Agent versus self-booking
Over half of business travellers still call on their travel agent or corporate travel department to book their trips, despite the development of self-booking tools.
According to a report out today from Amadeus, 52% said they make new bookings through their corporate travel department or travel management company, either by phone (52%) or email, while 48% are able make bookings themselves using an online system.
When Amadeus split self-booking down sector by sector, it found business travellers were more likely to use self-booking tools for hotels (79%) and flights (77%), followed by rail (60%).
Over a third (36%) can also manage their trip expenses via the system.
While 29% of travellers have the ability to arrange a transfer from the airport or railway station to their final destination, only 11% choose to organise the final stage of their journey via travel agent.
Instead, they hail a taxi from the rank (35%), use public transport (19%) or rely on personal arrangements with their business contacts (16%).
When it came to changing their travel plans, business travellers are even more reliant on the their agent or travel department.
Some 61% will make a call on help to alter their plans, while 43% said they would make their own changes with self-booking tools.
The survey of more than 400 UK and Ireland adults, who work for large companies and regularly travel for business, found 51% had to make changes to their travel plans before departure in 2013, and 22% had to make three or more changes to their itinerary.
The report also looked at the health of the business travel sector.
If found 40% of corporate travellers report a decline in their travel budget during 2013 and just 18% saw their travel budget rise.
Some 74% feel under pressure to cut business travel costs.
"This pressure is making itself felt in employee attitudes to travel," said the Amadeus report.
"One fifth of respondents who are dealing with budget cuts say they are less willing to travel than previously.
"One in 10 say reduced travel has a negative impact on customer satisfaction, while 7% believe it is affecting their ability to win new business."
Despite pressure on budgets, the report showed a small increase in business travel trips in 2013, with an average of 13.1 trips being taken per person compared to 12.7 in 2012.
The number of individuals taking one or more business trips has doubled since 2013 from 4% to 8%.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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