New trends in corporate travel in the new post-pandemic era
The new business traveller books on Sundays and outside working hours
- Employees are now more demanding when it comes to travel and demand a better corporate travel experience: the ability to personalise their travel to gain autonomy and systems that offer them different options for scheduling their travel.
- Consultia Business Travel offers, through its technological platform Destinux, a service to companies so that their travellers feel cared for, looked after and that they have alternatives and tools that allow them to book and decide without strings attached.
Madrid, 16 May 2023. Business travellers have taken control and are currently setting the standards for corporate travel. After the pandemic, they have become more demanding, they want to have a better travel experience and to be able to personalise their trips (“let me be me”). A trend that, according to Consultia Business Travel, a Spanish company specialising in the integrated management of business travel, is defining the post-pandemic business travel model.
Companies must implement technological solutions that allow them to be more flexible and consider the particular needs of each employee. New trends require corporations to regulate their corporate travel and implement proactive policies that offer systems that empower business travellers and provide them with options to choose their own travel, as well as different “perks” for frequent travellers.
Consultia Business Travel has also observed a change in the days and times when bookings are made, with an increase in bookings on Sundays or outside working hours. Thus, around 20% of online bookings made by travellers themselves on Destinux are now made outside the company’s working hours (from 9 am to 6 pm), according to data obtained during the first quarter of 2023. The requirements for pre-booking travel options have also changed: the business traveller now wants to see for himself which ones best suit his preferences and to be the one to choose, not to decide from a pre-determined selection of options.
According to Carlos Martínez, CEO of Consultia Business Travel, “as a company specialising in the integrated management of business travel, we have found that many companies contact us because their staff are reluctant to travel due to previous bad experiences. They are looking for a better travel experience with technology that offers them different travel options and with which they can book the trip they need with just one click. Tools that allow them to decide with no strings attached, but that also comply with the company’s travel policies. Consultia Business Travel provides solutions to all these needs through Destinux”.
Destinux is the technological and human solution for the efficient management of company travel. A comprehensive system that allows you to apply individual travel policies and preferences and to fully customise travel according to each unit of the corporate organisation chart and save the record of each user’s preferences. Thanks to Destinux’s exclusive technology, it is possible to digitise and automate the management of corporate travel, achieving savings of up to 20%. A SaaS Cloud-based solution (cloud-based software as a service) that allows you to manage everything from the booking to the expense account in one click and even enjoy the exclusive service of a Personal Travel Assistant. It also aligns the budget with the company’s objectives and monitors its execution and compliance with budget policies in real time.
A better travel experience
Business travellers now want, above all, a better travel experience: “this aspect is key,” explains Carlos Martínez, “for this, in addition to cutting-edge technology to be able to book when they want quickly and flexibly with multiple options adapted to the company’s travel policy, they also need a personalised service that we offer through a Personal Travel Assistant service, a person who attends to the user when they have difficulties in making a booking or have had any incident during their trip. The human treatment and professionalism is one of the values that characterises us. All these aspects result in greater satisfaction when travelling – happier and more satisfied employees who are more committed to the company – which translates into better results for everyone,” he adds.
The managers working at Destinux have also detected that customers used to prefer cheaper fares and now they value more flexible fares, i.e. they can cancel a booking one or two days before departure due to unforeseen circumstances and without any charges. They are more forward-thinking about any mishaps that may arise and are starting to organise and plan their trips more in advance. They value their time highly and therefore demand speed and agility in dealing with their requests and that they can count on an assistant who, in the event of any problem, will be there to solve it.
Another of the latest trends that joins the previous benefits demanded by the new business travellers is “bleisure” (Business + leisure), i.e. the combination of business trips that are extended to add activities or days of leisure and rest. The latest report from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) confirms that 82% of business travellers want to combine work and leisure and 40% of companies have already received requests in this regard. Destinux allows bleisure to be regulated so that the traveller can book either in the name of the company (work bookings) or in the name of the employee (leisure bookings), with different criteria, invoicing rules and a different payment method.
About Consultia Business Travel
Consultia Business Travel® is a Spanish company specialising in the integrated management of business travel (Travel Management Company). Thanks to Destinux®, its differentiated solution based on cloud-based software with a personalised advisory service (Personal Travel Assistant), it offers a comprehensive solution for the management of business travel. In addition to managing the needs of meetings, incentives, congresses and events (MICE) that the company needs.
The Spanish-owned company, founded in 2010, currently has offices in Spain and Portugal. The Growth Stage startup has integrated into its powerful management system nearly 3 million hotels, more than 600 airlines, 27 car rental companies around the world and private transfers in more than 160 countries, trains, boats and taxis and VTCs in more than 90 states, achieving online connectivity and efficiency that stand out in the business travel market.