Business travelers represent a rising demographic within the hospitality industry. As hotels continue to cater services towards business travelers, your property needs to keep pace with shifting technology and expectations to remain competitive amongst this important demographic.
At Hospitality Network, we understand what your hotel needs to support business travelers. Let’s dive into what qualifies as business travel, why your hotel should cater to this demographic, and what these travelers are looking for in your property:
- What is Business Travel in Hotels?
- What Do Business Travelers Want in a Hotel?
- Top Hotel Amenities for Business Travelers
What is Business Travel in Hotels?
Business travel refers to any & all travel undertaken for purposes of work or business. Traditionally, business travel refers to professionals on business trips, but changing roles and the dawn of modern technology has shifted the definition. Today, business travel also encompasses:
- Bleisure travelers, combining business & leisure for a productive yet engaging vacation or getaway
- Digital nomads, remote workers who travel from place to place rather than signing long-term leases
- Conference attendees, whether attending in-house at your hotel or traveling to a separate convention center
- Traveling workers, from traveling salesman to medical personnel such as travel nurses
Why are Business Travelers an Important Demographic for Hotels?
With such diverse professionals falling into the category, business travelers encompass a sizable chunk of hotel guest populations; in 2021 business tourists went on approximately 251 million domestic & inbound business trips in the United States alone, with that number rapidly rising as the industry moves farther away from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Allied Market Research, the global business travel market was valued at $695.9 billion in 2020 — with that number expected to reach $2001.1 billion by 2028. In turn, marketing & catering services to business travelers can lead to sizable financial returns for hotels.
Within an increasingly connected world, professionals often turn to work on vacation even when they don’t initially intend to. According to Forbes, nearly 70% of people work while on vacation; providing these guests the means to quickly access their job helps ease the stress of work and allows them to return to their vacation more quickly.
What Do Business Travelers Want in a Hotel?
Business travelers want to be able to reliably access their work while still experiencing the luxury amenities traditionally associated with vacations.
Ensuring guests can efficiently and seamlessly get work done is of the utmost importance when appealing to business travelers. Traveling for work is stressful enough; your WiFi network should be intuitive, responsive, and easily accessible to guests in order to make the process of working during their stay as seamless as possible.
Although providing easy access to work should be a priority for hoteliers marketing to business travelers, luxury amenities ensure that professionals enjoy the experience and want to return. From poolside restaurant service to all-encompassing spas, providing means for guests to destress after long workdays will help keep business travelers satisfied.
Top Hotel Amenities for Business Travelers
Here are a few of the top hotel amenities for business travelers — each of which help streamline work processes and offer specific benefits to traveling workers.
Deluxe WiFi Tiers for Repeat Visitors
As hotel WiFi continues to grow in quality, so too does the price of maintaining a powerful network. To supplement these costs, many hotels offer tiered WiFi systems — providing a free option for more casual guests and a premium option for those in need of more powerful network access.
For business travelers, hotels can incentivize repeat visits by offering these deluxe WiFi tiers at a free or discounted rate. Whether traveling solo or as part of a larger group, hotels can market deluxe WiFi as part of a more holistic rewards program — ensuring that guests that enjoy deluxe WiFi upon first visit won’t need to think twice about leveraging it again next time they travel.
Specialized WiFi Business Centers
While responsive WiFi ensures guests can access their work across your property, some business professionals will seek dedicated spaces to conduct their business. For these professionals, WiFi business centers are essential.
WiFi business centers are spaces that are specially-designed for professionals to do work. Features of business centers may include:
- Wireless printers
- Desktop computers
- Luxury desk chairs
- Laptops or tablets for rent
- Multi-purpose meeting rooms
- Desks equipped with built-in outlets for easy charging
When designing a hotel business center, hoteliers should prioritize scalability. Expectations for hotel business centers are constantly shifting & evolving as technology advances; keeping your business center up-to-date is of the utmost importance when appealing to the high expectations of business guests.
Premium Access to Online Guest Services
Hotels continue to shift the majority of their services online. From booking to check-out, modern technology such as the cloud and automated processes have changed the ways hotels provide guest services.
Hoteliers can leverage premium access to these online guest services as another means to entice business travelers. For conferences or larger groups, hotels can offer earlier access to bookings & reserve conference rooms far in advance. Solo travelers, meanwhile, can access early or late check-out after building up rewards points from previous visits.
Power Business Travel Amenities Using WiFi Access from Hospitality Network
As business travelers continue to dominate the hospitality industry, hotels need to keep up with modern expectations. By implementing network amenities such as deluxe WiFi tiers and business centers, hotels can satisfy business travelers and exceed expectations.
Hospitality Network provides reliable, powerful WiFi networks to hotels — ideal for supporting the network solutions that business travelers expect. Request a consultation with our team of experts today to learn how we can support business travel at your property.