Improved Business Travel Outlook for 2011
Travel Leaders Reveal Business Travel Trends for 2011
“This year’s findings are quite positive and encouraging, particularly considering the number of Travel Leaders agents who said their level of business travel bookings will go up in 2011. Compared with their responses last year, 11.1% more of them are seeing year over year increases,” stated Roger E. Block, CTC, president of Travel Leaders Franchise Group, which includes hundreds of locations nationwide. “As encouraging as this data is, our agents are more committed than ever in counseling business travel clients on cost-savings measures and ‘return on investment,’ particularly the ROI they directly earn from the cost savings and cost avoidance initiatives that their Travel Leaders agents implement and drive. Thanks to a variety of proprietary tools, our Travel Leaders business travel agents have more resources than ever before to deliver exceptional ROI for business travel clients of all sizes.”
Anticipated Level of Business Travel in 2011
When Travel Leaders business travel experts were asked, “What have your business travel clients indicated in terms of either actual bookings and/or client feedback as to the amount of travel they anticipate for 2011 compared to 2010?” 39.7% said that booking levels would increase this year, 36.3% said booking levels would remain on par with 2010, and only 7.8% indicated there would be a decline. (By comparison those percentages last year were 28.6%, 38.3%, and 11.9% respectively).
Hotel Accommodations
When asked “What is most important to your business travel clients when choosing a hotel?” the top five selections were: 1. Location – near business meeting (82.8%), 2. Rewards program – frequent guest points (54.4%), 3. Free Wi Fi (31.4%), 4. Location – near airport (17.7%), 5. Free breakfast (13.2%). Survey participants were allowed to select up to three options.
Other Findings
- Combining Business with Leisure – When asked if clients combine business travel with leisure or family trips, 65.7% indicated “Yes.”
- Changes in Company Travel Policy – When Travel Leaders experts were asked if they had “noticed a change in booking practices which require business travel clients to book their flights in advance,” 54% said “No” while 46% said “Yes.”
- Last Minute Flight Changes – When Travel Leaders experts were asked if they had “noticed a trend toward limiting last-minute or unnecessary flight changes,” the survey revealed:
- No, things come up and changes are necessary (60.8%)
- Yes, it only occasionally happens any more (33.8%)
- Yes, it very rarely happens any more (5.4%)
- First/Business Class vs. Coach – When asked to provide the percentage of business clients who are purchasing first class tickets, 31.8% of Travel Leaders business travel experts indicated that 11% or more of their bookings are in first or business class. Another 56.4% indicated that 1-10% of their clientele is flying “up front.”
Conducted November 3 – 30, 2010, these business travel trends are based on responses from 204 Travel Leaders owners, managers and frontline travel experts throughout the United States who identified that 50% or more of their portfolio consists of business travel clients. The business trends were part of a comprehensive travel trends survey which included responses from 547 Travel Leaders experts nationwide. To view the results from the 2011 Travel Leaders Travel Trends Survey, click here.
Travel Leaders is part of the national travel powerhouse, Travel Leaders Group, which not only ranks as the top corporate travel management company by Business Travel News, but is also among the top ten travel companies on the 2010 Travel Weekly Power List and is one of the top five with a retail presence.
When your journey includes us, you travel better. To find the Travel Leaders location nearest you, go towww.TravelLeaders.com or call 888-206-TRIP (8747).
