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Know what business travelers care about? You should.

Know what business travelers care about? You should.

3 min
Posted: 15 September 2020
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When was the last time you checked in on your travelers to see what they value most and least about your travel policy? If you’re like most travel managers, you base your policy on financially-driven priorities or travel program satisfaction surveys, however, listening to and crafting your policy around your business travelers can unlock greater opportunity to impact the company’s bottom line.

From employee satisfaction to retention and talent recruitment, understanding what drives your business travelers will ultimately inform and help shape your company culture. Egencia released the findings from a survey of 5,545 business travelers to reveal what business travelers really care about. The biggest takeaway from the study is that convenience and control are the most important aspects of a travel policy to a traveler. They want:

  • Convenient and safe hotel locations
  • Direct flights at convenient times
  • The ability to manage travel themselves

As we dove a bit deeper, we uncovered key takeaways that every company should consider.

Your business travelers want to be in control

Business travelers say the most important element of a travel program is the ability to control bookings themselves (48 percent) — from initial bookings, to any needed changes — speaking to the importance of empowering them and providing travel management tools built for traveler ease-of-use. This is an easy win – give them a great user experience that crosses all of their devices.

Your per diem could impact the safety and wellbeing of your employees

With one-third of business travelers prioritizing convenient and safe locations, consider that your per diem in a city has the potential to push your travelers into unsafe parts of their destination city. Ensuring per diems and strong, relevant hotel inventory is key to prevention. Cost, happiness, and safety are all intertwined. It’s important to have a policy and travel management company to provide the best traveler experience and assist with hotel negotiations and per diem setting.

Quality matters

The biggest complaint with corporate travel programs is price constraints and their impact on quality of the hotel – with again one-third of business travelers flagging as critical. The purpose of business travel is to further your business, so ensure you’re considering your policy’s impact on your travelers’ wellbeing and ability to effectively conduct business. They want to do right by you – 82 percent always book within policy, so be sure you’re also doing right by them.

There are several opportunities for you to tap into to meet the needs of your travelers and deliver greater impact to your business - from employee retention and productivity to overall company culture. Travel management companies like Egencia can help – with a simple platform that puts the traveler in control. Budget friendly offerings like Egencia Advantage provide access to negotiated rates for popular perks like lounge access, parking, Wi-Fi. Businesses of any size can effectively balance financial considerations with traveler productivity and wellbeing.

To learn more about what business travelers value, read our press release here.

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