Listen to the Traveler
Travel programs are re-orienting around the traveler. As
mature programs squeeze out the last drops of procurement savings, driving
program compliance, loyalty and traveler behavior will emerge as the best
vector for savings. Is your program providing what travelers need? In this new
quarterly feature, BTN gathers the opinions of business travelers to
help you gauge aspects of your travel program. You can take our word for it,
but also ask your own travelers:
- Have terror attacks, social upheaval and other high-profile
events affected your sense of safety while traveling on business?
- To what extent do you consider the company responsible for
your well-being while you travel on its behalf?
- When do you think it is appropriate to use the following
strategies to track your whereabouts while you are traveling on business: TMC
itinerary data, corporate card-swipe data and GPS tracking?
-
Would you opt-in for GPS tracking while you are
traveling?
Who’s responsible for business traveler well-being, and what
tactics should companies use to monitor employees while they’re traveling for
business? BTN surveyed 210 managed business travelers who took at least
four trips, each one including a flight and at least one hotel night, in the
past 12 months.
47% believe their company is entirely responsible for
their well-being while on a business trip.
That means providing travelers with safe transportation,
lodging and access to support. It also means understanding where they are and
being able to communicate with and assist them in a crisis. Forty-five percent
of male travelers and 47 percent of female travelers pegged their employers
with complete responsibility for their well-being while on a business trip. Thirty-three
percent of males and 41 percent of females relied on their companies to be very
responsible, and 18 percent of males and 10 percent of females felt they shared
equal responsibility with employers. Below that level, percentages for both
groups were small.
Slicing the data by travel frequency brought starker
differences to the surface. Travelers hitting the road 12 or more times a year
levied much more responsibility on their companies. More than 64 percent of
frequent travelers said their company was entirely responsible for their
well-being, and 29 percent said the company was “very responsible.”
94% would opt in for GPS tracking of their mobile device
if traveling to a high-risk market.
Defining a high-risk market has become increasingly
difficult, but where travelers perceive an increased risk, the vast majority
would sign up for GPS tracking of their whereabouts. The result is curious,
given the fact that 20 percent of respondents cited GPS tracking as “not
appropriate” in general, even in high-risk markets. GPS tracking may seem
invasive in concept, but the option becomes more attractive put into the
context of a specific trip.
Given their declared reliance on their companies for their
well-being, frequent travelers were the least squeamish about all suggested
traveler-tracking strategies. Two-thirds said GPS tracking was fine for “all
trips,” compared with just 45 percent of total respondents. Two-thirds of all
respondents were comfortable with employers mining itinerary data for all
trips; compare that with more than three-quarters of frequent travelers who assume
their employer should be scanning itinerary data for all trips. Nearly all
respondents were comfortable with drilling into itineraries for high-risk
trips.
Overall numbers were similar for monitoring credit card data
for the last place the traveler charged an expense; 69 percent were open to
those queries. Frequent travelers fell in line with the group on this count.
49% of travelers feel less safe on business trips than
they did 12 months ago.
Terror attacks, social unrest, refugee crises
and downed flights filled headlines over the past 12 months. While business
travel industry associations reported little market effect on trip volume, BTN’s
survey showed a psychic toll on business travelers. All groups reported similar
heightened concern, but female business travelers changed the most; 54 percent
feel less secure now, compared with 46 percent of males and 47 percent of
frequent travelers (among the survey’s sample of frequent travelers, nearly two-thirds
were male).