The first edition of our Business Barometer shows the habits of Spanish companies when booking and contracting their travel, outlines their needs, and how the sector must address a new 4.0 revolution, which is coming hand in hand with digital natives.
From this study, we can conclude that more and more Spanish companies are deciding to invest in business travel to secure new opportunities. Executives, technicians, and sales representatives are the positions that travel the most, with a specific and unwavering goal: to reach potential customer niches, build loyalty among existing customers, and grow in line with the market.
Business travel is vital for the future of any company, improving its competitiveness and adaptability in a particularly changing environment. Based on this, 90% of SMEs with between 1 and 10 employees have the highest percentage of employees traveling, which further highlights the importance of this type of initiative in organizations that need to expand their horizons.
What will 2018 bring, and how can we face it? Here are five trends of great importance:
1. Increased investment in an optimistic economic environment
Confidence in positive economic growth continues to be the general trend, with good growth expectations for 2018 (around 2.5%). This is due to a model that, following the crisis, has forced Spanish businesses to internationalize in order to survive in a new global environment.
Two out of three companies believe that their business will improve, 31% expect no change, and only 3% say that it could worsen significantly. These figures have an impact on the continued growth of business travel in Spain, with growth forecasts of around 4% for the next 12 months.
2. The new tourist model: less loyal and more demanding
We are facing a new type of traveler that is forcing the tourism industry to reconsider growth strategies, target audiences, value chains, customer experience concepts, technological tools, and intermediation efforts with end suppliers, in addition to offering optimal tangible value for money.
All of this benefits users who, if they do not have an offer tailored to the times and their needs, will cease to be loyal to brands and adopt promiscuous behavior, faithfully reflecting the transfer of the attitudes and habits of vacation travelers to business travel, with greater emphasis on small and medium-sized companies, which account for 55% of total spending.
3. The undeniable value of travel agencies
Despite the multi-provider trend when making reservations, traditional agencies account for nearly 40% of total spending, positioning them as the option through which most business travel reservations are made in Spain.
When choosing between a traditional or online agency, Spanish companies are motivated by different attributes. While users of traditional agencies highlight that they use them because they offer trust (51%), personalized service (47%), and expert staff (36%), those who turn to online agencies do so because of value for money (32%), trust (26%), and offers (23%).
The BRAINTRUST Business Barometer shows that traditional agency customers are the most satisfied, with a score of 7.8 out of 10, ahead of online agency users and direct channel users. This helps to explain why 50% of companies that book their travel with traditional agencies tend to stay with them for more than five years on average, and 28% tend to stay with the same agency for between three and five years.
4. Security, an attribute on the rise
For the companies analyzed in the Business Barometer, improvements in security, services, and data management will be one of the priorities that will have the greatest impact in the future. When asked about market trends that they considered would most affect the sector, security in transportation and hotels was one of the most mentioned, with 64%.
On-the-road assistance has become a fundamental part of a winning value proposition, as demonstrated by the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, ongoing geopolitical events, and airline strikes.
5. Time management: increasingly important
One of the greatest needs for today's customers is saving time in planning, especially when we consider that managers are the most mobile profile with 32%, followed by technicians with 24%, salespeople with 22%, and middle managers with 12%. This trend must therefore be taken into account, as all companies will be looking for the best alternatives to better manage their time.
Would you like more detailed information? Contact us and request our Business Barometer, the methodological tool that determines companies' willingness to travel, as well as trends that enable all travel industry providers to identify business opportunities and tailor their offerings to companies' preferences.
Ángel García Butragueño (Co-Director of the BRAINTRUST Tourism Barometer)
agbutragueno@braintrust-cs.com
José Manuel Brell (Co-Director of the BRAINTRUST Tourism Barometer)
jmbrell@braintrust-cs.com
