How corporate accommodations can adapt to the changing needs of travelers

As a travel arranger, office manager or human resources manager in charge of helping your employees make their business travel arrangements, it’s important to understand and adapt to the evolving needs of corporate travelers, especially when it comes to corporate accommodations.

With the latest hotel industry trends like: smart room technology, health and wellbeing, bleisure and customization, among other trends, it’s important your offer stays aligned with what your travelers want and need so that they can be comfortable on their corporate trips. We’ll dive into how corporate accommodations can adapt to traveler needs to ensure productive, happy and ready to do great business.

Corporate travelers’ needs

When traveling for business, corporate travelers need comfort and convenience. This means that not only are hotels for business travel easily accessible to their meeting locations, the airport and other places of interest while on the trip, but it also means the corporate accommodations are comfortable and provide all the amenities to meet their needs and expectations. 

Beyond just overall comfort and convenience, corporate travel arrangers must consider the need for reliable internet and the ability to work comfortably from the hotel, with work-optimized spaces and accessible power outlets. There’s nothing more frustrating than needing to charge your devices and not having one near the table or desk you are working at.

Wellness moves to the forefront 

Another need that is becoming more and more of a “must have” rather than just a “nice-to-have” is health and wellbeing options. This could be a fitness center, healthy meal options or other stress-relief services like a massage, jacuzzi or a pool to swim laps in to decompress after a long day’s work.

By prioritizing hotels that make wellness a key component of the hotel stay, you can show travelers that it is also a priority for you and the company. Customized amenities that can align with personal wellness and help boost mental health while on the road, like a yoga mat in hotel rooms, meditation or free classes included in the hotel stay. 

Technology

Smart Room Technology, like having the ability to control room settings via your devices is another “nice to have” when it comes to choosing hotels. It’s a way of showing travelers that you care about their convenience and that technology is at the front of mind. Hotels that integrate smart room features, smart controls for lights, AC or TVs, mobile check-in and check-out provide convenience to busy business travelers on the go. The less hassle hotel check-ins and check-outs and the more convenience provided, the happier your travelers will be. 

Embracing bleisure travel

Giving travelers the ability to extend their work trips and make a bleisure (business trip mixed with leisure) trip out of the work trip, is a great way to show travelers that you prioritize their wellbeing. It’s also a great way to maintain a healthy work-life balance that can be hard to achieve when you’re on the road a lot. 

Maybe you can even offer travelers the same corporate rates for the bleisure portion of their trip that you get while they’re staying on the company dime. These little added bonuses don’t cost your company any extra money but can do wonders for traveler satisfaction and showing them that you care.

Focus on sustainability

More and more travelers are concerned about sustainability and how their trip and carbon footprint affect the environment. A great way to adapt to this changing priority is to carefully choose hotels that have sustainability certifications and have a commitment to sustainability. This could be that they have their own compost, are plastic free, employ energy efficiency in their facilities and hotel rooms, or LEED certifications that certify the hotel is sustainably built. 

Showing your travelers that sustainability is at the forefront of your company’s choices, will also show your company’s commitment to the environment, which overall helps how you are perceived by your travelers and employees overall. 

Optimizing corporate accommodations for happy and productive business trips

Key hotel industry trends such as a focus on sustainability, embracing bleisure, wellness and technology are all trends that carry over to changing needs for corporate accommodations. As a travel arranger, HR rep or admin who is in charge of making travel arrangements, it’s important that these trends are considered when it comes time to choose the right hotel for your corporate travelers.

The more you can adapt to travelers’ needs, the more satisfied they will be with their job, and the more productive they will be on their business trips. Corporate accommodations are one of the key areas you can target to ensure your travel program is meeting the needs of your travelers. Happy travelers means better and more effective business trips.