Business travel is getting
in the way of your travelers' New Year resolutions. Most business travelers do
not follow their fitness and wellness routines while traveling for work,
according to a Carlson Wagonlit Travel survey.
Help Your Travelers Stick to Their Fitness Routines
John Gayhart—co-founder of Fit14Forty, which provides business travelers access to fitness facilities and recently launched a FitTrip recommendation service—offered this advice for travelers:
- Find hotels with fitness options onsite or nearby.
- Pack workout clothes and healthy snacks.
- Avoid drive-through restaurants.
- Never eat anything that's fried.
- Stay away from bread.
Forty percent of respondents
tried to stick to their fitness routines, and 54 percent of those acknowledged
their exercise and wellness routines were disrupted when traveling. Between
March 30th and April 17, 2017, CWT surveyed 1,900 people who traveled for work
four or more times in the previous 12 months.
Business travelers based in
the Asia/Pacific region are most likely to maintain control of their routines;
84 percent of them do, compared with 76 percent of those in the Americas and 73
percent in Europe.
Similarly, half of
Asia/Pacific travelers continue to exercise, and 47 percent get as much rest as
possible. In the Americas, 41 percent keep up the activity and 36 percent get
in good sleep. In Europe, 40 percent keep exercising and 35 percent rest well.
While their fitness was
affected, business travelers around the world were better at maintaining other wellness-related
activities like listening to music and reading for pleasure, according to CWT's
survey.
Promoting Wellness in 2018
So
how can travel managers promote the wellness of their employees and travelers? International
SOS recommended:
- Recognize health as necessary to having a sustainable
business.
- Incorporate health metrics into the company's annual
reporting.
- Incorporate evidence based wellness programs that have been
scientifically proven to be successful—not just a bowl of fruit and a monthly
yoga session.
- Measure the results: Are the company's wellness initiatives
working?
- Provide employees with well-designed incentives toward
healthy behavior.
Get inspired by this throwback article that shows how Anthem director of travel and events Cindy Heston created just such a program for her business travelers in 2015.
Updated,
Jan. 9, 2018, 2:50 p.m.:
This story was updated to include information from International SOS.