Understanding what people are looking for when they’re on the road enables travel providers like Clarendon to, well, give them more of what they like. A happy traveller is a productive traveller. There’s no one working in the travel industry – or there shouldn’t be – who actively wants to make a business trip any harder than it needs to be.
This is why business traveller insights are so important. Travel insight company Amadeus has provided interesting segments on the different kinds of business traveller and what they are looking for when they travel.
1. The reluctant traveller
As the name suggests this group doesn’t much like travelling for business. Half of business travellers find being on the road boring and they make fewer trips on average. 56% made three trips or fewer in 2013. They tend to be older than other types of business travellers with over 72% aged between 45 and 64.
Travel tip: provide plenty of suggestions for local attractions on the doorstep and activities to do to make the trip more animated and adventure filled, like theatre and art shows
2. The corporate shark
This is the business traveller driven by results. They are more likely to believe that business travel is critical to the success of their business and they have a positive attitude to business travel; 42% say they enjoy business trips. They’re at home with new technology and are the biggest tribe making up 58% of respondents to the survey.
Travel tip: Make sure they know about accommodation close to the office and tell them about easy commuter and transport connections
3. The gadget nomad
With half of this group saying an internet connection is vital for them when they’re travelling it’s hardly surprising this is a group which says it relies on technology to help them stay productive on the move. They tend to hold more senior position than any other groups; just under a third are senior managers or directors at board level. Generally, this group says they find the travel experience motivating and interesting.
Travel tip: Use technology like apps to connect and share ideas and tips with how this audience can get more out of their trip. Ensure they know about connectivity in their accommodation like WiFi and 4G ready connections.
4. The reward traveller
This savvy traveller wants to make the most out of their business travel experience. Nearly a quarter of all business travellers are part of this group. They travel more intensively and are more likely to self book. They are looking for incentives and points schemes to stay loyal. Over half say they are motivated by brands who enable them to collect points. This group also says they’ll add leisure to their business trips with 12% saying they’ve added on time to make a trip more fun.
Travel tip: ensure their web experience is an easy to book service and flag up links and loyalty schemes with attractions in the area to lengthen their stay and ensure they get more from it.
At Clarendon we know how important it is to understand our guests and gain as much understanding as we can of their different kind of business travellers there are. Having been providing serviced apartment accommodation for over 26 years we find we’re still learning something new about business travellers so aim to cater our service to ensure they get the most out of their visit.
Clarendon Serviced Apartments locations range from the City to Soho, Kew and Richmond because we understand every traveller is looking for something different from their accommodation. We always make sure we are keeping up to date on travel developments so that we are meeting both expectation and need to deliver a more satisfying business travel experience.