Nearly half of UK business travellers say that booking corporate trips is now easier than organising their own holidays.
Research from Carlson Wagonlit Travel found that 45 per cent of UK road warriors thought that booking business travel was easier than leisure travel with only 19 per cent thinking the opposite.
The CWT Connected Traveller Study also found that UK business travellers relied more on previous travel experiences (around 70 per cent) than their European counterparts (52 per cent) when making their bookings.
The main reason for travelling for UK employees was for conferences and industry events (56 per cent) while 79 per cent like to remain connected with home during trips and 53 per cent want to keep their itineraries “as short as possible” so they can return home quickly.
The CWT survey of more than 1,900 business travellers around the world found that 80 per cent were now relying on their smartphones to conduct business, while the majority (88 per cent) said that technology was making travel easier.
The vast majority of business travellers say that their relationships with key contacts are boosted by business trips – 86 per cent said travel helps them to enhance their knowledge and perspective, while 80 per cent said it improved their productivity.
Simon Nowroz, CWT’s chief marketing officer, said: “The business traveller can be so much more productive than even five years ago thanks to technology.
“Think about the advances where a business traveller used to have so much down time between a flight, taxi and hotel. Now, they can log in and work while on the plane or wherever they happen to be.
“With the continued emergence of the tablet, as well as numerous apps, travellers don’t feel out of touch as they carry out business.”