Ensuring the safety and security of business travellers is becoming more important for buyers than saving money, according to a new survey.
ATPI Group found that safety and security was the top priority for 54 per cent of buyers when planning a global travel programme. This ranked well ahead of the 30 per cent of buyers who said that cost savings ranked as their number one concern when devising a global programme.
The TMC’s research also found than more than one-third of buyers described having “out of hours” emergency support available to their travellers throughout the year as “very important to their business”. The survey of travel buyers was carried out during last month’s Business Travel Show in London with the results released today (March 6).
Peter Muller, ATPI’s chief operating officer for Europe and the US, said: “With companies increasingly conducting business in a global operating environment, safety and security is moving more and more to the forefront.
“Many people travelling for work need to make use of routes outside of the mainstream, often to hostile and remote destinations.
“Geopolitical uncertainty is a factor of doing business in a world of changing and emerging economies. The message from business travel buyers is that they are clearly very aware of this, with safety and security measures considered ahead of other pressures, such as cost saving.”