Wot’s the real business of business travel?

Media Release

Wot’s the real business of business travel?

Auckland – 24 April 2007: The results from Wotif.com’s (www.wotif.com) annual business travel survey are in, and while, ultimately, business travellers may not have a choice about when, where and how often they travel, the results clearly indicate they have preferences for each.

Big cities - Love them or hate them. New Zealand’s largest cities polarised the nation, with Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch coming in both the top ten favourite and the top ten least favourite destinations for business trips as voted by respondents.

Overwhelmingly the cities that people were most passionate about were the ones that they typically have to travel to the most with 45% and 37% of respondents stating that they typically have to travel to Auckland and Wellington.

Sitting behind Auckland (17%) and Wellington (8%) as the two least favourite business travel destinations, were Hamilton (8%), Christchurch (4%), Dunedin (3%), Invercargill (3%) and Taupo (2%). While, Queenstown, Nelson, Rotorua and Napier all came in the top ten favourites and didn’t appear in the top 10 least favourite business travel destinations.

Internationally a business trip across the Tasman to Australia was the most preferred destination with Asia, the US, Europe and the UK coming in second, third, fourth and fifth.

Favourite business travel destinations

1. Auckland
2. Wellington
3. Christchurch
4. Queenstown
5. Nelson
6. Taupo
7. Rotorua
8. Napier

Least favourite business travel destinations

1. Auckland
2. Wellington
3. Hamilton
4. Christchurch
5. Dunedin
6. Invercargill
7. Palmerston North
8. Taupo

Business is moving online. Increasingly, business travellers are arranging their trips online with respondents signalling that price, simple navigation and the ability to make secure online payments being the driving factors for this continuing trend. Respondents said convenience, the ability to compare rates at a glance and instant confirmation capabilities were important features of a good on-line accommodation site.

Wotif.com New Zealand Manager, Tania Witheford, commented: “A large proportion of business travel is organised at the eleventh-hour, making online accommodation bookings the easiest and cheapest option for business travellers.”

“Increasingly, we’re finding that companies encourage their employees to check for the best available deals online, prior to booking accommodation via their traditional methods.”

In search of a good night’s sleep. Overwhelmingly 82% of respondents listed a comfortable bed as the most important aspect of their business trip, with location, modern décor, the inclusion of breakfast, free parking and internet access in rooms, the next most important factors. At the other end of the scale, well-equipped business centres, proximity to the airport and public transport and complimentary gifts on arrival, e.g. wine or massages, were of little interest to the business travellers surveyed by Wotif.com.

Most important aspect of business travellers’ accommodation

1. Comfortable bed
2. Location close to the CBD
3. Modern Décor
4. Parking
5. Breakfast
6. Internet access
7. In-room spa
8. Restaurant
9. 24 hour check in
10. Kitchen facilities

Mixing business with pleasure. While 77% of respondents travelled either alone or with a business partner on trips, almost 45% admitted they try to incorporate a leisure component into each business trip, with many preferring to schedule meetings near the weekend. Further adding to this theme, 30% of respondents said they travelled with their partner or family on all business trips.

Other business traveller facts

• Shorter, more frequent trips are clearly a necessity, with the average business person travelling five to six times each year.
• Although 4 and 4 ½ star hotels remain the most popular type of accommodation for business travel, serviced apartments are becoming increasingly popular.
• 80% of accommodation bookings occur within four weeks of travel, with more than 50% of bookings being made less than two weeks before the date of travel.
• Fully prepaid accommodation was the preferred method of payment for business travellers.

ENDS

Notes to editor
The Business Travellers Survey was conducted online via Wotif.com in October 2006 and had 469 respondents.

About Wotif.com

Wotif.com sells accommodation online in over 40 countries.

Our great rates, broad accommodation range, easy-to-use site and 24/7 Customer Service Centre have made us the most popular way for business and leisure travellers in Australia and New Zealand to book accommodation online. Every month our site attracts almost 2.5 million user sessions, with customers making over 160,000 bookings through our 28-day booking window.

We launched in Brisbane, Australia, in March 2000 and now have offices in Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom to support our growing international presence. Wotif.com is listed on the ASX, trading under the code WTF.

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