A survey by global Hotel Solutions Provider HRS, conducted with the Fraunhofer Institute, has revealed that the majority of business travellers would like more flexibility when it comes to staying in a hotel.
In order of priority, business travellers said that they would like to be able to adjust their check-out time by three hours, book a hotel according to three daily time blocks and lastly be able to book accommodation by the hour.
The research, which polled over 650 individuals from across the globe, also showed that 60 per cent of business travellers rarely use their hotel room for the entire time it is available to them, which represents a high volume of wastage.
Talking about the findings, Jon West, Managing Director for HRS in the UK and Ireland, said: “Demand for flexibility is reflected in the growing number of luxurious airline lounges, book-by-the-hour conference centres, and coffee shops packed with laptop users. This shows that the traditional hotel standard 3pm check-in and noon check-out is not meeting the needs of business travellers who often arrive in the afternoon or evening, and then leave early in the morning.
It is evident that hotels should seriously consider the changing needs of business travellers when it comes to flexibility.
City-based hotels could learn from practices being adopted by airport-based hotels which offer more flexibility in their accommodation options – for example day-use rooms that you can book for specific periods of time or thinking creatively about how to further entice business travellers.”
