CHICAGO—According to research commissioned by RoomIt by CWT, the hotel distribution division of CWT, the B2B4E travel management platform, business travelers want different hotel experiences based on the country they are from.
The survey compiled responses from 660 business travelers from nine countries to identify what influences them to choose a particular hotel during the booking process. The results revealed that globally, having access to WiFi (84%), room rate (81%), distance from business site (81%) and breakfast (79%) are the most important influences. A few of the key differences between countries were also revealed, such as business travelers from the U.K. and Germany are the most swayed by having access to a health club (44%) and loyalty programs are the most important to those from Mexico and Germany (46%).
“We continually work to understand business travelers’ specific wants and needs so we can offer the accommodations that will improve their satisfaction,” said Scott Hyden, SVP/chief experience officer of RoomIt. “We know that you have to get the basics right in order to maximize compliance and reduce travel spend.”
Several other notable takeaways from the results—business travelers from Germany are most likely to be persuaded by photos (56%) compared to other countries, while travelers from France are the least likely to experiment with new hotel brands (26%).
Travelers from Mexico are less likely to use their company’s booking tools (24%), compared with those from Canada (35%). German travelers rely most on having someone else book their travel (41%) or going offline to speak with a travel agent (40%) compared to U.S. travelers (27% and 22%, respectively).
Overall, business travelers are more likely to stay at upper-midscale to upper-upscale properties, but there are key regional differences. Travelers from India and Australia are more likely to stay in luxury properties (35% and 25%), while Mexico, the U.S. and Italy travelers are more likely to stay in upper-midscale properties (35%, 32% and 27%).
Globally, when asked what attributes best describe the ideal hotel accommodation, results show that the hotel and service are stronger drivers than amenities, image or location. Quality (44%), trustworthiness (38%), convenience (40%), quietness (30%), affordability (28%) and coziness (28%) resonate the strongest. Regionally, quality is most important to India (63%), the U.S. (44%), Canada (40%), and the U.K. (39%). France prefers coziness and quiet the most (49% and 39%), while Mexico ranks trustworthiness the highest (54%).