Biz Travelers Need Both Online And Agent Services

Business travelers prefer to book online but want 24-hour access to agents when they are on the road and need help, reports a survey by American Express. Majority of them agree that services by an experienced and knowledgeable travel agent, and the travel agent having access to the most advanced technology, are the most important services available. More than half of business travelers preferred to book their travel online (55 percent), while almost half (46 percent) of travelers said they are more likely to turn to an agent when they need help on the road. This reveals an emerging demand for a service option that offers the best of both online and offline service. Eight in ten business travelers feel that the location of the travel agent is not relevant, opening up consolidation of servicing opportunities for companies that will allow cost savings.

Brits For More Long Haul Travel In 2011

TripAdvisor's Travel Trends Survey reveals that 2011 will see Brits travel more, with a significant number (66%) of people planning to take a long-haul holiday. Only a third of Brits are planning a stay-at-home holiday next year. Over a third (36%) of Brits plan to spend more on their holidays in 2011. The findings were:

- One in 10 Brits are planning to travel more on holiday in 2011 than they did in 2010

- Two-thirds (66%) of Brits are planning at least one long-haul holiday in 2011

- Just 38% of Brits are planning a staycation in 2011, compared to 45% in 2010

- Over two-thirds (67%) are planning at least one domestic holiday, a slight decrease from 73% in 2010 

 - A third (32%) plan to spend between GBP2,000-GBP4,000 in total on  leisure travel in 2011

 - An extravagant 14% of Brits intend to spend over GBP8,000 on travel in 2011 

Increase In Traveller Need For Add-Ons

A survey of Consumer Travel Trends by Travelport reveals that there is a traveller need for additional services, such as insurance, meeting facilities, restaurant reservations and other travel services. More than two-thirds of travellers booked at least one additional service at the time of booking their last trip. Both business and leisure travellers want to buy accommodation, insurance and more at the same time as key trip components:

49% of business travellers booked accommodation at the same time as key segments, as did 47% of leisure travellers; 33% of business travellers booked insurance, as did 32% of leisure travellers; 29% of business travellers booked car rentals, compared with 21% of leisure travellers. Levels of consideration for additional services are higher among leisure travellers than business. The most highly valued extras that make trips more pleasurable are leg room (34% business and 38% leisure travellers), seat assignment (30% and 35% respectively), and fast track security (29% and 31%).

US, Australia and UK: Online Travel Buying Highest

According to Travelport’s report ‘The Well Connected Traveller’, travel researching and buying online is highest in the United States, Australia and the UK – all countries with relatively high Internet access and use of credit cards. The UAE, Hong Kong and Russia have the highest levels of researching and buying offline. Among survey respondents’ 52% of leisure travellers and 42% of business travellers research and book travel online. A further 23% of leisure travellers and 19% of business travellers research trips online but book offline. 17% of leisure travellers and 27% of business travellers researched and booked travel offline. For business travellers, this relatively high proportion of offline bookings is certainly a reflection of the use of travel management companies.

Indian Luxury Travel Segment: Self –Drive Experiences Popular

Self drive experiences are popular in the Indian luxury travel market and many operators offer such products primarily for Europe and New Zealand. This comprises travelling in high-end cars like Ferrari, Audi, Mercedes and Rolls Royce where the travel operator provides mapped out routes. Customisation is to the level of providing concierge services to deliver the clients’ luggage, suggesting stay at high-end boutique hotels, reservations at Michelin star restaurants and offering vineyard visits and other sight seeing experiences en route. Spa holidays, adventure sports, high-end shopping trips, culinary tours, wine trails and cruise tourism are rapidly gaining acceptance in the market. Popular and upcoming destinations for luxury travel include: Monaco, Namibia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Caribbean Islands, Greece, Cyprus, East Africa, New Zealand, Canada, Vietnam and Cambodia. Luxury travellers in India consist primarily of FITs, families, honeymooners and young professionals. The luxury travel segment in India is growing rapidly at about 10-12 per cent annually.

Pre Trip Approvals – Top Business Travel Guideline

Deloitte’s 2010 Business Traveler Survey reveals the top travel guidelines at companies for business travel were pre trip approvals (50%),per diem amounts for daily expenses(48%), book accommodations in advance(42%), purchase air tickets in advance(42%), dollar limit for accommodations(32%), dollar limit on client dinners, entertainment (31%), first or business class seat restrictions on domestic flights (29%).

The top 6 ways the respondents monitored travel expenses in 2010 were:

37% cut back, overall, on travel expenses

33% stayed away for fewer days

32% spent less on food, restaurants

24% spent less on air travel

24% scheduled conference calls, video conferencing instead of traveling

21% stayed at less expensive hotels than before

Korean Travelers: Top Duty Free Spenders

According to The Visa Travel Smart Survey, Korean travellers spent the most on duty free items on their last trip with an average expenditure of US$358.

Top Duty Free Spenders

Korea - US$ 358

China - US$ 333

Hong Kong - US$ 224

Malaysia - US$ 195

India - US$ 180

Thailand - US$ 178

Japan - US$ 164

Australia - US$ 153

Singapore - US$ 153

New Zealand - US$ 134

Taiwan - US$ 125

Regional Average - US$ 21

Travelers from Japan (73 percent), Korea (71 percent) and China (49 percent) were the region’s most frequent duty free shoppers. For duty free purchases credit cards were most popular with Australians and New Zealanders (59 percent respectively), followed by Koreans (56 percent). The other findings were : leisure travelers did most of their duty free shopping at the airport (84 percent) while business travelers preferred downtown duty free shops (67 percent);young travelers(18 – 29 year olds) were the most likely to stretch their travel budget with duty free purchases.