corporate travel survey 2014

Corporate Travel Survey 2014

Peter Morris

May 2014

Agenda

• Research Objectives

• Methodology

• Results

• Respondent Profile

• Business Travel Habits

• Opinions of Business Travel

• Summary

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FT 1957, based on Oil Company Travel Handbook

Research Objectives

Ascend have carried out regular Business Traveller Surveys since 2003 tomonitor the state of the Global Business Air Travel Market. Respondents aredrawn from our databases across the aviation business but have been shownto represent wider corporate travel trends.

Key Question Areas

• Number of business trips taken by air split by long and short haul

• Opinions on what has improved/ deteriorated over last two years

• Importance of certain factors in managing corporate air travel costs

• Future business travel and budget plans

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Methodology

Email sent to Ascendand Flightglobalcustomers

Onlinesurvey

Research took the form of an online self-completion questionnaire sent to a sample ofaviation professionals from the Ascend andFlightglobal databases.

An email invitation was sent to 15,000 userscontaining a link to the survey

A prize draw was used as a financial incentive tocomplete the survey

Field work took place between in April 2014

578 responses to the survey were received (afterfiltering to those who had travelled by air forbusiness in the past 12 months)

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Respondent Profile

Please indicate which region you are based in:

Base: All respondents 474

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Which of the following best describes your seniority?

Individual Profile

47%

24%

16%

4%

5%

2%

1%

Europe

North America

Asia Pacific

Middle East

Latin America / Caribbean

Africa

Other

Region Seniority

14%

19%

23%

25%

12%

1%

5%

Corporate Officer

Senior Management

Management

Qualified professional

Analyst/ Consultant

Administrator/ Office

Other

In which type of industry do you work?

54%

5%

5%

4%

3%

3%

3%

2%

Aviation / Aerospace

Transport & Logistics

Insurance

Accounting / Finance

Engineering

Sales & Marketing

Travel

Other


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Industry Number of Employees

41%

15%

44%

1,000 +

250 - 1,000

1 - 250


Approximately how many employees does your company have?

Company Profile

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Business Travel Habits

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Flights Taken for Business

2%

14%

26%

50%

9%

51+

16 - 50

6 - 15

1 - 5

None

0%

5%

18%

51%

26%

51+

16 - 50

6 - 15

1 - 5

None

Short Haul

Long Haul

Average trips made: 9

Average trips made: 5

How many business trips have you made by air using short-haul flights (i.e. < 3 hours) in the last 12 months? N.B. Please treat an outward and return trip as one.

How many business trips have you made by air using long-haul flights (i.e. < 3 hours) in the last 12 months? N.B. Please treat an outward and return trip as one.



When flying on long haul business trips, in which cabin class do you travel most frequently?

3%

42%

23%

32%

First class

Business class

Premium economy/Premium coach

Economy/Coach


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Cabin Class for Long Haul Flights

4%

4%

10%

20%

42%

9%

6%

3%

1%

5%

Increase by more than 30%

Increase by 21% - 30%



Remain about the same

Decrease by 1% - 10%



Decrease by more than 30%

Don't know

3%

5%

12%

23%

35%

11%

6%

3%

1%

1%

Increase by more than 30%




Remain about the same




Decrease by more than 30%

Don't know

Compared to the last year, over the next year do you expect the number offlights taken by people in your company to...


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Compared to the last year, over the next year do you expect your company'sair travel budget to...

Future Travel ExpectationsNumber of Flights Air Travel Budget

How important are the following factors in managing business travel costs in your company over the next year?

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Managing Travel Costs


7%

6%

8%

10%

10%

7%

11%

25%

20%

17%

28%

24%

19%

19%

28%

27%

44%

46%

50%

40%

41%

29%

42%

31%

29%

30%

15%

26%

30%

45%

19%

17%

Buying non-flexible tickets

Lowering class of travel

Choice of hotels

Reducing conference/exhibition travel

Using the cheapest airline

Using a travel agency to achieve deals

Reducing the number of staff travelling

Using the internet to find cheaper airfares

Essential Very Important Important Not Important Base: All Respondents 572

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Opinions of Business Air Travel

Please indicate on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 is much worse and 5 is much improved) whether you believe that the following areas of airtravel have got worse or have improved over the past 2 years.

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Better/ Worse? Change in Aspects of AirTravel

11%

8%

15%

11%

8%

6%

5%

3%

3%

2%

2%

3%

27%

31%

30%

33%

27%

27%

22%

17%

13%

15%

15%

16%

33%

43%

35%

37%

46%

41%

47%

38%

43%

55%

39%

41%

24%

16%

17%

17%

18%

22%

21%

36%

35%

25%

37%

33%

6%

2%

3%

2%

2%

3%

4%

7%

5%

3%

7%

7%

Security queues

Fare prices

Number of passengers on aircraft

Airline service on board

Airline service off the aircraft

Services and capacity

Delays

Choice of low cost airlines

Passenger contact and information processes

Choice of cabin class

Check-in experience

Choice of flights and airlines

1 Much worse 2 3 4 5 Much improved


Please indicate your agreement or disagreement with the following statements:

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Agreement With Statements About Air Travel

17%

23%

19%

26%

34%

42%

34%

56%

43%

47%

26%

27%

21%

21%

15%

15%

16%

3%

10%

4%

Improvements in technologies have reduced the needfor business travel within my company

My company uses low cost airlines for a significantpart of short haul business

Airlines are using the internet effectively for the benefitof business passengers

The economic downturn has meant my company hashad to cut back on business travel by air

Global consolidation in the airline industry will result inless choice and higher prices

Agree strongly Agree slightly Disagree slightly Disagree strongly


What is your biggest complaint about global business air travel?

Biggest Complaint About Global Business Air Travel

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Base: All respondents 385,2014 survey

Biggest Improvement in Global Business Air Travel

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Summary

Summary of Results

Business Travel Habits

53% of the sample expect the number of flights taken by employees of their company to change, and 38% expect this change to beupward. Correspondingly, 43% are expecting to see a rise in their company’s corporate travel budget over the coming year.

Overall, a change of +3% in corporate air travel budgets and +2% in flights is projected- a somewhat muted recovery.

In order to manage corporate travel costs, businesses consider using the internet for deals and reducing the number of stafftravelling as the top two strategies.

Opinions of Business Travel

Overall respondents are more positive about changes in aspects of air travel than they were in 2012. Respondents feel most positiveabout the check-in experience (with the ability to check-in online being mentioned positively by some in the open-ended questions),passenger contact/information processes and choice of flights/airlines. However, other aspects, including on-board service, fareprices and full aircraft are felt by many to have got worse over the same time period. Security queues , while still a concern, are lessso than two years ago. The issue of higher fares is evidenced both by budget expectations and a concern about higher fares. 81% of thesample agreed that global consolidation in the industry will result in less choice and higher prices.

Amongst the more common complaints about corporate air travel were security processes, which were generally felt to worsen theexperience of passing through the airport as well as introducing delays, poor customer service, both in the airports and on-board, andhigh prices, which are generally felt not to have been met with a corresponding improvement in service. The more positive aspects ofair travel were identified as being convenience, choice of flights/airlines, and, despite being mentioned negatively by some,improved customer service from airlines.

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Flightglobal Insight Group