business trip marketing

Abstract

Business trips in Indonesia are forecast to be continuously increasing, with the

number of company in Indonesia that also increased. This paper offers the analysis of

business trips in Indonesia. Nowadays business travellers seek convenience and travel

experience through business trips. Employers that restrict employees to make their

own choice regarding hotel and airline for their business trip resulting employees

dissatisfaction. The purpose of this study is to examine the decision making on hotel

and airline for business trips —whether or not employees in Indonesia are permitted

to choose their preferred hotel and airline for business trips — and, guidelines and

limitation if the company have any. This paper will be qualitative research paper that

data sampling was gathered by interviewing business travellers in Indonesia. The

result showed that there are more company that allow their employees to choose their

own hotel as well as airline from either pre-approval list or limitations.

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Table of Content

ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................I

TABLE OF CONTENT..............................................................................................II

1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................3

2 LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................................................................52.1 BUSINESS TRIP...................................................................................................52.2 HOTEL................................................................................................................52.3 AIRLINE..............................................................................................................5

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.........................................................................73.1 RESEARCH QUESTION........................................................................................73.2 RESEARCH DESIGN.............................................................................................73.3 DATA COLLECTION METHOD.............................................................................8

4 DATA FINDINGS..................................................................................................94.1 BUSINESS TRIPS.................................................................................................9

4.1.1 Purpose of Business Trips..........................................................................94.1.2 Frequencies of Business Trips..................................................................10

4.2 COMPANY TRAVEL POLICIES AND GUIDELINES..............................................104.2.1 Business trips decision maker..................................................................104.2.2 Limitation and Regulation........................................................................114.2.3 Booking System.........................................................................................13

4.3 BUDGET............................................................................................................134.4 EMPLOYEES WANTS.........................................................................................144.5 POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS...................................................................14

5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.................................................15

REFERENCES...........................................................................................................17

APPENDICES............................................................................................................20

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1 Introduction

People travel for different reasons, but the two main reasons are for pleasure

and for business (Walker, 2009). Business travel has played a major role in the

hospitality and tourism industry in terms of revenue generation and job creation.

“Asia has recently become the largest business travel region in the world and is

expected to increasingly dominate” (Mckinsey & Company, 2015). The business

spending in Asia has increased more than doubled and predicted to continuously

increasing. “By one estimate, between 2014 and 2018, business travel spending in

Asia is projected to grow four times as fast as in North America and more than twice

as fast as in Europe”(McKinsey & Company, 2015). This study will be focusing on

the business traveller in Indonesia.

The Indonesian economy is estimated to improve over the forecast period and

it is predicted to have positive influence to the travel market. As Indonesia News

(2014) stated that, Indonesia is experiencing constant economic growth — influencing

middle-class people to travel a lot for either business or leisure purpose. “Indonesia’s

travel and tourism sector grew by 8.4 percent or US$10.28 billion last year, propelled

by the some 8.7 million foreign tourists that visited Indonesia as well the growth of

domestic travel and tourism. Both international and domestic expenditures on

business travel, leisure, and transport rose last year, with growth rates of 15 percent

and seven percent, respectively” (Indonesia News,2014)

Figure.1 below shows the percentage growth of business and leisure travel and

tourism spending in Indonesia. The graph below is according to the World Travel and

Tourism Council Data from 2006 to 2016. Although in 2009, there were no growth in

2009 for both leisure and business travel, rather than declining of 5% for leisure and

doubled for business travel. By the year of 2012, more people travelled for business

purpose and which have affected the spending of business travel to increase.

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Figure 1. Leisure and Business Travel & Tourism Spending in Indonesia

The average trips made by older-experienced travelers are 12 trips per years

with 4 nights stay over each trip and average of 14 trips per years with 6 nights stay

over each trip for younger business travelers (Lake, 2016). Consequently, business

trip demands travelers to stay in hotel and sometimes involves airlines as

transportation to reach the destination. Unlike leisure traveler, business traveler is

rarely expected to pay for their trips and it is commonly the traveler’s company that

pays for their expenses. These expenses often include airline costs, hotel costs and

food costs. However, nowadays business travelers become more demanding and

independent. They demand business trip to be more than just traveling for work with

limited budgets.

4

2 Literature Review

2.1 Business Trip

Business trip is defined as “trips and visits made by employees and others in

the course of their work, including attending meetings, conferences and exhibitions”

(Medlik, 2003). Business trips refer to “those in the course of work where the purpose

of the trip is for the traveller to reach a destination (e.g. a manager travelling

between different offices, or a care worker visiting patients). Also trips to/from work

by people with no usual place of work and those who work from/at home. Travel to

deliver goods, or to convey a vehicle or passengers is not covered “(“Commuting and

Business Travel “, 2011). Business trip requires at least one night stay over and

business travellers often travel alone or with their co-workers. These trips can be

either mandated or optional, and they are usually paid for by the employer.

2.2 Hotel

Hotel means “an establishment held out by the proprietor as offering sleeping

accommodation to any person presenting himself who appears able and willing to pay

a reasonable sum for the services and facilities provided and who is in a fit state to be

received”(Chan & Mackenzie, 2013). According to Chakravarti (1999), hotel is a

place which provides food, shelter, and other amenities for comfort and convenience

for the guest of the hotel in means to make profit. Hotel plays an important role for

people who travel for either leisure or business purpose. “During the Middle Ages in

Europe, religious pilgrimages were the primary reason for traveling, with charitable

institutions and religious orders providing lodging facilities. In the fifteenth century,

many European cities became centers of commerce and culture. At the same time, inn

keeping for profit began”(Barrows et al, 2012). Types of hotel are classified by stars,

function, price, location, and others.

2.3 Airline

For past several years, air travel has become less appealing for some travelers

because of expensive ticket price and tighter security regulations. But despite the

inconveniences, air travel still holds a big of advantages over car, bus, and train travel

and makes airline industries start growing rapidly today. More people choose using

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airline to travel because of time saved and comfortable to use. Of the airline consumer

revenue, business travelers contribute more than leisure travelers which bring twice as

profitable business for airline (Investopedia, 2015). They bring substantial revenue to

airlines by purchasing additional services and using other incentive program which

usually link their credit card to the program and allow their spending behavior to be

tracked (Investopedia, 2015).

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3 Research Methodology

This chapter will discuss the approaches and methods pursued and applied to achieve

the objectives of the current study.

Regarding the aforementioned objectives, it is obvious that this study aims to

gain insight into business travelers’ opinion. Therefore, the researcher has decided to

employ qualitative approach. Unlike quantitative study, which requires statistical data

as validation, the strength of qualitative study lies on the clarity of the researcher’s

standpoint (Caelli, 2008). Detailed discussion on what is the research problem, how

will the problem be solved, and why the topic is important to be investigated, is

considered as a marker of quality in qualitative research (Walter,2012).

Qualitative research is making or process that does not usually require

statistics or large-scale data. Therefore, the focus key of this research will be a small

group of people that will be interviewed. This also can be stated that through this

method researcher aims to understand by viewing the world through the eyes of

people that being studied.

3.1 Research Question

Preliminary research question in this study are:

1. Can the business traveler choose their own hotel and airline when their

travel for their company?

2. Is there any guideline or limitation for business traveler to choose the

accommodation and airline?

3. What is the recommendation/suggestion from business traveler for their

own hotel and airline if they are not able to choose their own?

3.2 Research Design

Researcher will employ firstly in depth – interview. The selection of this

method as a means of data collection is based on the thought that researcher can have

a face–to-face ‘conversation’ with the interviewee. This type of interview enables

researcher to guide interviewee to understand the questions without needing to

influence them (Walter, 2012). Therefore, it will be assured that researcher will

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pursue answers that are needed by the study, and not answers that are wanted by the

researcher.

Questions are developed base on the theoretical framework discussed in the

previous chapter and supported with previous studies (Walter, 2012). The interview is

done by voice recording; therefore priory researcher asked interviewee for their

permission.

Secondly, recorded interviews been transcribed by the researcher. This helps

researcher to analyze. Results is reported narratively in a way that researcher quotes

distinctive answers to exemplify business travelers’ attitude.

3.3 Data Collection Method

For the data collection method, researcher choose to do the convenient

sampling which is refers to those who are easy to locate (Walter, 2012). It is include

by conducted an interview with person that we know and comfortable to talk such as

family and friends. Regarding the convenient sampling that researcher has chosen,

there are two criteria of selections, first refers those on the managerial level and field

worker level.

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4 Data Findings

This chapter reports the analysis of the data collected during the interviews

and identifies the themes which resulted after the completion of the coding process. In

the light of this the discussion of the results will be classified into five sections:

business trips, travel policies, budget, employee wants, and positive and negative

aspects. All the sections provide an in- depth analysis through comparison of the data

obtained from each respondent in this study

4.1 Business Trips

The population involved in this research consisted of 6 respondents were selected

from different companies and occupational backgrounds. Respondent’s ages ranged

from 26 to 42 years old. Most of the interviewees were female (83%).

Age Gende

r

Occupation

R1 34 F Director of Marketing & Business Development

R2 28 F Market Researcher

R3 26 F Marketing Officer

R4 27 M Business Development

R5 26 F E-Content & Preservation Development

R6 42 F Auditor

Table 4.1 Profile of Respondents

4.1.1 Purpose of Business Trips

Purpose of business trip can be varied into different answer for each

respondent. According to the result of interview, mostly the purpose of

business trip that answered by respondents is for meeting, market, and

visiting. Another reason is for event, seminar, conference, or training. But

commonly business trip purpose is to manage a business for company.

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4.1.2 Frequencies of Business Trips

A frequency of business trip is affected by the growth of the

business. Usually more developed business could have more than 5 times

business trip in one year. But some small companies could have more

business trip to seek for chances to develop the business itself such as

market research, partnership, or marketing promotion.

4.2 Company Travel Policies and Guidelines

Every company has their own rules and regulations regarding employees’

business trips — whether company allows employees to choose their preferred hotel

and airline or company choose for them. Company size, type, or region does not

determine companies will have same management system as others.

4.2.1 Business trips decision maker

4.2.1.1 Company decide

According to the research, 2 out of 6 of interview respondent

responded that they have did not have any control over the business

trip hotel and airline decision. The respondents explained that every

decision regarding business trip is arrange by the company or

organization, as the respondents stated

“For the official bureaucracy trip or coordination meeting, usually

for the airline and accommodation has been decided by the

government assistance”(Female, Auditor)

“The company chooses it for the accommodation and airlines for

business trip. So we don’t need to prepare anything since everything

has been organized well by the company itself including the meal

allowance and activities”(Male, Business Development

Department).

4.2.1.2 Employee decide

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Business travellers in Indonesia seek convenience and desire

travel experiences. Employees today are becoming more demanding

and selective regarding hotel and airline for their trips, for example

4 stars hotel rather than budget hotel and hotel that provide more

services such as Spa service. Accordingly, employer attitudes on

travel have shifted, from command-and-control system to one that

allow choices made by employees. 4 out of 6 of interview

respondent revealed that they are no longer controlled by the

company for their business trip needs. One of the respondents said

that

“We can choose by ourselves. But there we have to choose either

from the recommendation list or with limitations.”(Female, Market

Researcher”.

These employees are free to choose hotel and airlines according to

their taste and preferences, either from a pre-approved list of hotels

and airlines or with policy restriction.

4.2.2 Limitation and Regulation

Most of the time company needs to send their employees to other city

or country to do their work, thus company have to spend large amount of

money to pay for their employees’ business trip. Reducing number of trips

can be very difficult or even impossible for some companies, as their jobs

often involves travelling, such as meeting clients. Therefore, company

made strategies to reduce business trips expenses by the following:

4.2.2.1 Pre-Approval List

4 out of 6 respondents are able to choose their preferred hotel

and airline, however company recommends employees to choose

from the company’s recommendation list, “Usually they have list of

corporate companies for both hotels and airlines or like

recommendation list. We get to choose ourselves which hotel and

airline we prefer” (Female, Market Researcher) also called as pre-

approval list — the company have made contract or agreement with

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hotels and airlines companies. Employees are always recommended

to choose hotel and airline from the pre-approval list, as company

will acquire corporate price. Companies also allow employees to

choose hotel that are not from a pre-approved list, however “the

company requested justification from the staffs — why not choose

from the recommendation list from the company”(Female, Director

of Marketing and Business Development). Hotel and airline from

pre-approval list will always be approved unless there is no

capacity; whereas hotel and airline not from the pre-approval list

may not be approved.

4.2.2.2 Standard of Hotel

Company has set standard of hotel for employees business trips

in order to limit the budget for hotel. Different company might have

different standard. The standard of hotel was determined by the

company and characterized by hotels’ stars. According to the

research, most of the company in Indonesia set standard 3-5 stars

hotel, depending on the availability of the hotel in certain city or

country — small cities are less likely to have 5 stars hotel. In

addition, some companies have made procedures that top level

employee (such as Directors and Managers) will be given superior

accommodation, 5 stars hotel, while others will be given 3 or 4 stars

hotel. Standard room or deluxe room will be given to the employees

and no sharing room — only for outing purposes. Employees are

essential to meet the company’s standard of hotel when choosing

their preferred hotel that is not from pre-approval list.

4.2.2.3 Standard of Airline

Based on the research in Indonesia, company categorized

standard of airline into two: Domestic and International flight.

Employees have more options of airlines for International flight

while company gave no option for domestic flights. Most of the

interviewed respondent responded that they use Garuda Indonesia

for domestic flight. If instance there are no availability for certain

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destination, time or date, they will use cheaper airlines. Whereas, for

International flight employees are allow to flight with either Garuda

Indonesia or International airlines. Type of seat varies on some

company based on employees’ position in the company — economy

class for regular employees and business class for top-level

employees.

4.2.3 Booking System

4.2.3.1 Company Travel Agency

Research showed that majority of the respondent states that

company arranged reservation for them — there is one employee

whose work is handle all booking — or direct email to the

contracted travel agency. These people will cooperate with the

contracted travel agency in order to perform. “The company have a

contract travel agent, like for my company, we use Panorama. Most

companies will have a contract travel agent, which they responsible

do all the booking for every employee that will go for business

trip”(Female, Marketing Officer). “We can choose both

accommodation and airline by ourselves. But the agency is from the

office. The service provider we use is Carlson Wagonlit Travel

(CWT)” (Female, Director of Marketing and Business

Development). Detailed information need to be attached — name of

hotel and airline chose, date and time of departure (round trip).

4.3 Budget

Budget is one of the obstacles for employees to make decision on

accommodation and airline for the business trip. Budget amount given is different

depend on the level including the allowance (pocket money). Besides that, budget

amount is also depending on the amount of time, location and type of purpose.

According to the interview result, majority of the respondent stated that they

are not given the actual amount of budget regarding that everything have been listed

in the recommendation list by the company and they can choose it by themselves.

And there is also someone who can help them manage the reservation. Another

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respondent also stated that they are given the exact amount of budget for the business

trip. Usually it is given for one year and could be given for the exact time of business

trip. If the budget is not enough, usually the employees need to pay by themselves or

give the proof of payment to the company to cover it.

4.4 Employees wants

This section will discuss what business traveler need for their business trip it

is. Business traveler may have unique needs and expectations. Mostly for business

traveler, quality and distinctiveness of the public area was a major factor in their

decisions and evaluations. Convenience and comfort factors will be another factor that

often desired by the business traveler. The result show that mostly respondent are

agree with this opinion. Mostly stated that fast internet connection, comfortable

lodging accommodation, and accessible location will be their primary things they

want for the business trip. Business traveler are more functionality, they travel with a

purpose and task to complete. That’s why quality of the destination including the

convenience and comfort will influence more in business traveler’s choice

4.5 Positive and negative aspects

There are different aspects from the business traveler in planning the business

trip by them or arranged by the company. The interview results show some negative

aspect if the company arranged it such as they don’t have any choices to decide the

accommodation and airline base on their criteria. However, there have been some

positive aspect too if the company choose it such as they don’t need to arrange it by

their own which everything has been settled down and they just need to focus on the

business trip’s purpose.

Generally, there is not much different between the company choose and

choose by their own. Usually, the company will provide the best accommodation and

airline according to their partnership or service provider such as travel agency. The

only advantage of choose by their own is they can choose it base on their

preference/criteria. But if they are giving the choice to choose by their own or choose

by the company, mostly the respondent stated that they will prefer choose by their

own since it is more convenient.

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5 Conclusion and Recommendation

The main purpose of this study was to examine the business traveler’s

decision making on hotel and airlines whether they intervene on it or not and

then creating a marketing program and strategy that suitable to market the

travel product to the organization for business travelers. To accomplish this aim,

it is necessary to understand the business traveler preferences and behavior.

Base on the data analysis, there are several things that can attract business

traveler which are price, convenience, and travel experiences. In conclusion, then

marketing program and strategy is constructed.

Firstly, employee empowerment would be the top priorities in decision

making of business trips. Therefore, offering loyalty program directly to the

business traveler is needed to engage directly the individual lucrative travelers,

rather than as a corporation and also to maintain partnerships between

established companies and start-ups for stay ahead of competition. Besides that,

affordable digital planning and other online booking tools can be an additional

point to attract the business travelers. Such as advertising the business-friendly

amenities, services and packages on the (mobile-optimized) website or email or

social media, and running targeted ads on OTAs.

Second, convenience is the key for business traveler. In here, Travel

Company can offer “end-to-end consumer journeys” to meet the need for

convenience and leisure by accentuate and generate resources while

coordinating the booking-to-completion process to reduce the need to deal with

multiple service providers. And also they can use “next product to buy” logic for

anticipatory selling to offer customer what they want before they know it.

Besides that, there also several things that can be do to improve the

convenience. For airlines, direct flight and convenient schedule such as on-time

arrivals need to be prioritizing. And for hotel, be part of corporate travel

program and full branded properties are important to implement.

15

There are also some recommendation for hotel to attract the business

traveler such as well-equipped business space, free Wi-Fi, free continental

breakfast with healthy component, online bookings, a mobile-optimized website,

flexible check in-check out times, check in-check out digitally, transportation (e.g.

airport pick-up), billing itemization, and loyalty program (e.g. free night and

discounted stays). In the fact that there is limitation for hotel to implement this

property, therefore a powerful core system like cloud PMS and CRM can help it

by personalized service, targeted marketing and supporting efficient process.

Lastly to conclude, marketing travel product to the companies for

business trips same with organizing travel on behalf of their staff’s preferences.

Therefore, it is needed to make sure corporate clients updated about new

offering, amenities, and services through email communications and social

media.

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Appendices

Interview Result – Respondent 1

I : Hello, Good Afternoon Ms. Thank you for you time. I will start the interview

right away before wasting more time.

R : You’re welcome.

I : How old are you?

R : I’m 34 years old (Female).

I : What is your position in the company?

R : Now I’m working as the Director of Marketing and Business Development.

I : How long have you been working at the company?

R : Almost 6 years working in the company.

I : How often your company sends you for business travel?

R : Very often. In 3 months, I could travel 3-4 times at least. If the business is very

busy, I could go to 6-7 cities.

I : For what purpose do they usually send you?

R : Market visit. Although my position as Director, I still need to make a visit.

I : When you travel for company, do they choose the accommodation and

airline? Or you can choose by yourself?

R : No, the company do not choose. We can choose both accommodation and airline

by ourselves. But the agency is from the office. The service provider we use is

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT).

I : How do you make a reservation through CWT?

R : There are someone in the company that will do the reservation. We just need to

tell them where do you want to go, when and what time, which hotel and airline. Then

they will make it done for us.

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I : Is there any limitations or guidelines from the company if you choose by

yourself?

R : The company has recommendation lists of hotel and airlines. And if the chosen

hotel and airline are not from the list, the company requested justification from the

staffs — why not choose from the recommendation list from the company. As, it is

list of hotel and airline of partner companies, which of course the company will get

cheaper price.

I : Have you ever choose hotel and airline that is not listed?

R : No.

I : Why not?

R : Company have given me list of 5 stars hotel, which is very good and yes

expensive. They have everything I need.

I : Can you have any airline type of class that you want?

R : No, usually economy class. But depends for upper level usually they get business

class.

I : Your position is considered as upper level means that every time you travel

you will get business class?

R : More or less yes.

I : What about the list of recommended airline company, are most of them

Indonesia Airline company?

R : No, some of the choices are International airline companies, but mostly only for

traveling outside Indonesia. If we travel within Indonesia, we will travel by Garuda

Indonesia.

I : Do company have the standard of recommended hotel?

R : Most of the hotel are 5 stars hotel. But we do not always travel to big city and

sometimes in small cities, they do not have hotels from the list so we have no choice

other than stay at 2-3 stars hotels. And we will get deluxe room.

21

I : Does the budget that company gives to you enough for the trip?

R : The company do not give specific budget for trips. Because usually I choose hotel

and airline from the recommendation list, also I do not make the reservation by

myself, as I have said before the company has someone that do the reservation.

I : As a business traveler, what do you wants for your business trip?

R : What I need the most is reliable. So I can be there on time and no sudden booking

cancelation.

I : What do you need for the accommodation?

R : Hmm, comfortable room is very important and also I need quiet place so I can

focus if I need to work at my room. Good internet also important but if I finished my

work late at night, I will just go to sleep.

I : What are the different between the company choose for you and you choose

yourself?

R : There is no difference. Usually the company provides good accommodation and

airline because they will choose one from their recommendation list. But for some

people they prefer to use only one specific hotel. Which if company choose, it will be

random.

I : What are the other activities you do besides business purpose?

R : Nothing, maybe just do some culinary. Mostly just spend time for working.

22


I : Good Afternoon Ms. First of all thank you for you time. I am a student from

Binus International University who is doing a research on how business traveler

made decision on hotel and airplane. Without further due, I will start now.

R : It’s my pleasure.


R : 28 years old (Female).


R : Market Researcher


R : From 2012 , 4 years then.


R : Often, as my work requires me to travel a lot to gain data. I can travel up to 5

times in 2 months and sometimes can be more.


R : Market research. I just went back from Korea. I stayed there for 2 weeks for

market research for our new product.



R : We can choose by ourselves. But there we have to choose either from the

recommendation list or with limitations.

I : What Is recommendation list?

R : Usually they have list of corporate companies for both hotels and airlines or like

recommendation list. We get to choose ourselves which hotel and airline we prefer.

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And there are so many choices, which can make you confuse which one you should

choose. And they have the standard to be the listed companies.

I : What do you mean by “they have the standard to be the listed companies”?

R : Like the standard hotels that are in the list are 5 stars hotel and deluxe room, like

JW Marriot, Shangrila, Mulia, and etc. While for the airline, minimum Garuda

Indonesia.

I : Can you have any airline type of class that you want?

R : Unfortunately no, only economy class. But if you travel to outside Indonesia, you

can travel by other airlines, International Airline, if you prefer.

I : Do you mean that you will only have travel with Garuda Indonesia if the

destination is within Indonesia?

R : Yes, not less and not more than Garuda Indonesia. As company prefer to use

Indonesian company, and Indonesia’s top airline company is only Garuda Indonesia.

I : Can you choose hotel and airline which is not listed in the list?

R : Yes, it is very possible. However, certain procedures need to be follows.

I : What kind of procedures you need to follow?

R : You will be ask to give reason why you choose hotel that is no listed. And it will

take some time for approval. Therefore, if we have to travel in urgent, just choose any

one. But, if we need to stay for long time, like me, I stay in Korea for 2 weeks and I

need place that is quite and comfortable for me. So during my business trip, I stayed

at homestay apartment to make me feel like home. There are many apartments in

Korea that are rent for tourist and business traveler.

I : Do the company provide the travel agent?

R : Yes, agent are provide by the company and we do not do the direct contact with

the agent. There is someone whose work is to do all the booking. We just need to

contact that person and tell them our destination, ask for schedule flight and ask them

to book the ticket and hotel once you have decided which hotel and airline you want.

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I : Do the company give you enough budget for the trips?

R : They don’t give exact amount of budget for the trip because the expensive costs

for the trip is handle by the company. I don’t need to pay for anything other than food

and transport.


R : I need quite place so I can work at my room and I need short distance from my

place to work, if possible by walk. So I do not need to think about traffic. Another

thing that is very important is Internet connection.


yourself?

R : No difference actually. The only advantage you get when you choose by yourself

is that you can choose one base on your preference/criteria.


R : Culinary is a must for me, but if the time is limited I will just order room service.

If I had plenty of time, which allows me to go somewhere I do shopping and have spa

in the hotel to relax my body and refresh my mind.

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I : Good Afternoon Ms. First of all thank you for you time. I am a student from

Binus International University who is doing a research on how business traveler

made decision on hotel and airplane. Without further due, I will start now.

R : It’s my pleasure.


R : 26 years old (Female).


R : Marketing officer.


R : 4 years.


R : 2-3 times in 2 months.


R : To meet client, market research and partnership.



R : For business trip usually we choose for ourselves. While if for company outing,

employees have no right to choose. Usually the company will leave it to personal

preferences.

I : Is there any limitations or guidelines from the company if you choose by

yourself?

R : The things that we cannot do anything are, we can only travel by Garuda

Indonesia and economy class. Company allows us to choose hotel that we like and

they will ask us to choose from list of hotels, which have already had contract. There

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are many choices of hotel, from range 3 stars to 5 stars hotel. Which hotel chosen, is

up to the person.

I : What if you travel to other countries? Will you also have to travel with

Garuda Indonesia?

R : Yes, no matter you travel to domestic or international destination, you will only go

by Garuda Indonesia. So far, I only travel around Asia countries, and if one day they

send me to United States, I don’t think they will send me by Garuda Indonesia.

I : Can you choose hotel that is not listed?

R : Can. But company usually will expect us to choose from the list, because

company have made contracts with certain hotel and airline so that, they have cheaper

price. If for example I choose hotel that are no on the list, thy will ask for justification

and if they think it is not reasonable, they can reject your choice and at last they

usually ask you to have hotel from the list.

I : Do you make the hotel and airline reservation by yourself? Or the company

does the reservation for you?

R : The company have a contract travel agent, like for my company, we use

Panorama. Most companies will have a contract travel agent, which they responsible

do all the booking for every employee that will go for business trip. We just need to

make an email, telling them where we want to go, what time and which hotel we

choose.

I : Do the company give you enough budget for the trips?

R : Company do not give us budget. Hotel and airline are paid in advanced by the

company.


R : I need the distance between workplace and hotel not far away, good services in

hotel and fast internet connection. I like being serviced.


yourself?

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R : If the company choose, they will just choose any one. While I think, they will

choose the most cheap hotel. If I choose for myself, I can pick any one I like. But

usually in small cities, company will give us better hotel, because the price in that

particular area will be cheaper.


R : Culinary, shopping or meeting friends and relatives if by chance I have friend and

relative stay there.

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R : 27 years old (Male)


R : I’m working in the Business Development department at PT. Multi Bintang

Indonesia

I : And how long have you been working at the company?

R : I’ve been working for around 2 years and 4 months


R : Usually for one year is around 1-2 times.


R : For meeting purpose and training the employee.

I : Do they choose the accommodation and airline or you choose by yourself?

R : The Company chooses it for the accommodation and airlines for business trip. So

we don’t need to prepare anything since everything has been organized well by the

company itself including the meal allowance and activities.

I : Are there any limitations or guidelines from the company if you can choose

by yourself?

R : For the guidelines, usually top level managerial will get the best quality of hotel

and airline and for the staff is the lowest or the standard one. Besides that for the

pocket money, we don’t have it, since for the meal has been organized by the

company itself so we don’t need to have pocket money for business trip. Everything

has been prepared and scheduled well including the meal, tour package, and others.

I : What are the positive and negative aspects if the company choose for you or

you choose by yourself?

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R : The positive aspect of company choose is everything has been prepared so we

don’t need to do anything and we get the best one. And for the negative aspect is if we

have food allergic, we cannot do anything, all we can do is just accept it since it has

been organized by the company.

I : Does the budget that company gives to you enough for the trip? If not, how

would you manage it?

R : Yes, it is enough. Even though it is not enough, we still can claim it according to

how much we pay and then company will return the money as soon as possible.

I : The hotel and airline that chosen by the company, does it meet your

expectation? If not, what do you expect?

R : For me, I’m satisfied because it meets my expectation.

I : As a business traveler, what do you wants for business trip?

R : I want a hotel which are safe, clean and have good signal connection.


by yourself?

R : If the company choose, we don’t need to think the budget for the trip whether it is

enough or not and will be more relax without worry of anything.


R : Usually I will go for refreshing such as traveling the tourism destination, sight-

seeing, culinary, and buy some souvenirs.

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R : 26 years old (Female)


R : I’m working at E-content and Preservation department at Library Binus JWC


R : I think is around 4 years.


R : For one year is around 2-3 times. But could be more if our head can’t go.


R : Usually we are invited for seminar by letter which is given to the Binus. If the

head can’t participate it, usually will be asking to the staff to participate it as a Binus

representative. Besides that Library Binus JWC also joins the FPPTI (Forum

Perpustakaan Tinggi Indonesia) community which will do some event such as last

month on October, they were doing an event at Jogja. Besides that, there is some

business trip which doesn’t have relation to the company itself, such as on January, I

attended a conference in India as a moderator through the competition and get

permission from Binus but still under name Binus representative which can be

consider as business trip.


R : Usually we choose by our self and the budget will be given by the company itself.

Then Binus will also give a form for us to set a list of the accommodation and airlines

including the local transportation that we use in the destination later and we will

choose the accommodation and airline based on the given budget such as if Binus

only given 2million for budget training in one year and we need to do a business trip

to the Jogja then we will prefer to choose the train to go there and low budget hotel.

But sometimes, we will pay by our self if the events do not have correlation with the

company such as an event from the FPPTI community.

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by yourself?

R : Yes, there are some guidelines for the business trip. Usually for the manager or

head will get 4 or 5 star hotel and staff will get lower star hotel than the manager.

Then the nominal for pocket money between staff and head is different. Usually staff

will get around Rp 70.000/day and head will get more than that. Besides that for

airline, all of the staff and head will be given the same. And for the room, usually

head and staff will be given one room share and sometimes 1 person 1 room depend

on the budget. And usually the budget business trip for staff and head is different.

Head will get more nominal than the staff which is already included budget training

and pocket money. And Binus will only give the budget once a year for business trip.



R : For the positive aspect if we choose by our self are we can know what we buy

according to our needs and wants, comfort to choose the accommodation and

transportation such as hotel which near the event location or medium class for

airlines/trains. And for the negative one is if we are wrong in doing calculation so we

must pay by our self even though Binus will return the money later but the process of

returning the money itself is take times.



R : Until now the budget given is enough for the business trip. But if the budget is not

enough, we will pay by our self. Such as, Binus only given 10 million for one year for

business trip but if the budget is done until 6 months then the remaining months,

usually we will not doing business trip but if it is must, then we will pay by our self.

Substantially, Binus only given once a year for the budget of business trip, they will

not know whether it is enough or not since it has been decided.



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R : Since we choose by our self, I am very satisfied and meet my expectation, needs

and wants.


R : For me, I want a hotel which is easy to access such as easy to find the public

transportation, in the center of the city, near ATM center, near groceries shop such as

Indomaret, and also a transportation to travel the city.


by yourself?

R : By choose it our self, we feel more convenient to do and planning the trip rather

than the company chooses it.


R : Besides doing business purpose, if I have remaining time, I will travel the city, go

shopping and buy souvenirs. Since traveling the tourism destination is necessary, so

must to do even though the time is not enough.

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R : 42 years old (Female)


R : As an Auditor at Inspectorate Office


R : I’ve been working so long, around 23 years already.


R : For one year is around 6 times included going to the province and capital.


R : There are many purposes. If go to the province, usually the purpose is for meeting

coordination. And If go the capital, usually is for Diklat (Education Training), auditor

nomination, civil servant asset, and others.


R : For the official bureaucracy trip or coordination meeting, usually for the airline

and accommodation has been decided by the government assistance. And every class

level of position will be get different level star of hotel and type of airline such as low

class will get 2 or 3 star hotel and up level managerial will get 4 or 5 star hotels or low

class to medium class will get the economy type of airline and high level will get

business type of airline. The budget itself for the hotel is usually around Rp 600.000-

800.000/ day. But for the allowance itself will be given Rp 1.000.000/ day for every

staff including the top level position. But for the education training trip, the hotel

itself has been contribute with the government in the targeted region so all staff will

be stay in the same hotel. And for the airline itself usually will be using Garuda airline

since it have a corporation with the government.


by yourself?

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R : For the limitation budget for business trip will be depend on every district region.

There is a rule for business trip from the Minister of Finance and every rule must be

contributed again to every distict region from every region of regent. So, the minister

of finance will only give the reference of the business trip fee then will be decided by

every region regent depend on the every region location and needs. So, the regent will

be pay the money first then the proof of payment will be sent to the minister of

finance to recover it.



R : There is no positive and negative aspect because as civil servant we don’t have

any decision to choose the accommodation and airline itself for the business trip. But

mostly, some of the civil servant usually will take a beneficial chance from the

business trip by getting the allowance to be spent for their family or itself. So even

though, we can choose by our self, mostly of civil servant more prefer to stay the low

budget hotel so the remaining money can be used for their own purposes and for the

airline itself we cannot decide it since it has been decided by the office itself.



R : As for now, it is enough for the trip. Even though it is not enough, we still can

claim it as long as we have the receipt.



R : For now, I don’t have any gripe about the accommodation and airline that chosen

by the company and I’m satisfied with everything.


R : Maybe for me, I would prefer to choose the accommodation and airline that are

acceptable for me and my staff such as choosing the lowest price for hotel and for

airlines, I cannot choose since in my place there is only have 2 airlines with limited

time and also it has been arranged by the office.

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by yourself?

R : Since me as civil servant, we cannot choose by our self because everything has

been arranged well by the assistance. And also for airlines, in my place there is also

some limitation in airlines because it only have two types of airlines which are Garuda

and Wings. For the Garuda, it have limited time to flight. So, my assistance will

choose Garuda for business trip since it is national airlines but if the time of the flight

is not available, then she will choose Wings Air.


R : Besides doing business trip, usually for the remaining time is meeting the family

or relatives, shopping, traveling, culinary, and buy souvenirs.

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