You may have heard the term 'bleisure' bandied about. Like it or loathe it, 'bleisure' is becoming a more frequently used term in the travel industry due to the apparent convergence between business and leisure travel. Business travellers have increasingly free access to consumer travel content which is driving open booking and fragmented behaviours. This is leading to an increasing pressure on corporations to meet employees' expectations for simple, digital and social tools to help them shop, book and manage their business trips.
With this in mind, the managed travel industry is recognising the need to evolve and address consumerisation which means a switch in focus from travel management to traveller management. This has certainly created opportunities but also challenges for travel buyers and managers. So let's explore what the consumerisation of business travel means for the sector and how travel buyers can take advantage of the opportunities and overcome potential challenges.
What's behind the consumerisation of business travel?
Social sharing and technology advancements are blurring the lines, making the difference between business and leisure more difficult to define. We live in a world which is becoming increasingly connected, with 3 billion people now online, which is a staggering number. The UK is now a 'smartphone society' and, according to Ofcom, two thirds of people now own a smartphone, using it for nearly two hours every day to browse the internet, access social media, bank and shop online.
With this in mind, travellers are looking for solutions which enhance their trip and are mobile-friendly, whether they travel for business or leisure. According to the Expedia/Egencia Mobile Index, the top finding of a survey on mobile-related behaviour and preferences showed that travellers now consider smartphones to be the single most indispensable item they carry with them when they travel, ahead of their toothbrush, deodorant and driver's licence.
Hand in hand with the increasing use of mobile, connectivity is also a significant contributing factor for consumerisation. According to TripAdvisor, the two most important amenities for travellers when looking for accommodation last year were air conditioning and Wi-Fi. Almost half of people, 46%, said free in-room Wi-Fi is a must-have amenity–meaning that, if an establishment didn't provide it, they would look elsewhere. In addition, 26% of travellers said that they required accommodation with super-fast Wi-Fi and 11% were willing to pay extra for this service. So connectivity is clearly a must-have for travellers.
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Smartphone use has changed traveller habits and what travel managers should be offering ©Csondy/iStock
The rise of online travel agencies (OTAs) as well as other leisure online travel players such as metasearch engines and aggregators of peer-to-peer tourist services is also having a significant impact on corporate business travel. The business travellers of today are increasingly looking for the same level of freedom, convenience and service offered by online leisure players, and expecting a seamless travel experience thanks to mobile services. The gap between the offer of OTAs and corporate travel intermediaries results in business travellers turning to booking channels outside their managed travel programme.
What does this mean for travel managers?
Business travellers want an individualised experience, which means more of an emphasis on traveller management and a move away from traditional travel management. In order to cater for that and to create a seamless travel experience, the travel offering should be available on multiple platforms with an increased focus on mobile. The managed travel offering needs to embrace online travel innovation and offer customers flexibility to choose between traditional phone transactions and online self-booking tools.
Travel managers should try and facilitate these new technologies as part of their corporate travel programmes and choose a TMC which helps customers and enhances the travel experience through mobile. Not only this, but the range of content and options should continue to be expanded and developed to keep up with such a fast-moving industry such as travel.
Of course, the changes we are seeing means that travel managers will need to work with their TMCs to use the right products and services that can facilitate this. Additionally, travel buyers need to utilise intelligent search techniques in order to balance traveller desire with policy. By capturing big data and capitalising on the latest technology and taking a fresh critical look at their existing travel programme, travel buyers will deliver better pricing and a more personalised service to suit both business and leisure travellers.
Travel buyers and managers also need their TMC to use a point of sale solution which is accessible anytime from anywhere. Not only that, but they need an empowered selling experience which offers the ability to access and sell content the way they want. They also need access to unrivalled travel content to cater for different, individual needs. A corporate travel platform that lets employees and employers manage bookings and expenses is a service that can help reduce costs and streamline end-to-end processes when travelling for business and leisure.
Travellers will continue to expect access to the same tools for business travel that they have at home and also extending trips for leisure purposes, a growing trend called 'bizcations'. Six out of ten people say they are more likely to mix business and pleasure on trips compared to five years ago which is a substantial increase and shows that business-leisure trips are becoming the holiday of the future.
With this in mind, the focus for travel managers in 2016 should be to enable a seamless experience for business travellers that incorporates both business and personal options. For example, choosing a TMC that offers expense management, proactive trip details and other tailored services as part of this business leisure lifestyle. In addition, a programme that facilitates data management and reporting as well as rich in-trip communication is also important.
The business travel industry is starting to recognise that there is a need to evolve and focus on appealing to the consumer because that's what we all are, whether we travel for business or leisure. The travel managers that focus their business model on making travel effortless for the consumer, by utilising the latest technology available, will have a bright future. In order to best achieve this, managers need to work closely with their TMC partners to evaluate the need for change as well as talk to their travellers to understand their needs and then shape policies that achieve the objectives of both parties.