A survey of business travellers across the world reveals that they heavily depend on digital tools when planning, booking and experiencing a journey, with some even saying they would be lost without their smartphones.
The Global Traveller Survey by Travelport found that 85 per cent of UK travellers use peer-to-peer reviews when researching a trip, while 33 per cent said they use voice search such as Siri or Amazon Echo when researching. Despite advances in technology, half of respondents said their biggest pain point is the time it takes to find the best deal.
Reaffirming the ‘bleisure’ trend, 54 per cent of business travellers extend work trips to explore the area as a tourist. When booking, 46 per cent said they look for airlines with a good digital experience, while 53 per cent avoid hotels that charge extra for wifi.
An astonishing 57 per cent of participants agreed they would be lost without their smartphones during trips, especially as 62 per cent said they think digital boarding passes make travelling much easier. Testifying to being digital natives, the survey found the average traveller uses 14 different apps during a trip.
Surprisingly, UK business travellers ranked among the list digitally savvy, with India, China, Indonesia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia taking the top five slots.
Paul Broughton, country manager UK & Ireland at Travelport, commented: “The Global Traveller Survey clearly shows that the future of travel is digital. Travellers are becoming increasingly digitally dependent when it comes to planning, booking and experiencing travel, and the US$7.6 trillion global travel and hospitality industry must adapt to provide responsive, relevant and timely services for customers.”
travelport.com