Study: Millennial Business Travelers Like the Extra Perks
With those between 18 and 30 traveling for work more than their peers, it's important to know what they like while they're on the road. Short answer: They're not afraid to splurge a little.
We already know that people want a chance to mix business travel with pleasure, but what happens when you add younger employees to the mix?
A lot more travel, according to the new “Future of Travel” study by Expedia and its subsidiary Egencia. Business travelers between the ages of 18 and 30, according to the study, tend to use loyalty programs, spend more of their company’s money, and mix business with pleasure more often than older employees.
Other highlights:
Room service hip with the kids: Sure, Associations Now had a story earlier this summer about one hotel’s decision to discontinue room service, but that doesn’t mean that’s the case everywhere. According to the Expedia study, 37 percent of business travelers ages 18 to 30 said they spend more of their company’s money on room service than they would of their own. And 42 percent said the same about high-end meals. That might be in part because younger employees tend to travel more for business than their older colleagues. According to the study, members of the 18-to-30 group reported traveling 4.7 times per year on business, versus 3.6 times among workers ages 30 to 45 and 4.2 times for those ages 46 to 65.
Speaking up on bad service: Review sites like TripAdvisor are important for many travelers, but when millennials have a bad experience, they’re far more likely to say so in a review, according to the study. While 67 percent of all travelers have never written a negative review, those 34 and younger were more likely to write one than those 35 and over (26 percent compared with 14 percent). But regardless of whether a review is good or bad, about 80 percent of the 18-to-30 group’s respondents said that they consider reviews important when planning business and leisure trips.
On the company’s dime: Employees 34 and under were slightly more likely to splurge on meals, upgrade flights, and spend on other expenses with company funds than were older employees. With conference spending cuts putting a crimp in event attendance from government agencies, though, it’s unclear how true this is across the board.
More details on the study, including an infographic, are available on Expedia’s Viewfinder blog.
(Fuse/Thinkstock)
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