German business travelers book price-consciously. The data of Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) show that during this year’s first quarter 41 percent of all customers booked their flights 14 days in advance to receive cheaper offers.
The cost awareness also manifested itself in the hotel choice. Hotels of the “Economy” (plus 11 percent) and “Standard” (plus 16 percent) categories experienced two-digit increases compared to last year’s data. Accordingly, a comparative decrease was found for luxury hotels.
Despite the rising prices of flights (plus 0.4 percent), hotel stays (plus 2.8 percent) and rental cars (plus 1.8 percent), the total cost per travel stayed the same (420 Euros, minus 0.8 percent). Even the length of stay was largely unaffected (generally 2.3 instead of 2.4 days).
Moreover, business class flights saw an increase of nearly 20 percent. The Economy Class experienced a small decrease but remains the strongest service class with a market share of 86.5 percent.
“Travel Managers in Germany display a high cost awareness and a good ability to enforce money saving initiatives within their companies,“ said Philippe Chonion, Senior Manager Hotel Solutions EMEA of CWT Solutions Group, who is responsible for the German market.
“Simultaneously, the business and premium and economy classes gain victory. This is not a contradiction, since they offer a great mix between cost and comfort for travelers, especially on long distance flights. Another sign that shows Travel Managers know what they’re doing.”