Business travelers going rogue

Business travelers going rogue

 SHERMAN, Connecticut—U.S. business travelers have more control of their own bookings than ever before, which means hoteliers should think outside of corporate travel policies and consider the end user, according to PhoCusWright research.

“You have to think of them as free agents,” said Carroll Rheem, director of research, during a webinar titled, “The U.S. Business Traveler: Managed, Unmanaged and Rogue.”

Whereas the focus in the past rested primarily ontravel managers because they were the decision makers, today hoteliers must place greater emphasis on the travelers themselves, she said. For one thing, unmanaged business travelers—those who aren’t constrained by a corporate travel manager—make up approximately 70% of the market, Rheem said, citing numbers from a recent special project PhoCusWright conducted.

For another, most business travelers lack a travel planning routine, which suggests hoteliers have an opportunity to provide a better booking platform to capture market share, she said. Only 29% of business travelers have a booking routine. “Even among the managed group the response is only 32%,” Rheem said. “… This says there are a lot of opportunities for new development and openness to trying new business models and trying new features. It also says to me there are a lot of problems to be solved.”

Going rogue Rheem focused on several travel segments during the webinar, including hotel, air and car rental. “Ultimately, hotel is the area where we see the most rogue behavior (with managed travelers),” she said. “When you’re in the decision-making process, there are two kinds of scenarios that really drive rogue behavior: Sometimes there are just too many options. … And other times there are just not enough options for you, especially in that mid-range company that doesn’t have a very comprehensive policy.”

The top driver of rogue behavior, however, is convenience, cited by 47% of respondents to PhoCusWright’s study. Price also is an influential driver, cited by 30% of travelers. “Also, loyalty programs are a pretty significant driver,” Rheem said. “One in five road travelers say they accumulate miles or status from a brand that’s outside of company policy. Those points are sticky, and business travelers love those points.”

Booking behavior Seven of 10 unmanaged business travelers said they used online travel agencies when researching travel. Websites for travel providers themselves (e.g., brand.com) was the second most popular, cited by 61% of unmanaged respondent.

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