Business Travel Tips

European travel and expense management company KDS has recently surveyed 435 business travelers around the world to see how their travel behaviour had changed as a result of the recession.
The KDS study highlights 4 main business travel trends.

- Travel costs are under great scrutiny, so providers need to rebalance their offerings with a focus on value. Certain airlines are expanding their economy sections at the cost of underutilised first class compartments, and other businesses should follow this lead. In this context, KDS argues that travel and expense management systems have a bright future ahead, since they also facilitate lower-cost travel choices.

- Travellers are prepared to make concessions in how they travel, but still place greater value on certain options. As many would sacrifice a comfortable hotel room for a business class air ticket – and potentially greater time to be productively engaged at the destination – employers should consider whether more flexibility in their travel policies could yield greater benefits for the businesses.

- Travellers experience stress as a result of their travel, in terms of impacts on health and family life. Yet, they also find solace in the tourism and shopping opportunities they can experience on a visit. To create a more enjoyable overall visit, travel service providers should aim to offer a completely packaged experience that not only offers financial value but also uses social media and other technologies to make travellers aware in advance of the nearby opportunities to unwind.

- Lastly, the industry should take heart from the fact that travellers still recognise the irreplaceable nature of direct human contact. They concede that meeting in person allows them to develop stronger business relationships, and that encounters over lunch and dinner are of significant value. Employers and providers should focus on this fact as they devise travel policies and service offerings.

Survey findings were as follows:
71 percent said their companies had significantly reduced their business travel.
The cutting of travel has accelerated in recent months: 37 percent saw cuts made over six months ago, 54 percent within the past two-to-six months, and a further 9 percent seeing cuts implemented just in the last month.
Trips for sales and commercial relations are the likeliest to be allowed (45 percent of approved travel), followed by customer support trips (21 percent), conferences and presentation visits (20 percent) and intercompany meetings (10 percent). Perhaps inevitably, training-related trips come off worst, at just 4 percent of those approved in the recession.

Almost half of respondents feel that business travel is important for their company’s success: asked about their most recent five trips, 49 percent said all were essential for their work, 16 percent said that four were essential, while 26 percent said that between one and three of these trips were essential. (9 percent said that none of their last five trips were essential, an interesting confession when cost-cutting is a priority!)
But not all travellers are complaining about reductions in travel. When asked generally if they would prefer to travel more or less, 62 percent said that, given the choice, they would be happy to travel less. (source)