As 2015 draws to a close, new data from Australian travel and expense technology company Locomote, reveals that local business travellers visited 499 different cities in the last twelve months.
Locomote, which manages the corporate travel of more than 200,000 employees across the country, has reported that Australian company travellers visited an average of two cities each, including both local and international destinations and were spending on average $5,341.7 per traveller throughout the year.
The majority of business trips included an overnight stay at another city. Overnight business trips were the most popular (15.1 per cent), followed by two nights (11.1 per cent) and five nights (10 per cent). Same-day return trips ranked sixth accounting for 7.6 per cent of the total of business trips made by Aussie corporate travellers.
When travelling to domestic destinations, companies spent on average $730.3 per traveller — including flights, accommodation and car rentals. It’s a heftier bill when it comes to international business trips, with the average spend per employee jumping to $3,492.
Key trends in the Australian business travel industry in 2015
7.6 per cent of the total of business trips made by Aussie corporate travellers
- Sydney-based companies spent the most on corporate travel
- New York was the most popular US destination for Aussie business travellers, followed by San Francisco and Los Angeles
- Businesses spent an average of $211 per night on accommodation for travelling employees
- On average, companies booked their business travel 29 days in advance. Making bookings in advance was an increasing trend to lower costs
- Tuesday was the most popular day for booking business trips with 22.9 per cent of overall reservations booked that day, followed by Wednesday (20.4 per cent) and Monday (19.4 per cent)
- The most common day to travel for business was Sunday with 22.4 per cent of the total of corporate trips, followed by Monday (18.2 per cent) and Tuesday (13.8 per cent)
- One in three Australian employees flew Business Class, while 60 per cent of corporate travellers booked Economy tickets
Locomote’s CEO and Executive Chairman, Philip Weinman, said business travel in Australia is growing with employees travelling to both local and international destinations more often.
“Corporate travel continues to become an increasingly important part of business,” he said. “With companies signing agreements with international organisations, and global firms opening new offices in cities around the world, employees need to travel to a large number of destinations.
“The demand for flights to the US has already motivated Qantas and American Airlines to expand their number of routes between Australia and North America, providing more flights to New York, which is the most visited city in the US by Aussies”
Philip Weinman, CEO and Executive Chairman, Locomote
“We can see that companies are considering the additional costs of last minute planning and are taking special care to book an average of 29 days in advance, in order to get better deals and lower costs.
“We are looking at a maturing Australian business travel industry that is being mindful of budgets as it continuous to grow, said Weinman.