3 Hot Trends in Business Travel

One of the big words in business travel continues to be “experience.” From managed travel programs trying to make their processes more user-friendly to travel suppliers providing perks to better serve their corporate customers, it seems every player in the industry wants to leave business travelers happy and satisfied. Achieving these goals requires more than following a set of best practices or applying equations—but isn’t that what makes the ever-changing industry so interesting? Let’s explore the latest trends popping up in the headlines:

1. Technology Use Evolves
2. Skipping the Taxi Line
3. The Leisure Effect

Technology Use Evolves

Business travelers’ use of technology has been on an upswing for years and unsurprisingly the trend continues. But now it’s not just the willingness of travelers to use technology that is of interest, its about how their use preferences are evolving.

According to the recent GBTA Foundation study, The Digital Business Traveler: A Survey of Business Travelers in North America, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Nordic Countries, corporate road warriors are increasingly interested in self-service and personalized travel options, especially as their comfort levels with the underlying technology and privacy issues increase. Two particular highlights from the study are:

• Self-Service – Here’s a by country breakdown of how many business travelers say they would typically use self-service technology (versus working with their organization’s travel agency or internal travel department) if they could choose how to manage their business travel:

United States 78%

Italy 77%

Canada 74%

Spain 73%

Nordic countries 60%

Germany 56%

• Personalization – The study shows that business travelers are, at this time, willing to share at least some personal information with vendors in order to receive personalized experiences. This information includes frequent flyer or hotel loyalty numbers, preferred brands or seat preferences, but may not include details on their travel history, business calendar or social media account names.

Skipping the Taxi Line

Skift recently reported in Taxis Battling Ridesharing Services Are Losing the Fight for Business Travelers that business travelers are more likely to place an app-based ride-sharing order than hail a cab. They cite research finding that in the second quarter of 2016, ridesharing services accounted for 49% of the ground transportation category in general, with car rentals following at 37% and taxis making up 14%—a 51% drop compared to 2014. Ridesharing services are becoming more popular than the traditional taxi because they’re cheaper (average cost for Lyft was $20.78, compared to $25.48 for Uber and $39.80 for a cab) and companies are working with ridesharing vendors to make it easier for business users to access and incorporate into their expense management process.

For insights into the trend, see Ride-Sharing in Corporate Travel Slowly Accelerates and Why Travel Sharing Services Are Here To Stay.

The Leisure Effect

Travel brands are working to accommodate the preferences of their youngest corporate customers. Millennial business travelers are known for toting technology and expecting fully connected experiences while on the road, but they’re also looking for more home-like accommodations. This trend, which is explored in the Economist’s Younger Business Travellers Want More Communal Living, calls for hotels to have living room-like spaces where guests can convene and collaborate. These spaces can help take travelers out of their business “mindset” after hours, weaving in the essentials of Bleisure, which enable guests to make the most of their accommodations whether they’re working or playing and everything in between.

It’s no wonder that millennials are leading the charge, as travel brands have been innovating to meet their demands for some time. And home-sharing services like Airbnb continue to target these consumers, making plays for more of their business travel budgets. According to a recent Hipmunk study, in fact, 74% of millennials have stayed at a vacation rental (such as those available through Airbnb) on a business trip, an experience shared by just 38% of Gen Xers and 20% of boomers.

Read Millennials: Eager Road Warriors? and Exploring the Generational Divide in Business Travel Preferences for more.