The airline industry is abuzz over the possible return of the business traveler. Since the bursting of the dot.com bubble, the economic downturn, September 11th, SARS, and the war in Iraq, travel suppliers (including airlines, hotels, and car rental companies) have come under enormous pressure as would-be business travelers have opted to stay home or "buy down".
Buying down occurs when people traveling on business act more like the folks traveling for fun. Gone are the days of fat expense accounts with the guarantee of a first class travel experience. How we all miss the laissez-faire, who-cares-what-it-costs mentality that once existed! We're in an age of corporate scandals, and the exposure of expense account abuse, combined with the proliferation of travel "deals" have managers pushing employees to save whenever possible.
Nostalgic for the way it was? You're not alone. It seems everyone pines for the return of the business traveler, which begs the question: just who is today's business traveler? Are we waiting for the return of somebody who no longer exists?
To get to the bottom of this mystery, Travelocity conducted a poll, which concluded that business customers are morphing into savvier, more concerned and more involved buyers--buyers who love exploring a new city, but hate being away from home, dealing with flight delays and cancellations.
Since only one out of three business flyers extend their stays for leisure, it's not surprising that most trips involve just one to two nights away from home.
According to our poll, the top five cities to visit on business are:
San Francisco
Chicago
New Orleans
San Diego
Las Vegas and Orlando (tied for 5th place)
The cities least visited for business are:
Los Angeles
New York
Dallas
Houston
The top five preferred airports to use for business are:
Atlanta Hartsfield
Chicago O'Hare
Denver International
DFW
Orlando International
And the least favored airports for business travel are:
Newark
Los Angeles International
LaGuardia
Boston Logan and Philadelphia (tied for fifth place)
Although more and more buying decisions are motivated by price, business travelers also exercise preferences (such as brand loyalty) that lead to choice. In choosing a hotel, location is most important. Airlines, on the other hand, lure with more legroom, while car rentals differentiate based on speedy status.
The airline brands used most frequently by business travelers are as follows: American Airlines (18.2 percent) and Delta (17.9 percent). Marriott (28.1 percent) and Hilton (9.6 percent) are the most frequently used hotel companies, while Hertz (27.6 percent) and Avis (19.7 percent) are the most frequently used car rental companies.
Maybe you're similar, maybe you're different. But one thing is for sure, the pressure on travel suppliers to do more to attract business travelers will continue. For details on this study go to www.travelocity.com/businesstravelerpoll
October 15, 2003