Corporate travel is making a comeback as companies send employees back on the road for meetings, events, and client visits. But the landscape has fundamentally changed.
Rising costs, economic uncertainty, sustainability demands, and evolving priorities have shifted the landscape for travel managers across Europe. They now face new complexities in sourcing hotels and structuring programmes.
Hotels that understand these changing needs will be best positioned to win corporate bookings in 2023 and beyond. And Cvent's 2023 Travel Manager Report provides those rare insight into how travel managers approach the process of sourcing hotels for their corporate clients.
About the Research
The report surveyed over 600 corporate travel decision-makers in 6 European countries between April 12-26, 2023. It provides data on travel managers' priorities, budget expectations, vendor preferences, and more as they plan 2023-2024 hotel programmes.
Key Takeaways
While corporate travel is recovering, new challenges are reshaping the landscape. Cost control, creative budgeting, tough negotiations, and sustainability are all pivotal issues.
Hotels that understand corporate travel managers' evolving priorities will be best positioned to capitalise on the industry's comeback.
But those who ignore the new complexities risk losing out. With the right strategy, big opportunities exist to increase corporate bookings moving forward.
5 Crucial Insights for Hotels
Based on the survey, here are five key insights for hotels:
1. Costs Are the #1 Concern
Rising expenses are the #1 concern for 65% of corporate travel managers. Surging airfares, hotel rates, ground transportation, and amenities contribute to this focus on costs. 80% expect business travel costs to be higher in 2023 than in 2022. Managing spend is crucial.
2. Stretching Budgets Creatively
With costs escalating, travel managers are finding creative ways to make budgets go further. Forty percent plan to combine business trips with existing meetings and events to reduce costs, while 37% will reduce employee travel.
3. Hotel Negotiations Are Challenging
The #1 deal-breaker is unreasonable rates, 51% cite as the key reason they'd avoid re-booking a hotel. Thirty-seven percent say negotiating with hotels is their biggest challenge during the travel sourcing and RFP process. Travel managers want partners who make the process smooth and are willing to collaborate.
4. Sustainability Matters
Twenty-nine percent now seek information on hotels' sustainability initiatives when researching properties. Factors like green certifications, recycling policies, and energy conservation influence RFP decisions.
5. Cautious Optimism Prevails
Despite mounting concerns, 80% feel positive about the current state of corporate travel. 64% expect their organisation's travel volumes to increase in 2023 compared to 2022. But uncertainties remain, and 31% don't think volumes will ever return to pre-pandemic levels.
Conclusion
There's no doubt that corporate travel is rebounding, but it also faces new complexities. The full Cvent report unpacks travel managers' priorities, the influences on their decision-making, and how hotels can better meet their needs during the RFP process.
Read the Cvent Travel Manager report to get exclusive insights such as:
- Granular data on travel manager priorities and influences, broken down by country
- Forecasts for regional versus global corporate travel demand
- A detailed breakdown of travel manager priorities
- Technologies hotels must use to streamline the sourcing process
- Trends that will shape corporate travel in the years ahead
Download the report now to attract corporate travel business in 2023 and beyond
