9 of 10 North American Employees Satisfied with Business Travel Experience

New Research Reveals Key Drivers for Business Travel Satisfaction

TORONTO (April 20, 2016) – New research to be unveiled today by the GBTA Foundation at GBTA Conference 2016 Toronto reveals that nearly 9 in 10 employees (88 percent) in North America are satisfied with their business travel experiences. The GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association, presented these new findings, sponsored by American Express Global Business Travel, that also showed the key drivers of business travel satisfaction.

In addition, 9 out of 10 employees are also satisfied with the amount they currently travel for work or would like to travel more often. Millennials are also more likely than older employees to want to travel more often for work.

“This study not only showed us that the vast majority of business travelers in North America are satisfied with their business travel experience, but also revealed the primary drivers of that satisfaction,” said Jeanne Liu, GBTA Foundation Vice President of Research. “Understanding these drivers can help employers and travel buyers build policies into their travel programs to ensure their business travelers stay happy on the road. And, we know that happy employees tend to want to stay with their current company longer.”

“Savvy travel managers understand that it’s not only about driving costs,” says Jacinthe Ladouceur, Vice President and General Manager of Global Business Travel, Canada. “Traveller satisfaction plays a very important role in sound travel program management because of the correlation to higher levels of productivity as well as policy compliance. At GBT, we work with our customers to find the right balance including policies that drive satisfaction as well as unparalleled levels of traveler service.”

Key Drivers for Business Travel Satisfaction
From transportation options to booking behavior, expense reporting practices to feeling supported by one’s company, employees reacted to dozens of travel-related factors for this survey. Some of these elements carry more weight when it comes to contributing to a satisfied business traveler. Three factors emerged as key drivers and are comprised of the following elements:

Key Driver 1: Electronically submitting expense reports and receipts, renting a car and feeling one’s company cares about traveler well-being and safety
Key Driver 2: Having expedited clearance for pre-approved travelers
Key Driver 3: Getting through airport security and flexibility to plan a business trip

These findings will be presented today at a session at GBTA Conference 2016 Toronto called Employee Satisfaction: Moving the Needle on Business Travel and Beyond. The full report will be available later this year.

About American Express Global Business Travel
American Express Global Business Travel enables corporations and empowers business travelers with insights, connections and exceptional customer service on a global scale. Through technology and information, American Express Global Business Travel provides leading travel solutions, integrated consulting services, proprietary research, and end-to-end meetings and events capabilities. These innovative offerings enable clients to optimize the return on their travel and meetings investments.

American Express Global Business Travel has operations and network partners in nearly 120 countries worldwide with approximately 12,000 employees. American Express Global Business Travel ranked first among corporate travel providers in the 2015 Corporate Travel 100 (“CT100”), an annual listing compiled by Business Travel News which ranks companies with the largest volume of U.S. air bookings. Learn more about how American Express Global Business Travel connects the world at amexglobalbusinesstravel.com and twitter.com/amexgbt.

American Express Global Business Travel (“GBT”) is a joint venture that is not wholly-owned by American Express Company or any of its subsidiaries (“American Express”). “American Express Global Business Travel”, “American Express” and the American Express logo are trademarks of American Express, and are used under limited license.

About the GBTA Foundation
The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. Collectively, GBTA’s 7,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its growing network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts with world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media. The Foundation was established in 1997 to support GBTA’s members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the GBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The GBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see gbta.org and gbta.org/foundation.

CONTACT: Colleen Gallagher, +1 703-236-1133, cgallagher@gbta.org