Business travelers tend to extend their temporary stay and reaffirm their preferences to stay in better equipped and serviced apartments.
According to the article Business Travel Trends by Finances Online, more than 70% of the new generation of business travelers prefer to stay in fully equipped temporary accommodations, especially for stays longer than a month.
Therefore, we understand why many flat management companies and agencies have invested their resources in providing customers with options that meet their needs.
Safety and comfort; priority services
The health crisis has created new needs for many people who tend to stay for longer periods for work purposes. In the wake of the pandemic, the need for greater social detachment has led to a shift in the type of accommodation preferences demanded by companies for long-term corporate travel.
There is a clear preference for the spaciousness and comfort of a temporary flat, where effective sanitary measures, spaciousness, and the user’s freedom is guaranteed. Moreover, new customer conditions have given way to the search for new services: change of sheets and towels, furniture adapted to teleworking, technological equipment, etc.
On the other hand, bleisure (a business travel option that includes time for leisure) is becoming more and more popular. In fact, 90% of millennial business travelers prefer to find leisure elements in their destinations (National Geographic, 2020).
Technology; again a strategic factor
Over the last few months, it has become clear that the customer not only prefers greater simplicity in the management of the entire corporate stay, but it has also become an essential requirement.
Technology has been implemented in the sector to make life easier, simplify the entire booking process as much as possible and improve the user experience. A clear example is Katana: an application developed by Apartool.
Katana is a 100% online platform for apartment requests, booking management, and budget control. A picture is worth a thousand words; therefore, this platform uses a very visual interface, incorporating reports and statistics about the employees’ stay, pictures of flats and a map of their locations. In this way, the customer experiences the stay before entering.
What to expect from the future of business travel?
The second edition of the event “Segurança, Tecnologia, Sustentabilidade“, organized by Forum Business Travel, was held on the 24th of March in Lisbon.
At the event, travel and mobility managers, together with various companies and agencies from the sector, gathered at different round tables to discuss and reflect on the evolution and trend of business travel in 2022.
The invited companies had time to reflect on how the current situation may reflect the future of business travel. Business travelers are staying longer, are increasingly demanding more services, and are more concerned about the environment. Sustainability got a special mention at the event.
The environment is an issue that concerns us all. The corporate accommodation sector does not want to be left behind in sustainability measures (such as improving energy efficiency), and aims to continue working on the new challenges of the future, adapting more and more to the new demands of customers, listening to them, and continuing to offer value.
