Bookings going ‘rogue’

BUSINESS travellers continue to defy travel policies in their hotel choices, according to a study by Expedia’s business travel arm Egencia which found widespread “rogue booking”.

The Egencia Business Travel and Technology Survey found 60% of companies have a travel policy in place, but more than half of business travellers are still able to book travel using any method they choose.

It says 46% make their own choices for hotel bookings, and that to reign in rogue bookings companies need to consider relevant and clear policies and give incentives for adherence.

“Business travellers book out-of- policy because either they could not find a hotel close enough to their destination (37%), or found a better price or hotel within their per diem (37%),” the study says.

“With this in mind, providing relevance in a travel program means surfacing a selection of hotel choices at the top of their online search results that are tailored to the needs of the business travellers.”

Monetary rewards were the most likely incentive to encourage travellers to book within their policy, Egencia said.

Sixty-two percent of business travellers said they would choose within policy if they received a percentage of savings and an additional 60% would comply if they received funds they could apply to other travel options.