Checking the latest sports scores, updating Facebook, looking for the nearest coffee spot and tweeting were also highly rated in the recent survey. In addition, 61% of all business travellers were burning the midnight oil online - not on business from the day - but rather managing their personal lives remotely.
The younger business traveller was even more focused on finding personal balance. Nearly one third of younger business travellers, ages 25 to 34, were more likely to order perks that make their hotel stay more comfortable; over 40% tweet about their travels and 65% enjoy updating Facebook to let everyone know where they are.
Business travellers, who are inclined to order services from a hotel on a mobile device or computer, prefer things which will help travel go more smoothly. When asked which types of services they would order using their mobile device or computer, almost six in 10 business travellers said they would request a car service to the airport, while 48% said they would order anything that would allow them to multitask while on a business trip.
When asked what hotel Wi-Fi is used for at night other than work, 61% of business travellers said they randomly surf the web, while others use the time to catch up with life outside of work. Also in the survey, 49% of business travellers pay bills online and 34% Skype or chat with their family at home.
A sizeable number, 40% of business travellers, check Facebook or other social networking Web site(s) on hotel Wi-Fi and 34% of travellers say they update their Facebook status.
Just over half - 55% - of the business travellers surveyed said they never tweet while on a business trip, and only 11% said they tweet often. Among those who said they would tweet during a hotel stay, positive experiences, such as free room upgrades (70%) and free Wi-Fi (62%) were more likely to incent a tweet than negative ones. The survey found an overbooked hotel to be the one negative that would likely put guests in a tweeting mood.
A total of 200 business travellers completed the online survey conducted from March 29-31 by KRC Research. To qualify, business travellers had to be at least 22 years old, travel overnight for business purposes at least six times a year, spend approximately $150 or more per night on a hotel room, not including taxes, and carry and/or use a personal communication device (PDA, Blackberry, iPhone, Google Android smartphone or other device) while travelling on business.
(Tourism Exchange Company, July 2010)
