British business travellers are cutting down on overnight stays and prefer to take trains on journeys of less than 200 miles, according to a survey by American Express Global Business Travel.
The TMC carried out research on the habits of road warriors across the UK, US and Australia with 500 travellers interviewed in each country.
The UK results showed that corporate travellers take an average of seven trips per year by air with six of these being international journeys.
It also found that 43 per cent of UK travellers were now making more day trips than overnight stays while 60 per cent also said they had combined a work trip with a holiday – showing the clear trend towards “bleisure” – read BBT’s feature on the subject here.
The majority of business travellers (52 per cent) said they preferred to take trains for trips of less than 200 miles – this was mainly because they could work while travelling and the train was seen as being a more comfortable and easier option.
For trips of more than 200 miles, 76 per cent of UK travellers said they preferred to fly with only 16 per cent choosing the train. Overall 72 per cent preferred the train if it was convenient.
Champa Magesh (pictured), UK general manager of American Express Global Business Travel, said: “With European high-speed rail networks well established in Europe, and phase one of the HS2 from London to Birmingham progressing, rail travel is becoming an increasingly popular business travel option, as is implementing a specific business travel strategy for rail travel.”
The survey also revealed that 72 per cent of UK business travellers enjoyed not having wifi access while flying because it allowed them to “disconnect and unwind”. While only 17 per cent said they worked on long-haul flights with 58 per cent preferring to watch films or read a book.
The most common services that business travellers like to use while on the road were wifi in the hotel followed by breakfast and airport lounge access.