As you prepare for the rest of the year, we want to empower you with data that can help you drive change in the world of corporate travel.
As a leading digital travel management company, we understand that the relationship between companies and their travellers is changing, and with the latest research at your fingertips, you can empower your travellers to be more productive, and take complexities out of their on the road experience.
Our latest research shows that six in ten travellers feel more creative and productive when travelling for business.
69% of business travellers prefer to book their flights digitally rather than have human interactions. That continues to rise for hotel reservations (78%), ground transportation (71%), and checking-in for flights (68%). However, travellers are more receptive speaking to a person face-to-face when checking into their hotel (46%) and checking out (51%).
“Technology is becoming more and more dominant in the travel ecosystem,” said Andrew Jordan, CWT’s Chief Product and Technology Officer. “Digital interactions are taking over, so the travel industry must keep evolving to offer companies and their employees the experience they want and expect.”
Overall, 70% of European travellers are more likely to choose technology over personal contact and prefer to book their flights digitally.
When it comes to checking in for their flights, 66% of European are most inclined to use technology over personal contact.
CWT’s research also shows that a significant percentage of travel is still booked through a computer screen – 45% in 2019 versus 53% in 2018 and 52% in 2017. But smartphones are catching up: 41% in 2019 versus 34% in 2018 and 32% in 2017. Tablets rank third with 11%, while only 2% of business travellers claim to get help from a person.
The data reveals that European travellers are most inclined to book their travel on a desktop or laptop (55%), followed by travellers from the Americas (49%) and travellers from Asia Pacific (36%).
In contrast, only 26% of European travellers prefer to book travel on their smartphone. 16% of European travellers are most inclined to use their tablets, and only 3% prefer to speak to a person.
When asked how they prefer to deal with disruptions or changes, 30% of European travellers say using a mobile app is the most effective way to do so.
The study also revealed that eight out of ten business travellers have used technology instead of physically travelling for business in the past year, with a quarter using technology five or more times instead of traveling. With 29% of travellers from the Americas answering “five times or more,” they beat Europeans (26%) and Asia Pacific travellers (22%).
If your business travellers are increasingly relying on their smartphones and tablets to give them the information they need – show them myCWT to help save them time and stress.