A 40 percentage point chasm separates business travelers who
say they prefer to book all travel through one platform and those who actually
book on a central or corporate booking tool. A study from travel and expense
management provider KDS found 74 percent prefer a single channel, but only 34
percent followed through. That's fewer than the 37 percent who have booked corporate
travel through supplier websites.
The discrepancy suggests that while travelers crave a single
platform, they want that platform to be quality. "In order to drive
compliance and adoption [of corporate booking tools], companies need to make
sure the platform they are providing to employees offers at least the same
convenience, user experience and choice of options that consumer-based services
do," according to the report.
KDS surveyed 1,216 U.K. and U.S. business professionals in
March. For those who booked directly with suppliers, 49 percent said convenience
was a factor. About one-third cited a wider choice of travel content, and 14 percent
named lower costs.
Almost half of those who booked policy-compliant business
trips spent five to 20 minutes researching and booking each business trip, whether
that's a flight and hotel or train and hotel. More than a third spent 20
minutes to one hour, and 8 percent spent longer.
Other Interesting
Facts
The survey also found that 45 percent used an expense
management tool, but a similar number, 41 percent, used spreadsheets. Of those,
47 percent spent 30 to 60 minutes per expense report, and 18 percent spent as
much as two hours.
On the road, three-quarters of travelers kept receipts in
one place like a wallet or envelope, 11 percent scanned or logged them online
throughout the trip and 15 percent struggle, ending up with receipts in
multiple places.
Twenty-two percent rounded up between one and 10
miles for mileage reimbursement, and 24 percent inflate taxi receipts.