Business traveller trends 2017

Mobile payments and travel assistance, location-based services and business travel specific insurance programs are all part of the trends influencing business travel in 2017. Tune Protect and Regency Travels of Qatar share an insight on the latest business traveller trends for the year.

TT Bureau

The outlook for business travel in 2017 forecast by Business Travel Show UK showed that the number of business travel buyers with big budgets was on the rise for the first time in four years, with 32 per cent of the buyers having more money to spend in 2017 compared to the 29 per cent in 2016. It also predicted an increase in airline and accommodation budgets while emphasizing that cutting costs was still a concern, prompting the popularity and preference for low cost carriers (LCCs) and mid-range and budget hotels.
“The only difference is that business travellers are now looking for a full-service experience from LCCs, including mobile alerts and a higher level of duty of care,” says N.M. Shafiq, General Manager, Doha-based Regency Travels.

These trends have been gaining ground since 2016, as has the trend for customisation and all things mobile — to woo the business traveller. “We are seeing a continued increase in demand for free services for the price the business travellers are paying. For instance, they are looking to stay in hotels that offer free Wi-Fi and complimentary breakfast and shuttle service to the airport, among other frills. Business travellers are now choosing to combine and customise their business travel trips, with a short break (in the form of a side trip) either before or after their business trips.”

As far as trends go, the increased use of mobile platforms is changing the ways in which people travel for business. Mobile-based transactions and services are continuing to play a key role in the travel sector, allowing travellers to have more control over their experience. “Mobile payments and location-based services will soon be a priority among airlines, airports and hotels, as will mobile-based travel assistance. Business travellers are also looking at more experiential travel, hence VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) will become important selling tools. As these technologies become more mainstream, travellers will soon be able to go ‘inside’ an aircraft cabin and choose their seat, or walk around a hotel room or downtown neighborhood, encouraging them to make a decision and book the seat or room of their choice,” says Shafiq.

More corporates are also opting for a travel policy which is more beneficial to their employees, factoring in travel safety with more specific coverage and other allowances. In fact, a survey commissioned by the Business Travel Show, which was published in February, showed that more than three quarters of business travel buyers have reviewed their traveller risk strategies to ensure they provide greater duty of care.

Awareness is a key factor where it comes to travel risk management. It is equally important in understanding the kind of insurance that a business traveller has to have to avoid scenarios where they are left without any support. Arijit Munshi, General Manager, Tune Protect EMEIA, an online facilitator of travel insurance that has partnerships with the Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) in Qatar, UAE, Oman, Kuwait & similar partnerships in other countries too, says, “General medical insurance policies for employees, which are negotiated by the company for their employees would always extensive medical cover, until and unless the company has an in-depth & detailed recorded understanding of the travel issues that their employees could or have encountered either before or during his/her business trips. A majority of employees would not necessarily prompt the company to include travel specific coverage & may lead to additional expenditure to procure the peace of mind separately.

“As Tune Protect, we facilitate based on our global expertise around travel through our various local insurance partners in the Travel Inconvenience benefits within the generic products related to travel insurance. With the Travel Assurance, Before, During & After, program, the key benefits apart from medical as well as emergency evacuation for the business travelers is the loss of travel documents, travel delays, cancellation/travel curtailment as well as visa refusal fees. Additional benefits such as Baggage Benefits covers include baggage delay, baggage damage or loss by a common carrier are extremely important to a business traveler today. The benefits range from anywhere between $100 up to $5000 per insured traveller.”

Tune Protect, online facilitator of Travel Insurance in partnership with QIC in the four countries & similar partnerships in other countries have launched specific to frequent or business travelers called the Travel Easy, program. Travel Easy covers flight delays, baggage loss as well as baggage delays. This travel cover is per trip (either one-way as well as return coverage is available), with variations to the benefits from the Platinum Plan being offered with the highest benefits to Silver Plan at the other end of the spectrum, with coverage starting at $300 up to $800 per traveller.