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Brand Loyal or Stuck in a Rut? TripAdvisor's New Business Traveler Survey

September 28, 2006 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments

TripAdvisor announced the results of a new business traveler survey yesterday. Under the headline of "Business Travelers Chained to Favorite Hotels," they note that 68 percent regularly stay at the same hotel chain while on business trips.

Apparently the road warriors don't like surprises. Some 2,100 travelers from around the world responded and their top pick was the Marriott chain. This is no surprise to us since the first word that comes to mind when we hear Marriott is "predictable." Runners up were Hilton, Holiday Inn, Sheraton, and Best Western. We're not sure where that last one came from, but perhaps there are a lot of Willy Lomans out there who find this the best choice when the expense report is under scrutiny. (And free WiFi doesn't hurt either.)

Some of the findings may elicit a reply of, "Well duh!" We especially like this one: "Forty-six percent of travelers are likely to tip more generously when they know it is a reimbursable business expense." Here are some more findings specific to hotels:

In terms of the favorite luxuries of business travel, 34 percent cited the "luxury sheets and fancy bath products" while 22 percent said it was having a room to themselves. The most important hotel feature when traveling on business is a hotel's location and proximity to meetings or the airport (32 percent), followed closely by having a high-speed internet connection (30 percent).

We're kind of curious about the high showing of "having a room to themselves." Is it because they are glad to get away from their shared bedroom (and the other occupant) at home? Or are they really saying "my cheap ass boss usually makes us share when we're at a convention?"

For some business travelers, that in-room porn may not be so important after all: "Twelve percent of respondents acknowledge having visited a strip club while on a business trip."

Image via andreasmisera/flickr

Related Stories:
· Business Travelers Chained to Favorite Hotels [Yahoo! Biz]
· HotelChatter investigates Hotel Porn [HotelChatter]