PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Travel Leaders Group released its latest survey data specific to its business travellers, where more than one in 10 participating corporate travel agent specialists indicated they have handled a ‘Duty of Care’ situation involving a business traveller – and the top three circumstances where clients required assistance were airline emergencies, civil unrest in international countries, and snowstorms.
Additional findings from the survey revealed a significant increase in one segment of the ‘sharing economy’ – alternative ground transportation – and a plurality of respondents have said that their business travel bookings are up over one year ago.
Duty of Care
The concept of “Duty of care” has grown considerably in recent years with regard to business travel management. In this survey, when asked “Have you ever been involved with a ‘Duty of Care’ situation for one of your business travel clients?” 11.3% of Travel Leaders Group’s business-focused travel agents responded affirmatively.
The Top 5 situations that required these business travel agents to assist their clients included: airline emergency; civil unrest in an international country; snowstorm; terrorist incident; and hurricane.
Hotel Bookings for Business Travel
When asked “What percentage of your business travel clients add a hotel reservation to their travel itinerary?” nearly 70% (69.5%) of Travel Leaders Group agents reported that more than half of their clients request a hotel booking in addition to their airline reservation, while 20.7% stated that between 21-50% of their business travel clients require a hotel booking in addition to their airfare.
When asked “Which hotel category would you say the majority of your business travel clients book?” 70.0% of Travel Leaders Group agents stated the “Luxury” and “Upper Upscale” categories, while 27.7% indicate “Upscale” and “Upper Midscale” categories.
Car Rentals for Business Travel
When asked “What percentage of your business travel clients add a car rental reservation to their travel itinerary?” 39.6% of Travel Leaders Group agents reported that more than half of their clients request a car rental in addition to their airline reservation; while 36.7% stated that between 21-50% of their business travel clients require a rental car in addition to their airfare.
Sharing Economy
When asked, “What percentage of your business travel clients are using an alternative supplier for their accommodations?” 55.4% of business travel agents said 0% of my clients, while 34.1% reported 1-10% of clients are in Fall 2016.
When asked, “What percentage of your business travel clients are using an alternative supplier for their ground transportation?” 54.6% of business travel agents reported that 11% or more of their clients are in Fall 2016, up from 32.4% in Fall 2015.
“While traditional transportation suppliers still command the majority of the market, there is a shift and businesses can’t ignore this trend,” noted Gabe Rizzi, Chief Sales Officer and Head of Travel Leaders Corporate.
