Rising hotel prices and room availability are two of the top concerns for UK-based travel managers in 2023, according to a survey by travel and expenses platform Roomex.
The poll of more than 100 travel managers across 24 sectors found that 31 per cent saw hotel prices as the biggest challenge for 2023, while 27 per cent expected the availability of accommodation to be a potential headache this year.
Dublin-based Roomex also revealed encouraging news for the UK corporate travel industry with nearly two-thirds of travel mangers (64 per cent) expecting their travel bookings to rise in 2023, including 23 per cent who are anticipating a “substantial” increase (up by more than 30 per cent on last year). Only 3 per cent of respondents expect to make fewer bookings this year.
Although, rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis in the UK is causing some uncertainty in forward planning for travel managers, with 59 per cent unsure of how these factors will affect booking volumes.
The return of in-person events is reflected by the fact that 41 per cent of managers are set to book at least one meeting for at least 10 people this year. Although conversely, 23 per cent are planning no large-scale in-person events this year.
Another trend identified in the survey is the rising importance of employee wellbeing, with traveller satisfaction becoming more of a priority for travel managers this year – up from 11 per cent in 2022 to 20 per cent this year. But sustainability does not seem to be such a huge issue for managers with only 9 per cent planning to report on this subject in 2023.
Garry Moroney, CEO of Roomex, said: “Rising costs and a renewed focus on traveller satisfaction mean that travel managers need a flexible, efficient and innovative solution to keep up with their organisation’s travel requirements.”