FCM Travel Solutions Explores Impact of Behavioural Economics on Business Traveller Wellbeing

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The FCM report flags warning signs of 'traveller friction' that employers should look out for. These include employee absence post-trip, resistance or reluctance to travel, poor employee retention amongst frequent travellers, frequent non-compliant bookings, jetlag impacting productivity post-trip and unproductive business trips.

According to FCM, traveller friction is exacerbated when a company's business travel policy - the guidelines governing class of travel or standard of hotel accommodation that an employee is allowed to book - is too rigid or inflexible; fails to factor in the human cost of travel; or prioritises financial savings over traveller wellbeing. Other causes of traveller friction can be cumbersome or outdated travel booking processes, poor trip approval processes, unclear policy guidelines, and policies that are purely company focussed rather than traveller-centric.

"Behavioural economics looks at how people make decisions about what they will buy, how much they will pay for a product or service and what factors drive these decisions. In a business travel scenario, the decisions your travellers are making daily can have a significant impact not only on your organisation's bottom line, but also on traveller wellbeing, productivity and morale," explains Jo Greenfield, UK General Manager, FCM Travel Solutions.

"Traveller friction can occur when your people are travelling too much, or they are having poor travel experiences in-trip. In order to address the causes, you need to first identify and understand the key challenges your travellers face. Then these insights into traveller friction can be used to tweak your business travel policy to achieve better compliance and engagement - and to reduce the human cost of frequent travel," says Greenfield.

"Business travellers lead demanding, time-poor lifestyles. If they book outside of travel policy it's not necessarily because they want to enjoy the frills of flying business class or earn more hotel loyalty points," she adds. "It could well be because they are feeling burnt out and need a good night's sleep on a long-haul flight, or to stay in a hotel where they know they can order decent room service rather than sit alone in the bar in an evening."

By understanding behavioural economics, subtle changes to travel policies can also be implemented to 'nudge' travellers to make cost effective or time-effective choices, the FCM report explains. For example, by offering travellers a choice of three different hotels, at different price points, instead of two, leads to the majority selecting the mid-priced option.

The FCM report also explores how business travellers are chasing simplicity in terms of the whole travel process, from a single biometric token for all travel transactions and use of digital passports via smartphones, to AI automated booking, keyless check-in and cardless payments.

To download a copy of FCM Insight: Behavioural economics and your travel programme, click here

About FCM Travel Solutions:  

FCM Travel Solutions is the flagship global travel management brand of the Flight Centre Travel Group which has expanded to become one of the world's largest travel companies. FCM is the business travel partner of choice for large national, multinational and global corporations. Our global network spans more than 90 countries, employing over 6000 people.  We are transforming the business of travel through our empowered and accountable people who deliver 24/7 service and are available either online or offline. Leveraging FCM's negotiating strength and supplier relationships in conjunction with our tailored business travel programs, our expertise delivers more for our clients where it matters most to them.