A recent survey by travel search engine, KAYAK, and YouGov reveals that more than half of Americans (58 percent) think business travel is back or will be back by the end of 2021. And, while searches during the first half of the year for mid-week travel in the U.S. this fall are still down 20 percent compared to 2019, they are up 165 percent compared to 2020.
To meet the demands of business travelers and their employers in the post-COVID world, KAYAK has launched its free corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business. KAYAK started beta testing its corporate travel tool in November 2019, shortly before the pandemic took hold. Following a soft launch in February 2021, KAYAK for Business is now available in 60 locales and 28 languages with over 3,000 companies signed up in the last three months. New features include expense integration, price prediction, discounted corporate rates and more.
KAYAK for Business is said to be "free, fast and easy." With over 2,000 sites to book from, it allows employees to book from anywhere. According to a press release, "For companies, it provides big cost savings versus other corporate travel platforms, gets everyone in the company under one platform and offers a quick and efficient approval process for travel and expenses. For travelers, it makes searching for (and expensing) business trips more convenient and personalized."
Similar to the KAYAK UX (user experience), KAYAK for Business aims to bring the leisure travel experience to the outdated interface of the corporate travel world, with added features like automated expenses, the ability to book from anywhere while keeping your loyalty points, and the ability to share trip details with colleagues and family.
According to the survey, one quarter of American business travelers want a job where they can travel for work and 28 percent would like to go on at least one business trip by year-end. Americans also ranked visiting a new place (20 percent), having me-time (18 percent) and doing leisurely activities (16 percent) among the top factors they look forward to when traveling for work. Further, nearly one third (30 percent) of American business travelers say they like to add a couple personal days to the beginning or end of a business trip to round out their travels, indicating “bleisure” travel is on the rise.
For more information, head to www.kayak.com/business.
Related Stories
Global DMC Partners: In-Person Events Facing New Challenges
Stats: 76% of Planners to Host Next In-Person Event This Year
Elevate IME Acquires Docherty Incentives and Meetings