1997 Autumn ACTE Quarterly: President's Message | Developing a Global Policy | Survey: The Business Traveler's Life

Most corporate travel managers spend the bulk of their time and energy on the hard-and-fast facts of travel purchasing: budgets, contracts, fees. But a growing number are taking a fresh look at how life on the road affects the well-being-and ultimately the productivity- of the travelers they manage.

Hyatt Hotels took a hard look recently, too, hiring the polling firm Roper Starch Worldwide to help determine how customers feel about the business travel experience. Hyatt’s goal was to use the data to "design appropriate services and products that make business travel more productive, enjoyable, and hassle-free," said Thomas O’Toole, vice president marketing for Hyatt. Travel managers, on the other hand, may find the information valuable when fine-tuning policy, soliciting traveler feedback and dealing with HR issues.

In brief, the "Takeoffs and Tradeoffs: The Life of Today’s Business Traveler" survey found that while executives largely enjoy business travel and believe it’s important for their careers, they often feel anxious about work piling up at the office in their absence and feel guilty abandoning their families.

Still, nearly all respondents (94% of the 500 polled) said they usually finish a business trip with a sense of accomplishment; 75% enjoy the experience, 67% relish the break from office routines and 85% say they feel successful when they take to the road.

White Knuckles, Lost Bags

Frequent travelers report having their share of mishaps and mayhem on the road. The snafus range from the merely frustrating-77% have had their flight canceled, 64% have had their luggage mishandled by an airline, 46% have been snowed in-to the truly frightening: 27% have had an in-flight emergency on their plane, 11% have had to go to the hospital, 8% were robbed, and 3% have had war break out in the country they were visiting. Some have had a brush with the law (16% reported getting a traffic ticket while on business) or with Cupid’s arrow (2% met their future spouse while traveling on business). But most business travelers are road warriors, not Romeos. Few travelers believe that their frequent business trips have hurt their marriage. In fact, 12% of all respondents and 22% of the most frequent travelers (25+ trips in the past year) said that travel actually helped their relationships.

Is Technology a Dud?

Surprisingly, only half of the respondents think that technology (voicemail, cell phones, laptops, etc.) has made travel less stressful. Almost a quarter-23%-actually think travel is now more stressful because of technology. Travelers are even more divided on gauging technology’s effectiveness: 28% say business travel was more productive before new technology. Still, seven in 10 travelers use their voice mail while traveling, 62% lug their laptops, and 45% carry a cellular phone. Travelers average 11.6 e-mail messages and 10.4 voicemail messages per day when they’re on the road.

The Hardest Part is Coming Home

Call it a travel hangover: three-quarters of respondents say catching up on work is actually the toughest part of traveling. Most claim it takes 2.4 days to catch up at the office and 2.2 days to catch up at home.

Bosses Needn’t Worry About Slackers . . .

For the overwhelming number or travelers, it's all work, little play.. While business travel may afford a nice break from office routines, it hardly provides a break from office work. More than three fourths of travelers say they work longer hours on the road, on average up to 15 hours a day--nearly twice the length of the typical workday. Only 6% say they’ve tacked on an extra day onto their business trip for leisure without telling the boss about it.

. . . Only About Gourmands

Business travelers do find ways to treat themselves on the road. Expensive meals (51%), room service (47%), in-room movies (42%) are the most popular splurges. And while travel managers are looking at ways to keep T&E costs down, travelers admit to having trouble managing their avoirdupois in that direction. More than two-thirds (67%) of travelers have trouble staying on their diets or even eating nutritiously when traveling, and almost a third admit they drink more on the road than they do at home.

Cozy Up to the Boss? Or Avoid Him/Her at All Costs?

As a rule, travelers aren’t crazy about traveling with the boss, but when they do they try to take advantage of  face-to-face time. Close to two-thirds maneuver to get on the same flight, stay at the same hotel and eat meals together, compared to the 18% who try to avoid the boss as much as possible, and the 7% who said theyÕd rather walk on broken glass than travel with the boss.

Women: Road Warriors and Road Worriers

The study found that women spend significantly more time thinking about all the personal obligations (errands, bills, pets, not to mention kids) they’ve left behind but they also express more concern about work-related issues when they travel. Eighty-four percent of female travelers (vs. 69% of men) worry about work not getting done at the office, and 56% (vs. 43%) feel stressed by pressure to perform their jobs on the road.

Consequently, women feel more stress when they travel and that they, not their spouse, pay the biggest price for their business travel. Married men, on the other hand, believe their spouse bears the burden of their job-related travel.

Still, despite the stress they feel on the road, most female business travelers--particularly married ones--relish the break from home routines, a break needed by only about a third of men.

In Conclusion

For some, after time the glamour and excitement of travel leads to crushing ennui or even dread. One in three would stop traveling on business tomorrow if they knew it wouldn’t hurt their careers, and over half (52%) say they would turn down a job because there was too much travel. Most draw the line at long trips, explaining that they can stay on the road for about five days before they feel that a trip is interfering with their personal life.

This study is the fifth in a series begun by Hyatt in 1988.

1997 Autumn ACTE Quarterly: President's Message | Developing a Global Policy | Survey: The Business Traveler's Life