Half of Business Travelers Can Book Outside Company Policy
A recent study* by Egencia®, the business travel arm of the Expedia group, found that despite the wide use of travel policies worldwide, “rogue booking”, the practice of business travelers booking outside of their travel program, is still an issue for corporate travel programs, especially when it comes to hotel stays. While 60 percent of companies have a travel policy in place, more than half of the business travelers surveyed are still allowed to book travel using any method they choose, and a full 46 percent have done so for hotel bookings, according to the 4th edition Egencia Business Travel and Technology Survey. To rein in these rogue booking tendencies, the study suggests that relevancy, incentivization and clear policies can pave the way.
Business travelers book out-of-policy because either they could not find a hotel close enough to their destination (37 percent), or found a better price or hotel within their per diem (37 percent). With this in mind, providing relevance in a travel program means surfacing a selection of hotel choices at the top of their online search results that are tailored to the needs of the business travelers. This can include location of hotels, as well as flexible booking options. Additionally, offering fair and competitive pricing eliminates the need to shop outside the company’s preferred booking channels.