Travel managers expect more business trips than last year » News

About 600 travel managers in Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands took part in the study commissioned by Cvent. The result: 80% rated the development of their company’s business travel as “positive”, as was their online portal businesstravelnewseurope.com mentioned.

64% of the travel managers surveyed assume their company will take more business trips in 2023 than last year – and 19% described this increase as “significant”. However, the survey also made it clear that cost reduction is an absolute priority: 65% stated that this was their top concern. For participants from France and Great Britain, it was 73%.

High costs and travel manager tactics

Travel managers worry about inflation. To combat these rising costs, they use a number of tactics to cut spending. The most popular technique (40%) is to combine business trips with existing meetings and events that employees actually need to attend.

After all, 37% of travel managers are reducing the number of fellow travelers, but they still expect to increase overall travel volume this year. 22% said that while they plan fewer trips for their employees, they tend to take longer. 70% also expect a higher average budget per trip, reflecting both inflation and increases in trip duration.

What travel managers expect from hotels

The Cvent survey also identified buyers’ priorities when selecting hotels and meeting venues. In addition to costs, it is mainly proximity to company locations (37%), flexible conditions (35%) and ease of access and familiarity with the location of the event (both 26%).

In addition, 26% of shoppers said they would place a “greater focus” on sustainable travel within the next two years – and 29% said they were “proactive with content and features” when searching for hotels and places related to the pursuit of sustainability. (red)