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The rise and fall of business travel
Business travel used to come with some perks — perhaps a posh hotel, a gourmet meal, maybe a trip to the mini-bar and even a pay-per-view movie before bed. Wave goodbye to all that.
With companies clamping down on spending and hotel rates going up, however, business travel is becoming more bare-bones.
“These days, it can sometimes resemble college-dorm living, involving roommates, cooking your own meals and crashing on a friend’s couch,” writes The Wall Street Journal.
Is it really that bad?
The Journal found a Burlington, Vt., businessman who skips a hotel when he visits New York City for business and stays with his girlfriend’s family. He makes a one-and-a-half hour commute into Manhattan by train.
His boss is not much better off. He often bunks at a friend’s apartment in Greenwich Village, where he sleeps on a sofa.
“While companies long have been slashing costs on air travel, forcing employees to fly coach and take cheaper connecting flights, comfortable hotel stays, until recently, were still usually a given. Now, corporate cost-cutting efforts include everything from pushing employees to share hotel rooms to installing software that encourages travelers to choose cheaper digs,” says the Journal.
The Virginia Community College System, for example, says it pays for two nights of lodging for employees who double up in rooms when attending professional-development conferences; those who choose to go solo must pay for one of the nights themselves.
More than 76% of employers say they are booking fewer luxury hotels in favor of mid-class properties this year, according to the National Business Travel Association.
This is happening as travel costs rise — particularly hotel rates, which are up 19.2% in the US since the end of 2004.
Rates are projected to rise another 6% this year, according to Smith Travel Research, making this the fourth straight year of significant growth.
“The budget moves can instill a bit of hotel shame in some business travelers. Indeed, some flee their low-cost digs first thing in the morning, heading to plusher — and more conveniently located — hotels for meals and business meetings,” says the Journal.
Some companies are turning to teleconferencing to cut travel costs.
Some companies even want their employees to cook.
Report by David Wilkening
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