Australians are more likely to love business travel than Americans, Britons and Canadians, according to an international survey commissioned by Chrome River, a global leader in expense management solutions.
Eight out of 10 Australian business travellers say they are satisfied with the quality of business travel provided by their employer, and Australians are 25 per cent more likely to be “very satisfied” with business travel then their counterparts in the U.S. and Canada.
The research also revealed strong correlation between travellers’ perception of their employer’s travel expense policy and overall travel satisfaction.
Those who viewed their companies’ travel policies as providing the highest quality travel services and the most traveller flexibility had almost universal (97 per cent) satisfaction with business travel.
At the other end, almost 70 per cent of those who viewed their policies as the more restrictive and inflexible had a negative view of their business travel experience.
Almost a third of Australian business travellers (32 per cent) said that their favourite aspect of business travel is the ability to see new places, with a further 21 per cent saying that the ability to travel in style at their employer’s expense was the number one benefit.
While 16 per cent most appreciate the ability to add leisure days onto a business trip, only three per cent cited spending time with colleagues as the best part of business travel – compared to 15 per cent of Americans.
When asked which was the least favourite aspect of business travel, almost a third of Australians said that spending time away from family is the number one drawback, while one in five see jet-lag as the biggest drawback.
Fifteen per cent most dislike the overall experience of flying, and 12 per cent dread the expense report that they will need to submit at the end of the trip.
“An element of travel is now a ubiquitous part of many roles, and businesses need to ensure that they give their traveling employees the best possible experience,” said Sarah Dart, head of operations at Chrome River in Sydney.
“There will always be strong competition for the best performing staff, and these are often the business’ road warriors. Therefore, offering flexible travel policies and giving business travellers the tools they need to make their trips as smooth as possible will play a great role in keeping your highest performers happy and productive.”
“Chrome River works with our customers around the world to help them create and implement expense policies that offer business travellers the best possible travel experience.”
The survey was conducted of almost 1,500 business travellers across Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States during 2017.
