bright T
young things
hey are young and tech-savvy. A new generation – the Millenials, those born in the 1980s and later – is now in the workplace and
travelling on business. And business traveller behaviour is changing. The changes haven’t been driven only
by this generation and it’s not only this generation that is affected but it’s important to understand this group because just as in fashion and music, trends in a younger generation’s behaviour tend to be adopted by others. Mark Cuschieri, a board director for the
Institute of Travel and Meetings, explains. “They [the Millennials] want to manage business travel bookings the same way they do their leisure trips. “Airlines, hotels and general corporate
travel technology providers need to reach out to Millennials now in order to better understand and address their unique needs. “I would not exclude travel buyers from
this – the need to engage internally within your business to assess the gap between the demands of the traveller and that of the organisation is an essential component of a successful and progressive programme – failure to do so may encourage maverick behaviour. Millennials are more likely to
refer to and review online travel aggregators and to assess if there are cheaper and better alternatives,” says Cuschieri. Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s Nigel Turner
sums it up neatly: “This isn’t specifically about a younger generation wanting to act in a different way. It’s not confined to one generation. We all purchase differently with our smart technology.” Ian Windsor, HRG managing director – Europe North, agrees. “There is progressive change around a generation rather than by or for a specific group of people. Everyday business is now about a computer, internet access, a smartphone, an iPad, a laptop,” he says. “When I travel I don’t have bits of paper
anymore. Everything is in the phone. If I lose my phone, I’m lost.” Business travellers are taking their
consumer expectations to work with them. Retailers expect consumers to take more responsibility in the process and travellers similarly no longer expect everything to be
done for them when they go to work. But traveller involvement and booking
their own journeys is not tantamount to freedom of choice. Cuschieri points out that “The challenge for organisations is to combine control of their travel programme with the choices that end-users expect.” As Mike Stephens,
“ The challenge for organisations is to combine control of their
corporate travel programme with the choices that end-users now expect to have
”
director of sales for Click Travel, says, “You have happier workers if they’re in control but you need some way of doing that within the controls and policy of the company.” Controls are vital in any managed travel
programme but, as Ian Windsor adds, “There is nasty control and nice control. You need to control in the nicest possible way.” “What’s important is to make your whole
travel programme friendlier – one to buy from with the right content and prices in it and in a controlled environment. Travellers can have all the advantages of booking themselves but with policy compliance,” says CWT's Nigel Turner. Of course, there is booking and there is
The next wave of business travellers is here and they’re shaking up the workplace. Betty Low reports on the Millenial generation
62 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92