[June 30, 2016] |
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Business Travelers Embracing Self-Service Technology and Personalized Travel Options
Mobile technology continues to make it easier for travelers to manage
their own travel while in-transit and the majority of global business
travelers are embracing this trend, according to a new study released
today from the GBTA Foundation in partnership with Sabre (News - Alert) Corporation.
More than 7 in 10 business travelers in the United States (78 percent),
Italy (77 percent), Canada (74 percent) and Spain (73 percent) prefer
using self-service technology to manage their travel, while the rate is
slightly lower for the Nordic countries (60 percent) and Germany (56
percent).
In North America and Europe, the vast majority of business travelers
also want to receive personalized travel options. However, even though
business travelers want personalized options, they are hesitant to share
too much personal information to obtain them. They are commonly willing
to share details such as their frequent flyer or hotel loyalty number,
preferred airline and hotel brands and aircraft seat preferences, but
fewer than half would share their travel history, preferred leisure
activities while traveling, their business calendar with booked
appointments and their social media account names.
"Technological innovation has given business travelers greater control
of their own travel, but that doesn't need to mean trouble for a managed
travel program," said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA Executive Director and
COO. "Travel buyers can recommend apps for their travelers to help drive
compliance and can also take advantage of technology to track and more
easily assist their travelers in case of an emergency, helping fulfill
their duty of care requirements."
"This report demonstrates how corporate travelers look to technology to
make travel a more seamless experience. But it also reflects a crowded
and fragmented technology landscape where travelers have to use multiple
apps and services to manage their trip," said Clinton Anderson, senior
vice president, strategy and traveler experience for Sabre Corporation.
"We see an opportunity to integrate critical technologies into a single
platform to help business travelers throughout their entire trip. This
will dramatically increase traveler satisfaction while improving program
compliance and reducing costs for corporations."
Road Warriors & Travel Apps
Business travelers use a variety of travel-related mobile apps during
their trips, but in all countries surveyed, supplier apps are more
commonly used than travel management company (TMC (News - Alert)), itinerary management
and expense management apps.
The most common uses for travel-related mobile apps by North American
business travelers include flight check-in/status, generating an online
boarding pass and booking hotels and flights. In the European countries
surveyed, business travelers us travel-related apps for many of the
same reasons as their North American counterparts. However, compared
with U.S.-based business travelers, Germany and Nordic-based travelers
are less likely to use travel-related apps for booking, while
Spain-based travelers are more likely to do so. The European business
travelers surveyed were also more likely to use apps to book rail or
train than North Americans and were less likely to use them to request a
ride-sharing service or taxi.
Most companies don't require or recommend travel apps as only one-fifth
or fewer say their organization has specific apps they require for
business travel and about half in each country say their organization
does not recommend any travel apps.
Mobile Payment & Millennials
Given the opportunity, many business travelers would likely use mobile
payment or e-wallet technology. The share likely to do so ranges from 43
percent in the Nordic countries all the way up to 75 percent in Italy.
Millennials and Gen-X travelers are much more likely than Baby Boomers
to want to use mobile payments.
Technology & Duty of Care
Mobile apps commonly developed by TMCs or third-party safety or security
firms can assist with duty of care by allowing travelers to check-in
with their company upon arrival at a destination or by allowing
companies to track their employees' location and send push notifications
in an emergency among other features. Only a small share of travelers
use these apps, however. Only 22 percent of survey respondents have used
a mobile app to check-in with their company during a trip over the past
year and even fewer (15 percent) have used a mobile app that allows
their company to track their location. Still, despite low use, 63
percent said they would allow their company to track their location via
their mobile device for duty of care purposes.
Methodology and More Information:
An online survey of 756 business travelers in nine countries was fielded
between March 21 and April 3, 2016. The countries included the United
States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway and
Sweden. The four Nordic countries are grouped together and referred to
as one region throughout the report. Respondents qualified if they were
employed full-time and had traveled for business in the past year.
The Digital Business Traveler: A Survey of Business Travelers in
North America, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Nordic Countries report
is available exclusively to GBTA members by clicking
here and non-members may purchase the report through the GBTA
Foundation by emailing [email protected].
About the GBTA Foundation
The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the
Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world's premier business
travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington,
D.C. area with operations on six continents. Collectively, GBTA's
7,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business
travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its growing
network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active
contacts with world-class education, events, research, advocacy and
media. The Foundation was established in 1997 to support GBTA's members
and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research
foundation in the business travel industry, the GBTA Foundation seeks to
fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The GBTA
Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information,
see gbta.org and gbta.org/foundation.
About Sabre Corporation
Sabre Corporation is the leading technology provider to the global
travel industry. Sabre's software, data, mobile and distribution
solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel
properties to manage critical operations, including passenger and guest
reservations, revenue management, flight, network and crew management.
Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, which processes
more than US$120 billion of global travel spend annually by connecting
travel buyers and suppliers. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA,
Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160630005773/en/
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