Expedia’s business travel arm Egencia has published a study analysing the booking behaviour of buyers and business travellers in Europe and the US.
Here are seven key booking behaviours found in the report:
1. US travellers more likely to self-book
European business travellers are more likely to use travel managers, whereas US travellers make their own bookings.
The study states this is due to the European model being more centralised which favours savings and flexibility, whereas decentralised bookings in the US focus on a consumerised, mobile booking experience.
2. Online v Offline
Travel buyers have adopted online booking at a rate upwards of 80 per cent and the more they book, the more they adopt online booking over traditional methods.
3. Cancellations
The Egencia report shows buyers make more advanced reservations, but cancel bookings twice as often as self-bookers.
The report suggests this could be to make up for a lack of visibility on travellers’ schedules and trip imperatives.
4. Self-booking for globalised road warriors
The majority of multi-national companies in North America and Europe are decentralised. This has led to a 50 per cent rate of self-booking among travellers.
These ‘self-bookers’ also favour online booking over offline, but cancel their bookings only half as often as travel arrangers do.
5. Generation Y favour self-booking
The report states that as the new ‘digital generation’ (18-30) moves into the workplace there will be an increase in self-booking because younger travellers want more autonomy on travel reservations. It explains that companies should be poised to respond with solutions that will maximise this trend for savings and traveller satisfaction.
6. Technology trends
75 per cent of business travellers use smartphones for both personal and professional reasons during their trips, and 40% use smartphones or tablets to book travel.
7. Economic trends
The study shows that the more a company operates in several countries, the more it decentralises its business travel (60 per cent of European multinationals decentralise their spending compared to only 30 per cent of national companies).
For the full report, The impact of internal organisational models on travel purchasing behaviour, click here