SAN MATEO, Calif., � November 17, 2004 � Although business travelers
at companies with unmanaged or lightly managed travel policies pay more
frequent visits to online travel agencies, they prefer the online experience
provided by airline and lodging Web sites, according to a new study. The
syndicated research study released by Keynote Systems (Nasdaq �KEYN�),
The Internet Performance Authority®, is the first to examine the actual
online habits and behavior of business travelers as they plan for and book
travel.
The
Keynote Open Web Research (OWR) for Business Travel is based on research
with 1,500 business travelers as they interacted with dozens of leading
travel Web sites. In addition to traditional opinion data, Keynote�s proprietary
research technology allows for the collection of detailed qualitative and
behavioral data as users surf and perform tasks on the Web.
The study focused on business travelers whose travel was unmanaged or
lightly managed by their company.
Online Travel Agencies vs. Airlines and Hotel Web Sites
�The online agencies excel with travelers in general and clearly attract
the most online visitors, but business travelers are actually more satisfied
with the online experience and services of airline and lodging Web sites,�
said Dr. Bonny Brown, director of research and public services for Keynote.
�This differs from all other Keynote studies in the travel industry where
the online agencies consistently outperformed supplier sites. Business
travelers have a distinctly different view on researching and booking travel
than do other travelers, and this presents a significant opportunity for
travel suppliers such as airlines and hotels.�
According to the study, business travelers often use online travel agencies
as an information resource and then proceed directly to specific air, hotel
or rental car Web sites. Business travelers prefer the online experience
of supplier sites, as evidenced by higher customer satisfaction and purchase
impact rates, because supplier sites offer more services and options than
online agency sites. For instance, business travelers find it easier to
determine flight schedules on airline Web sites such as American Airlines
and AmericaWest, as opposed to online agency sites.
When booking hotel rooms, Internet access is a key decision driver and
highly-ranked hotel sites such as Hilton and Starwood allow you to determine
which specific hotels have high-speed Internet access, whereas most online
agencies do not offer similar information.
Price and Selection Top Purchase Drivers
In general, the price of a travel service and the selection available
on a site are the top drivers for business travelers in determining where
to purchase online, with air and lodging supplier sites the clear leaders
in pricing satisfaction and the online agencies the clear leaders in selection.
JetBlue and Southwest Airlines were ranked as the sites offering the best
prices; whereas Expedia was consistently ranked as providing the best selection.
More than 85 percent of business travelers participating in the study
mentioned price as a leading consideration, and 48 percent indicated that
loyalty programs were a �very important� or �extremely important� consideration.
For lodging, price and proximity of the hotel to business/meeting location
were equally matched as leading considerations, cited by nearly 80 percent
of business travelers. High-speed Internet access was mentioned as a �very
important� or �extremely important� consideration by 53 percent of business
travelers. A complete list of the leading factors driving purchase decisions
is included in the full Keynote report.
�In general, travel sites have an opportunity to capture more of the
unmanaged travel market and especially to increase sales of travel packages,
such as air and hotel combinations, but to do so they need to more clearly
demonstrate to customers that they are getting good value,� said Brown.
Frequency of Travel Strongly Influences Purchase Decisions
However, the Keynote study found significant differences in the priorities
business travelers place on price � and other considerations, such as loyalty
programs and brand loyalty � based on the frequency with which they travel
and the size of their business. Price decreases in importance the more
frequently a businessperson travels, and also for travelers from larger
businesses. Loyalty programs, specifically air mileage programs, are significantly
more important to frequent business travelers � those traveling at least
once every eight weeks � equaling price as the top consideration for these
travelers.
Price was of increased importance to less frequent travelers and to
those travelers whose travel purchases were unmanaged by their companies.
Small business employees were much more likely to consider low cost air
carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines.
Profile of the Unmanaged/Lightly Managed Business Traveler
Overall, business travelers start their research and booking process
with a better idea of what they want and what sites they will visit than
do leisure travelers, according to the study. More than 40 percent of business
travelers start their search at a specific online agency, with Expedia
the leading destination followed by Travelocity and Orbitz. Approximately
20 percent of business travelers start their search at a supplier site,
with airline sites being the leading destination in this group. Another
20 percent start their process by visiting a search engine, with up to
40 percent visiting a search engine at some point during their planning,
and Google being the leading site followed by Yahoo!
The majority of business travelers visit only one type of travel site,
either choosing to do business only with online agencies -- or going directly
to supplier sites and bypassing the online agencies all together. However,
more than 35 percent of business travelers visit multiple types of sites
during their planning and booking process.
One in three (33%) business travelers have made the trip they are taking
before. Half of all business travelers are planning a billable trip, such
as visiting a customer or client, with employees of large businesses significantly
more likely to be taking such a trip. One-third (33%) of business travelers
are traveling to attend a trade show or conference, with mid-size business
employees more likely to be taking such a trip.
The American Airlines, Cheap Tickets, Delta, Hertz, Hilton, Hotels.com,
Hotwire, Expedia, Marriott, Orbitz, Priceline, Southwest Airlines, Travelocity,
United and Yahoo! travel Web sites were among those evaluated during this
study. Other Keynote syndicated research (formerly known as Vividence syndicated
research) in the travel industry includes specific examinations of the
leading online lodging, cruise, rental car and travel package Web sites.
The entire report, Keynote Open Web Research (OWR) for Business Travel,
is a 100+ page examination of the business travel industry containing hundreds
of additional data points and a detailed analysis of the findings. For
information about purchasing the full report, visit http://www.keynote.com/syndicated.html
�We expect to see travel companies across the board improve their online
services, addressing the needs and preferences of these increasingly important
customers,� said Brown. �There is obviously a critical need for travel
companies to learn what their competitors are doing right online and to
match that service.�
About Keynote
Founded in 1995, Keynote Systems (Nasdaq �KEYN�), The Internet Performance
Authority®, is the worldwide leader in e-business performance management
services. Over 2,100 corporate IT departments and 19,000 individual subscribers
rely on Keynote�s growing range of measurement and monitoring, service
level and customer experience management services to improve e-business
performance by reducing costs, improving customer satisfaction and increasing
profitability.
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