The survey from Roomex shows business travel and in-person events are likely to increase.
- 64% of travel managers say bookings will increase.
- 41% plan to book a large meeting or event.
- 40% say accommodation prices are a challenge.
- Just 9% are planning to report on sustainability.
New research from Roomex, the leading workforce travel technology platform, has revealed that 64% of business travel managers expect their travel booking activity to increase in 2023. Of that figure, 23% expect their business’s travel bookings to “increase substantially” (i.e. by more than 30%). Only 3% expect their booking activity to decrease. The finding is positive news for hotels and business travel providers, pointing to the continued recovery of the workforce travel industry following the COVID slump of the past three years.
Also encouraging is the finding that 41% of travel managers expect to book at least one in-person meeting or event for 10 or more people, suggesting that in-person events are back on the agenda for many businesses. Nevertheless, 23% responded that there would be no large-scale in-person meeting in the year ahead.
While 2022 showed strong signs of recovery across the travel industry, external factors created a number of challenges for travel managers during the year, with some of these expected to carry on into 2023. Hotel prices remain the number one concern for travel managers, with 31% of travel managers highlighting this as a challenge for 2023. Accommodation availability followed, with 27% of travel managers acknowledging that this factor will cause headaches in the year ahead. These issues can largely be resolved by using a specialist accommodation booking platform like Roomex. By negotiating exclusive rates with hotels, Roomex is able to provide hotel prices that can't be found anywhere else. In addition to exclusive rates, just one search on Roomex checks over 1.2 million hotels from 35 sources ensuring you have access to the widest available selection of workforce hotels.
Reflecting a growing trend towards employee wellbeing, traveller satisfaction has grown in importance for travel managers, from 11% last year up to 20% in 2023. With this rising importance, having a tool like Roomex's live Duty of Care map makes it easy to keep track of where your workers are staying at any time, letting you take care of your staff while they're on the road and ensure high traveller satisfaction.
The rising cost of living has impacted the business travel industry as well, adding uncertainty to business travel planning, with 59% stating they are unsure as to how rising costs will affect their booking activity.
Garry Moroney, CEO of Roomex, said: “Rising costs and a renewed focus on traveller satisfaction mean that travel managers need a flexible, efficient, and innovative solution to keep up with their organisation's travel requirements.”
Roomex is the all-in-one travel and expenses platform built for businesses with a mobile workforce. Roomex helps you book, manage, pay and analyze all of your accommodation, rail and expenses in one place - saving both time and money.
Research based on a survey of 104 travel managers from 24 industries in the UK.
