Business Travel Will Have To Be More Fun
Don’t count out pure business travel—it’s still a thing. But it’s also evolving. “Work culture is really being stymied by distributed teams,” says Evan Konwiser, executive vice president for product and strategy at American Express Global Business Travel. “We didn’t realize how much we relied on offices for that. But now travel is emerging as a great way to de-commoditize your work experience.”
Gathering the team in a fun way, he says, has become a popular approach for 2022, even if a majority of companies are still opting to hold team-building events at their headquarters or in hybrid ways. But outliers—companies that are planning these retreats at, say, dude ranches—are increasing in popularity, spurring hope that vacation vibes can spill into business travel in the same way business has spilled into leisure trips.
Some are calling this a push for the “great reconnection.” Retreat-planning companies such as Troop and NextRetreat are among the travel industry startups that closed seed-funding rounds in 2021. And according to Skift, Salesforce.com Inc.’s Marc Benioff has even floated the possibility of building a “ranch-style resort for employees, where they can spend time team-building, take training sessions or even holiday with their families.”
Much of that is still sorting itself out. But expect more work trips in 2022, even if it’s just to head back to the office on a quarterly basis to check in with the team.
“Wild and crazy off-sites in cool venues will become part of the mix, 100%,” Konwiser says. “But right now people are coming away saying it was so nice to be with my colleagues for a day.” And companies are going to go a greater distance to make sure the travel experience is a positive one, he adds. “I may have this one week to make you, team member, feel the power of our culture. Am I going to put you up at a highway motel or a cool boutique hotel in the heart of the city?”
Your Hotel May Look A Little Different
Because remote workers represent a whole new market for the travel industry to capture, accommodations providers will be racing to meet their needs—if they haven’t done so already. For laptop luggers, home rentals have the upper hand, says Deloitte’s Crowley, because they offer space to spread out and to separate work from play. And upstart companies like Landing, which charges users $199 per year to access a global portfolio of monthlong rental options, have sprung up to meet the demand of digital nomads.
Hotel companies are trying to muscle back into that territory, too. Citizen M, for instance, created a membership program that provides fixed nightly rates and discounts on food and beverage offerings when digital nomads commit to a monthlong stay; it typically works out to $1,500 a month even in pricey real estate markets such as New York, Amsterdam, or Paris. Hoxton hotels has announced special rates for commuters who need an overnight near the office, while Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., is among the hotels offering day rates for at-home workers in pursuit of extra space. More will surely follow. In other places, hotels are rethinking the old business center; some are transforming pool cabanas into indoor-outdoor workstations, or adding a wider array of office supplies (and printing services) to the standard in-room desk.
Resorts in luxury destinations, meanwhile, are moving to include home offices and other flexible spaces that can be outfitted with, say, fitness equipment or nursery gear. New constructions are being designed to feature fewer boxy rooms and more spacious suites. And never have general managers been so concerned with the strength and reliability of their Wi-Fi networks, either; that’s a far cry from the days when free Wi-Fi was considered a luxury at all. (Remember: That wasn’t too long ago.)
You May Not Get As Much R&R
One possible downside of blended travel is that people will forget the value of truly disconnecting. And the pressures of being “always on” may follow us wherever we go.
And don’t count on getting a reservation wherever you want to go. Between pent-up demand and the ability to travel anytime, anywhere, availability at top resorts remains at an all-time low.
“We’ve had record-breaking years at several of our resorts,” says Craig Read, CEO of Auberge Resorts Collection. “The demand is just so high at some of our properties that even when I’ve asked if the reservations team can squeeze me in with my family for spring break, they shake their heads and say no way.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.