NEWTON, Mass - Feb. 1, 1999--With overworked business travelers
taking fewer lengthy holidays and more brief excursions, attaching pleasure
to a business trip is quickly becoming a global phenomenon.
A new nationwide study of business travelers, released today by Cahners
Research for Hotels magazine, reveals how frequently they add vacation
time, what they look for in hotel services, where they travel and what
they do during their stay.
Following are some general findings from the Cahners Research study
for Hotels magazine:
In the past year, most respondents extended at least one business trip
by tacking on vacation time and inviting family or friends to join them.
On average, these travelers, the study reports, spent seven days on an
extended business trip with four days spent on business and three days
on pleasure. |
Slightly more than 40 percent changed their hotel for the vacation
portion of the trip, often trading down to a more moderately priced hotel
or opting not to stay at a hotel at all. (More than 82 percent of respondents
stayed in a luxury or upscale hotel on the business portion of their trip,
compared with 65 percent on the vacation portion.) More than one third
of the travelers would have extended their business trip at the same hotel
if it had offered a weekend package. |
The business center and modem access were the most important amenities
offered for the business portion of the trip. Babysitting, children stay
free programs and children's activities were the most important amenities
for the holiday portion. |
The most popular locations of extended business trips were San Francisco,
Las Vegas, New York, Phoenix and Orlando, in that order. |
On average, travelers were accompanied by one adult family member or
friend. One-fifth of the travelers were joined by children. |
Male travelers were more likely than female travelers to bring others
on their trip. The higher a respondent's income, the more likely he/she
was to bring adult family members or friends on the trip. |
Fully 88 percent extended their business trips over a Saturday night. |
The most common vacation activities on extended business trips were
shopping and seeing historic sites. |
The nationwide study by Cahners Research involved detailed questionnaires
that were mailed to 2,000 randomly selected subscribers to the North American
Pocket Flight Guide. More than 500 surveys were returned, and the average
respondent was a 42-year-old married male with two children and a household
income of $182,000.
Cahners Research and Hotels magazine are part of Cahners, a leading
provider of business information in the United States. Cahners is a member
of the Reed Elsevier plc group (NYSE:RUK and ENL), a world-leading publisher
and information provider with principal operations in North America and
Europe. Cahners publishes 127 business magazines and provides 18 business
communities with online services, custom publishing, directories, research
and direct mail lists. Hotels magazine reaches more than 62,000 industry
professionals in 164 countries. |