Safety, keeping in touch with friends and family, and a healthy diet were ranked among top priorities by European business travellers in a study conducted by The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and sponsored by AirPlus International.
The 2013 European Business Traveller Well-Being Study also revealed European business travellers stresses and showed that they are preoccupied in making environmentally friendly decisions.
76% of the 675 business travellers in Europe surveyed for this report said that their top concern is to feel their employers took their safety and security seriously, while 75% mentioned being able to stay in contact with friends and family as their top need. Maintaining a healthy diet while was ranked third in the European business travellers’ needs (65%), followed by sticking to exercise routines when traveling (46%).
Concerning the things that European business travellers find the most stressful, travel delays or cancellations ranked first in the top with 66% of the mentions, followed by the impact the long airport layovers have on their trips (49%), taking connecting flights (45%) and travel times outside of normal business hours (late at night – 44%, during the weekend – 42% or early in the morning (40%).
“Understanding what factors influence a business traveller’s well-being can help corporate travel managers design travel policies that better support road warriors,” said GBTA vice president of research Joseph Bates. “Improving the traveller experience can also help alleviate stress, making trips more pleasant and productive.”
Frequent business travelers are eco-friendly oriented, the survey also reveals. 58% of them try to recycle paper, plastic or glass, while others try to choose hotels close to their meeting places so that they could get there walking (52%), or taking public transportation (45%).
“This study highlights the importance of creating a travel policy that takes into account not just the cost of travel, but travel’s impact on employees,” said Michiel Verhaagen, executive vice president sales EMEA AirPlus International. “Well-being is a very sensible subject for our industry. We have chosen this topic as we want to help both travel managers and business travellers to find the best solutions that are both cost effectives and ensure a traveller’s well-being. Some key findings are expected, some are quite surprising. Having done this research in 10 countries is a great experience.”
The study is available exclusively to GBTA members for 30 days by clicking here and will be available to others for free after 30 days.
