Business travel technology reaches ‘tipping point’
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Business travel has reached a ‘tipping point’ in self-booking tools with two thirds now able to book through an online booking system.
According to a new report by Amadeus, 66% of travellers can now book travel themselves online although only 33% can do so through a mobile or tablet.
With its report showing 37% of travellers had to change flight plans while on the road last year, the travel technology firm said TMCs have an opportunity to tap into the mobile market, with only a third of travellers happy with the way their change of plans was handled at the time.
Meanwhile as businesses continue to attempt to clamp down on policy and compliance, Amadeus’ research of 400 travellers found only 53% fully understand their corporate travel policy and 34% had gone “off plan” last year. This increased to 51% amongst those who made 11 trips or more, although those who take this many trips saw their travel halved in 2012 compared to 2011. Around 25% of business travellers take six to 10 trips a year.
Around 47% of respondents struggled to find the value of travel departments but during their time on the road prioritised convenience over price and comfort. Around a third would look to extend a business trip for leisure purposes and half of those would like information to be provided for them.
“These findings clearly identify opportunities for travel departments to introduce new services and technologies that will deliver additional value to travellers,” said Diane Bouzebiba, managing director of Amadeus UK & Ireland on the findings.