CWT Research Reveals Secrets to Successful Business Trips

CWT Solutions Group, the consulting arm of Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), has unveiled the results of its latest research into the return on investment (ROI) of business travel.

“The value of business travel: The travelers’ perspective” used a survey of 10,000 traveler respondents to determine how travelers view the ROI of a trip, and to offer guidance on reducing the number of unsatisfactory business trips.

Travelers were asked to measure the success of their last trip, with 88% of all trips scoring successful. Meanwhile, 9.5% of trips were seen as average, with no significant benefit compared to cost, and 2.5% of trips were deemed unsatisfactory.

Those who scored a trip as most unsatisfactory were asked if they had anticipated this, with 68% agreeing they had. The answers show that low success is, in most cases, anticipated prior to the trip.

When low-success trips are investigated, common patterns do emerge. Some of the main factors related to trip failure are: The number of meetings taking place during the trip; the total time spent in meetings; and advance booking. To mitigate the risk of an unsuccessful trip, the report suggests the following tactics:

Arrange more meetings per trip – a trip with only one meeting produces an unsuccessful result 19% of the time. As a rule of thumb, each additional meeting reduces the likelihood of an unsuccessful trip by about 10%.

Allow plenty of time for meetings – when cumulative meeting time per trip is less than one hour, the probability of an unsuccessful trip is 28%. This is reduced to 8% when meetings take up two or more days.

Plan and book early – the longer in advance a trip is planned, the less likely it is to fail. Early planning allows travelers enough time to book their trips and arrange their meetings. CWT’s research shows a trip booked less than three days in advance runs a 21% risk of being unsuccessful, while those trips booked more than two weeks in advance have an 11% chance of being deemed unsatisfactory.

The lead author of the report, Catalin Ciobanu, director, Innovation & Big Data Analytics, CWT Solutions Group, said, “This study enhances our knowledge and understanding of the keys to business travel success. We’re looking forward to working with our clients to reduce the number of unsuccessful trips and increase the value delivered by their travel program. While these results are promising, more remains to be done: looking to the future, we believe that quantifying and tracking the impact of every business trip will help companies to better manage travel as a strategic activity supporting corporate goals.”