Concerns over personal safety while on the road, frustrations that some companies seemingly put self-interests ahead of employee needs and stress before and after the trip, are some of the challenges facing Asia Pacific (APAC) business travellers.
These are the results of a new SAP Concur survey of 7,850 business travellers in 19 global markets including 2,500 respondents in APAC by market research firm Wakefield Research.
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Here is a summary of some of the report’s key findings with spotlight on APAC.
Safety first
- Nearly a third (32%) of APAC business travellers prioritise personal safety as the most important factor when taking a trip.
- Travellers from the Greater China region (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) put safety above all else during trips (43%), followed by those from Singapore and Malaysia (37%) and Australia (31%). On the other hand, a majority of Japanese travellers consider business more important than safety (43%), while 23% opt for safety.
- 46% of APAC travellers reduced travel to a destination because of political unrest or health hazard in the last 12 months compared to 38% globally. Singapore and Malaysia are the most cautious of unsettlement with 60% cutting travels plans, followed by Australia (53%) and India (50%).
- 63% of respondents in the region have even gone to the extent of changing their travel arrangements because they felt unsafe.
Business travel isn’t getting less stressful
- A third of those surveyed (35%) feel the most stress before a trip – during the planning, booking and organising phase. On the flip side, 33% feel stress after the trip catching up with emails and filling expenses reports. And, believe it or not, one in five (20%) would even rather have a cavity filled at the dentist than complete an expense report.
- The Japanese are the most stressed after a trip, with 56% dreading tasks like filling expense reports.
APAC organisations lagging in technology deployment
- 70% of employees feel that their employers have yet to adopt the latest technologies to make their business travel easier; of this 64% say that booking and expense reporting tools are an area their employers lag behind in.
- 61% are hoping to see their employer improve the travel safety tools they offer.
Embracing online booking tools and services
- More than 3 in 5 (68%) business travellers preferred booking their business travels through OTAs citing as reasons convenience (68%), better prices (67%) and better information such as descriptions of hotels or airlines (65%).
- They are also avid users of online booking tools, with 47% saying they like to use them due to better information (73%), greater convenience (69%) and better prices (69%).
- When travel arrangements are cancelled 76% would prefer to rebook their trip online. Indian business travellers top this trend (84%) followed by those from Japan (80%) and the Greater China region (79%).
“Societal issues and employee experiences are increasingly impacting the way we travel. With these shifts come new expectations from travelling staff that shouldn’t go unnoticed.” said Andy Watson, SAP Concur’s senior vice president & general manager for Asia Pacific Japan and Greater China.
“Employees in Asia Pacific, in particular, are looking for a safe and seamless experience when they go on business trips and want guidance and better technology to help them alleviate common hindrances.” he added.
Apart from hightlighting what business travellers want the study also had additional findings, one of which shows that female APAC business travellers report “high levels of harassment and sexism” on the road.
According to the report, more than three in four female travellers (76%) have experienced some form of harassment or mistreatment. They are often asked if they are travelling with their husband (47%), assumed that they are a hotel staff (43%), ignored by service workers (42%) and catcalled on the job (30%).
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Another is on delays in reimbursement for expenses, which travellers say are affecting their trust in their companies. 43% of the respondents reported forfeiting their expenses in 2018, averaging US$839, because they did not think the expense was worth filing or because their employer never paid them the money owed.
• Download the full whitepaper report here.
• Featured image credit: istocksdaily/Getty Images
