In April this year more than 500 American female business travelers were surveyed by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and AIG Travel. The main topic of the survey was safety connected to their business trip.
According to the results, 83% of female business travelers admitted to having at least one safety concern or issue while on their business travels in the past year.
“The research findings show that many female business travelers are aware of and concerned about the challenges they may face while travelling for work, while employers still have plenty of room to provide more guidance and resources to help women minimize those risks and experience safer travels,” said Rhonda Sloan from AIG Travel to GBTA’s official website.
One of the most important discoveries of the survey is that 71% of traveling women consider themselves more at risk during their travels than their male colleagues. General safety (78%), sex-related harassment (72%) and having to travel to certain regions (68%) represent the biggest concerns women have on the road.
Based on the answers received, 58% of women communicate with their employer, friends and family during their business stay, 56% of female business travelers stay at ‘reliable and trustworthy’ accommodation facilities, while something over a half (51%) share information about their whereabouts to their closest ones.
Trusted hotels and neighborhood safety
Accommodation-wise, casual hotels are still the most common places to stay, with 70% of respondents considering it their primary choice. However, new trends such as Airbnb or HomeAway are gaining popularity with almost one quarter (24%) saying they prefer this type of accommodation.
When it comes to hotels the most preferred ones (74%) are trustworthy and reliable hotel chains. Female business travelers also take neighborhood safety (67%) and proximity of the hotel to their workplace (64%) as relevant factors when choosing where to say.
Similarly, when booking on platforms such as Airnbnb, most women (57%) choose housing that is highly rated by previous visitors. In terms of transportation, rental cars are in the lead with the approval rate of 81%, while only 53% say the same about services like Uber.
General confidence in employers
Overall, most women (83%) are confident that their employers care about their safety during their business travels, while 87% of women have no problem in sharing their safety concerns with them. But most of them also agree that there is still some room for improvement in this sense.
According to 68% of respondents, companies sending women on business trips should have gender-related policies addressing specific needs of women. In another survey, however, it was discovered that just 18% admitted to having this kind of policies.
Thus said, generally there is satisfaction with what is already available, but there is a certain level of desire for additional services, for example also an emergency hotline or seminars and trainings on how to deal with issues like assault, harassment or other crimes.