Hong Kongers most honest travellers in Asia Pacific

A global survey by online accommodation booking service, Hotel.com, reveals Hong Kongers as the most honest travellers in Asia Pacific, with 81% stating they have not pocketed anything they should not from a hotel room.

Taiwanese and Koreans shared the second spot (78%), Singporeans came in fourth (77%) and Japan fifth (73%).

The most common hotel amenities taken by sticky-fingered travellers around the world include in-room magazines and books. Other items respondents admitted to taking include bathrobe, pillows, electronics, irons and even in-room furniture such as lamps or alarm clocks. (see chart below)

The survey also found that while more than a third (35%) of global travellers admitted to removing hotel amenities there are a few niceties that guests are willing to pay for: a room with a view (29%) and a balcony (17%) came out on top.

Calculating hidden costs of business travel through Travel Stress Index

In a survey of 7,300 business travellers last year Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) found the greatest stress triggers among the road warriors were lost/delayed baggage; poor Internet connection at the destination, flying economy on medium/long haul flights, and flight delays.

CWT took this research a step further to analyse the impact of travel-related stress on an organisation’s productivity levels with the development of an industry-first algorithm based tool, called the Travel Stress Index (TSI), to quantify travel stress and its costs. It calculates the hours of productive time lost due to stress, and what this means for a company in dollar terms.

CWT’s research (download full report here) indicates that companies can control and impact, on average, up to 32% of the lost time and productivity caused by stress, to drive savings.

“By identifying which stressors are causing the most pain for a particular segment of travellers we can recommend specific solutions to enhance the traveller experience and improve productivity. It could be advising on connectivity solutions for each stage of a trip or recommending a specific carrier based on on-time or lost-luggage performances,” said Vincent Lebunetel, head of CWT Solutions Group, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Using the TSI, CWT Solutions Group can now assess a company’s trip-related stress levels, benchmark it against industry norms and provide recommendations to help clients tackle the hidden costs of business travel while addressing their duty of care responsibilities.

For example, the possible lost time for a company taking an average of 5,000 trips per year represents US$3.3 million, of this US$1.1 million can be saved through improved traveller productivity.

“By creating policies that are centred on people – their profiles, needs and their reactions to different stress triggers – companies can help travellers focus on the fundamental reason for their trip: doing business!” added Lebunetel.

Booking.com mobile bookings triple

Booking.com, the largest brand in the global online accommodation sector, has seen a triple increase in its mobile hotel booking from US$1 billion in 2011 to over US$3 billion in 2012.”

“Booking.com’s mobile apps for Android, iOS, and Windows 8 devices have been downloaded more than 20 million times over the past three years,” said its CEO, Darren Huston.

The simple and seamless booking experience were responsible for the healthy booking trend, he added.
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“Once they are signed into their accounts, all their credit card details, searches, favourites, and booking information will be securely accessible from the cloud. This allows our customers to book faster and have all their important information readily available, whether they are at home, in the office, or on the move.”

The online mobile hotel and accommodation bookings were made through Booking.com family of hotel booking apps including native apps for iOS, Android, Windows 8 and Kindle Fire devices, and through the company’s mobile websites.