Three ways to make your travellers happy

Providing a home away from home is key to keeping your business travellers happy and more productive while they’re on the road. Take a look at some new industry research on accommodation  collected by the corporate traveller team.

1. ACCESS, ACCESS, ACCESS

Staying in touch is critical.

Pan Pacific recently polled business travellers on their top comfort tips while on the move – with 90% saying free Wi-Fi was the most important facility at their hotel. Many also said they like to have their laptop, tablet and personal music player with them as they travel.

Many employees like to know what’s going on at the office, even when they’re away. The latest Randstad Work monitor showed 47% of people like to stay informed, with many doing so on a voluntary basis (just 28% said their employer expects them to be available). Younger employees are the most likely to be happy to stay connected.

Sources: Pan Pacific & Randstad Work Monitor, 2014

2. LOCATION IS RELATIVE

Accommodation location is not the most critical factor.

  • 72% prefer to stick to favoured hotels
  • 55% said they’d still stay at their favourite brand of hotel, even if it wasn’t in a particularly convenient location.
  • 84% of travellers prefer to work based from their hotel, and
  • 86% typically do so in their own room or suite – with less than 6% working in the hotel lounge
  • 10% eat in the on-site hotel restaurants and
  • 7% also take advantage of room service

Source: Frequent Business Traveller magazine, 2014

3. PERSONALISE THE EXPERIENCE

Make it easier to enforce your corporate accommodation policies.

Business travellers are looking for ‘3D’ experiences – global, local and personalised – and are more likely to stay loyal to hotel if they are provided an experience that is in tune with the culture of the area. In a report on a survey of over 7,000 international travellers:

  • 59% said personalisation would make their stay in the hotel significantly more comfortable
  • 54% said it made them feel more valued
  • 62% of millennial respondents said the ability to access personal content such as movies and music would encourage them to return to that hotel in future

Source: Frequent Business Traveller magazine, 2014

AND IN THE FUTURE?

Get ready for new ways to thrill your business travellers.

Intuitive tools will help plan trips according to traveller preferences including hotel selections, hand luggage and preferred flying time to create more personalised trips. Wearable technology with functions incorporating foreign language translators as well as GPS maps will become popular.

Virtual reality is also tipped to become a big part of future travel. Try-before-you-buy websites will allow travellers to experience the sights and sounds of a destination– taking virtual tours of potential accommodation, seeing chefs preparing food or staff preparing the room for their arrival.

Sources: Pan Pacific & Randstad Work Monitor, 2014