Corporate travel spending on car rental more than doubled quarter over quarter in the second quarter amid a “boom in demand,” according to Emburse’s SpendSmart Travel Trends report.
The report, based on 150,000 individual transactions made by travel management companies using Emburse’s expense management platform, showed the amount spent on car rentals increased 172 percent in the second quarter compared with the first quarter, an increase of 224 percent year over year. The volume of car rental bookings was up 25 percent quarter over quarter and 36 percent year over year.
“When the pandemic emergency was declared over in May 2023, a boom in demand for car rentals drove prices up exponentially, which is reflected by the data released today,” according to Emburse.
Spending and volume were up in other categories, though at a lower rate. International flights had the second-highest rates of spending growth, with spending up 46 percent quarter over quarter and 92 percent year over year. Volumes of international flights increased 18 percent quarter over quarter and 86 percent year over year.
For domestic flights, spending was increased 14 percent from the first quarter and 22 percent year over year on volume growth of 12 percent quarter over quarter and 30 percent year over year. Spending on hotel reservations in the Emburse platform increased 27 percent quarter over quarter and 50 percent year over year as reservations grew by 15 percent quarter over quarter and 50 percent year over year.
