A survey of business travelers conducted by the Global Business Travel Association suggests administrative tasks are only half the battle of taking a business trip.
The GBTA released the results of its survey Tuesday (Oct. 10), and while administrative tasks like approvals and expensing were certainly on the list, the number-one pain point for business travelers is the time spent in transit, cited by 61 percent of 630 survey respondents as a top-five challenge.
Layovers were cited by nearly half of respondents, while changing reservations for flights and hotels are similarly cited as key difficulties of business travel.
Preparing an expense report was the fifth-most cited challenge, identified by 37 percent of respondents as a top-five point of friction.
“It is no secret that business travel drives business growth and face-to-face interactions help get business done,” said GBTA executive director and COO Michael W. McCormick in a statement. “Ultimately, those who travel want to save time when possible, be productive and have a pleasant experience while accomplishing their business goals. A better understanding of the challenges business travelers face can help organizations better serve their road warriors as they work to provide the right tools, resources and policies.”
According to the GBTA, 79 percent of survey respondents said their business travel experience at least “somewhat” impacts their overall job satisfaction – a percentage that’s even higher for millennial business travelers (88 percent).
More than half of employees said a company’s travel policy is a key factor when they’re exploring a potential new employer, and 84 percent said the quality of their business travel experience has at least somewhat of an impact on overall business results.
Technology, the GBTA Foundation said, is an increasingly important component of improving business traveler experiences, with tools like mobile expense reporting and itinerary management apps identified as important solutions for today’s professionals while on a business trip. Millennials and Gen-Xers are also increasingly looking at mobile payments as a way to enhance their corporate travel experience, the report found.