Business travel is set to increase in the autumn, according to research conducted by the Best Western group of hotels.
The survey, conducted in a collaboration with Wakefield Research, reported that 39 percent of business travellers surveyed had indicated a rise in their travel budgets in 2012 compared to 2011, while around 10 percent reported a cut in their business travel budget.
Although business travellers are not comfortable about spending time away from the family, around 77 percent said that they still felt good about their business trips.
Dorothy Dowling, the senior vice president of marketing and sales for Best Western International, said, ‘The combination of strong corporate travel, along with an emerging number of small business road warriors, has helped push advanced booking numbers for Sunday through Thursday travel at Best Western hotels significantly higher this fall compared to last.
Business travellers have learned lessons from the past, and are more value conscious than ever. Offering complimentary high-speed internet access, a strong breakfast option and free parking is the price of entry to attract these travellers, and something we pride ourselves on providing all our guests at each Best Western hotel.’
The research also indicated that around 70 percent of business travellers are booking their own travel components, rather than going through corporate travel department or travel agents. Around 82 percent of the travellers often use review websites to book their hotel stays.
Around 43 percent of the respondents revealed that they would be travelling more during this autumn period than they travelled at the same time last year. Business travellers are also becoming younger, with 51 percent of them belonging to age group of 21 to 44 years, against 28 percent of business travellers belonging to the age group of 45 years and above.
