Just as you would expect, Uber continues to dominate the business travel sector.
Certify unveiled on Thursday its most recent SpendSmart report, a culmination of millions of receipts and expense transactions through Q4 2016.
As it has proved in the past, ride-hailing continues to demonstrate its hold on the industry. Not only has the likes of Uber entrenched itself as a ground transportation mainstay, it's slowly moving into the category of the ground transportation a large majority of travelers choose time and again.
According to the study, 52 percent of all ground transportation were Uber-based expenses.
Uber's success in the realm of corporate travel continues to surprise as it now represents six percent of the entirety of Certify receipts.
Uber, a ride-hailing app, is more than just a niche experience. It's something that a wealth of travelers are choosing to utilize, and they do so at an astonishing rate.
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Robert Neveu, CEO, Certify, explained the unrelenting trend: "The growing preference for sharing economy services like Uber and, to a lesser degree, Airbnb really underscores the trend toward consumerization of traditional corporate travel. Advances in personal technologies and travel-based smartphone apps have made it easier for business travelers to choose the experiences and vendors they prefer. And the companies they work for are following suit with expanded travel policy guidelines to accommodate new services and payment methods. More than a footnote in history, it's the kind of transformational change that will continue to shape the industry for years to come."
When you step off the plane you have a say on how you get to your hotel. Starbucks, Lyft, Airbnb and other apps allow each traveler a way to quickly and easily satisfy their needs and lock down comfortable accommodations in a manner that is now second nature.
Speaking of Airbnb, the report states that, while at under a percentage point of hotel receipts, the service continues to make inroads with business travelers.
The report is quite optimistic: "Assuming a similar or slightly improved growth rate, Certify expects Airbnb could approach the top 15 most expensed hotels sometime late next year."
As always, the SpendSmart report also features a number of nifty trivia. For example, Starbucks is the most expensed restaurant by a healthy margin, and when it comes to what is expensed, meals wins the day-19 percent to airfare, which logs in 15 percent of receipts.
Once again, Certify offers a quick glimpse of the business travel industry and its landscape, a landscape dominated by Uber.
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