Press Room: Media Releases

AUCKLAND – 21 May 2009: Most business travellers said they weren’t feeling the pinch in the first quarter of 2009, with 68% of respondents to the Wotif.com Business Travel Insight survey saying their business travel was not affected by the economic downturn.

Another 54% of respondents from New Zealand and Australia said they felt stripping travel budgets was actually detrimental to the overall business.

While travel for most companies was ‘business as usual’, Megan Magill Wotif.com General Manager Brand said many are turning to online booking options and searching for deals with value-added inclusions to stretch their dollar further.

“Gone are the days of big business travel budgets. Instead businesses are looking for ways to save in areas they haven’t had to for a while,” Magill said.

“We asked respondents to indicate how important things like price, location and free inclusions are on business travel decisions.

“Price is certainly a driving factor – 83% of respondents spent on average less than $200 a night on their accommodation.

“When asked to rank what features are important in deciding on accommodation, price and free inclusions ranked two and three. Location is still the most important consideration in booking accommodation for business.

“When asked what’s most valued in business accommodation, free breakfast came up the winner, followed by free parking, internet connection and room service.

Among the findings from the Wotif.com Business Travel Insights:

- the majority of business travellers (55%) stayed away an average 2-3 nights per trip, 35% travelled 2-3 times in the first quarter of    2009;

- 66% of business travellers prefer to stay in hotels. Serviced apartments are also popular, with 19% opting to stay in one while 14% like    to stay in a motel;

- 4 star properties are the favourite - 66% said they prefer to stay in a 4 star property rather than 5 or 3 star;

- 61% prefer to take shorter, more frequent business trips;

- 37% add a leisure component on to their business trips.

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*The Wotif.com Travel Insight survey incorporates questions for both leisure and business travellers. The information in this release is based on the 470 New Zealand and Australian business traveller respondents. It was conducted by Wotif.com in April 2009 and is the first in a series of quarterly surveys.