What a year. On a global scale, 2017’s headlines were both polarizing and surprising, terrifying and exhilarating.
In our industry, from natural disasters and extreme weather, to new government policies on immigration, trade and taxes, to renewed shifts in the distribution landscape, corporate travel faced more than its share of challenges over the past 12 months.
But through it all, I was amazed by the resilience of business travelers. Study after study this past year made it clear that both road warriors and the not-so-frequent flyers actually like traveling for business.
Hotels will replicate aspects of WeWork and HomeAway to serve the new trend – and compete with alternative lodging options.
Rob Greyber
They see the value travel provides to their companies and careers. And while they endured the unavoidable delay or unfortunate missed connection, business travelers are, by and large, satisfied with business travel as an experience, and motivated to make the most of every trip.
Some data. An impressive 70% of business travelers found business trips to be more enjoyable than everyday work life.
For tools, they want more cross-device integration to support a week on the road. (Raise your hand if you’ve brought more than three devices on a trip? More than four?)
In fact, two-thirds (66%) of business travelers want to manage and book business travel on every mobile device, not just on their smartphone; in the U.S., that number is 76%.
With 2017 coming to a close, here are the key trends I am watching in the year ahead:
Consumer-inspired innovation
Every morning and every evening, business travelers are leisure travelers first… so are arrangers, travel managers and CFOs.
Because we know this, we know TMCs, airlines, and everyone else in business travel must deliver travel experiences for the Expedia generation.
That simply means millennials and middle managers both want simple, intuitive and integrated experiences.
They want tools and service accessible from anywhere, just as if they were booking a personal vacation.
With more travelers relying on technology for the entire travel process – from searching to booking and staying connected on the road – in 2018, we’ll see more TMCs continue their pivot toward consumer-inspired solutions in corporate travel.
Airlines, hotels and others will continue to follow suit. As an industry, that’s a good thing.
Communal spaces
A recent study found 25% of business travelers have used alternative accomodations in the past year, and we expect adoption to continue to rise into next year.
In the hotel sector, 2018 will be about innovation toward shared, communal spaces where business travelers can collaborate with colleagues and customers.
Hotels will replicate aspects of WeWork and HomeAway to serve the new trend – and compete with alternative lodging options.
At the 2017 Expedia Partner Conference, renowned hotelier, Ian Schrager, stated that hotels need to out-innovate home share and work share by developing these communal spaces – something he has done with his new Public Hotel property in New York.
Look for more innovation here in 2018.
Bleisure
While not new, combining business and leisure travel received a lot of attention this year.
Research conducted over the past year suggests a new demographic is coming into focus – travelers who stay an extra night to see the sights, enjoy a new city and get some down-time.
Over 40% of business trips in the U.S. today mix business and leisure.
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On average, adding leisure to a business trip can extend a stay from two nights to more than six.
In 2018, we expect more business travelers will take the opportunity to add some fun, learnings and relaxation time to their business trips.
In this trend, there are obvious advantages for travelers, And also for hoteliers who benefit if they can attract this high-value guest segment.
Machine Learning (artifical intelligence)
I doubt human-like robots with “artificial intelligence” will take over travel any time soon.
And when I read the news these days, most of the time, the phrase “artificial intelligence” misunderstands both human intelligence and what it means to be artificial.
Millennials and middle managers both want simple, intuitive and integrated experiences. They want tools and service accessible from anywhere, just as if they were booking a personal vacation.
I prefer machine learning, which is the ability for the performance of an algorithm to improve without being reprogrammed.
Machine learning is already dramatically changing, simplifying and improving the travel experience across our industry. We see a huge opportunity in this trend.
Many are excited about automation and personalization and the ease-of-use it brings to the business traveler.
But the biggest benefits are still to come – the ability to analyze and act on massive data sets; the understanding of emergent trends; and huge reductions in the cost and power required to search, book and service travel.
The bottom line is I don’t think Hollywood’s sentient robots are marching to GBTA.
But in 2018, machine learning will take a big step toward transforming the business travel landscape.
And the biggest benefits will go to travelers, and the companies who can serve them by investing, learning and innovating on a global scale.
There they are. Four trends to watch in 2018: Consumer-inspired Innovation, Communal Spaces, Bleisure and Machine Learning. That’s just part of what I’ll be working on next year…