The road warrior, the business traveler represents a huge 50% or more of a hotel’s revenue, so the report just out in Travel Leaders was good news..
The 2011 business travel survey suggested that 76% of business-focused travel agents are predicting their booking will match or exceed bookings for 2010, and while they were at it, they identified the top reasons a business traveler books a hotel.
But what we found very interesting in the same report, is a trend to combine a family vacation with a business trip.
An impressive 67.7 percent of those polled said they do combine business travel with family travel, a major shift from just ten years ago when corporations frowned on the practice of mixing business with pleasure.
One study actually suggested that business travelers filed 80% more medical claims than did their office-bound colleagues, with “psychological disorders” being the most frequent complaint.
This is no surprise to Kyle McCarthy, CEO of the respected Family Travel Forum web site.
“It’s obvious,” says McCarthy, “missing a teen’s soccer game or your first grader’s ballet recital can be as stressful as any tropical disease.”
Taking one’s family on the road with you while on a business trip may be the answer, and corporations seem to be getting the message.
Extending a business trip to include some family time or haring the business trip with one’s family make make a more productive employee.
As one CEO said, “There’s the additional airfare cost, sure,” he says, “but you’re not paying extra for the room or enjoyment of the amenities, so actually it’s a perfect way to stretch the business travel dollar.”
Then Hotel Marketing.com added that having the hotel located near the business meeting ranked number 1 in business travel preferences, scoring 82.8 percent.
Other findings said that what also matters to business travelers are:
• Rewards program with “frequent stay” guest points
• Free Wi Fi
• Location near an airport
and free, full breakfasts
Extending the business trip to include a family vacation, or actually having one’s family as part of the business trip seems then to make good economic and mental health sense.
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