survey methodology

The survey was conducted online among self-identified travel and finance professionals based in the United States.

About Chrome River

Chrome River Technologies, Inc. lets business flow for some of the world's largest and most-respected global organizations. Our powerful, yet easy-to-use SaaS (News - Alert) expense management and invoice automation solutions deliver the most modern global and mobile experience in the marketplace. Our highly-configurable business rules engine supports your evolving compliance and reporting requirements in today's ever-changing business climate. Chrome River is rated as a Leader in expense management by analyst firm IDC (News - Alert), and is loved by CFOs, CIOs, AP teams, travel managers and business travelers alike.

To find out why Chrome River is trusted by more than 2 million users at more than 800 organizations worldwide, contact us at +1 888 781 0088, or visit us at www.chromeriver.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181108005002/en/

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