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When going to a foreign destination on a business trip, there are a lot of things to be taken care of, especially if it is your first business travel. To make your business trip easier it is always advisable to hire a travel agency to take care of all your travelling matters.There are many travelling organisations in Australia that can help you with your business trip. They will plan all the details of your trip meticulously for you, right from the onset till the last moment of your stay in your foreign destination. Business travel is a complete opposite of a leisurely vacation. The first and most prominent point of difference is that you are not going there to take a leisurely break from work, but you are going to a foreign land for work! Therefore, these trips need proper and thorough meticulous planning. Travel agencies take care of all the planning that is to be done according to your requirements, Business air travel bookings, hotel room bookings, arrangements of meetings, and many more things on the same lines. These agencies know all the needs of business travellers and also the fact that they travel quite frequently to particular business destinations. Therefore, to attract these frequent business travellers and to furnish their own accounts, they come up with alluring business travel packages that snugly fits every traveller’s pocket! Apart from just being affordable, these packages also include comfortable stay hotel booking, affordable business air tickets, fine cuisines and dining, and best arrangements for business conferences and meetings.

For a frequent business flier, it is always recommended to hire an agency that specialises in business travelling. These agencies are experts in this area and can provide you with best possible arrangements and services at an affordable price. You can expect best experience in reasonable fees, after hiring these travel experts. These agencies can also provide you with a perfect combination of two types of travel packages, that is, which includes site seeing and pleasure activities after your business work is over. The package includes trips to the popular tourist attractions, cruises, amusement parks, site seeing and exploration of the place. There are many agencies that provide packages for both travel purposes – business and leisure. People going on business can take up such packages to explore the place after finishing the business or in the evenings or anytime of the day in between the business meetings and other official activities. These are the best economical packages for leisure and business travel. These packages can make you attend your business activities, while your family can indulge in the leisurely activities. Hiring travelling agencies not only saves you money but also makes your business trip a lot easier for you and your family.

Traveling a lot for work recently has provided me with some unique opportunities to observe people. There are lots of stories and jokes and stereotypical characteristics about road warriors – people who travel a lot on business – and I expected to run into a lot of confirming examples. But what I’ve discovered is the few are creating an image to the detriment of the many. Here are 5 debunked myths about road warriors that may surprise you:

1. They enjoy freedom from the office while on the road. Quite the contrary, 80% to 90% of all the business travelers I see are working while traveling. They are talking quietly on the phone with conference calls while waiting in the airport, they pull out their laptops or tablets and start working as soon as we hit 10,000 feet in the air. Most business travelers are quite literally tethered to their offices and they don’t waste time hanging out or lolly gagging around. They are working.

2. They enjoy chatting about where they’ve been and how important they are at work. OK, so there are a few braggarts running around out there, but most of this behavior is seen only in the movies. Sure, rookies may fall into this trap for a little while but the vast majority of business travelers keep to themselves and work. The bad mannered folks fluffing their plumage at anyone who will listen are few and far between. You could be sitting next to a CEO or an Entrepreneur who makes 7 figures and you probably won’t know it. I really believe most business travelers see travel time as their own time to work and think with minimal interruptions.

3. They are rude. We’ve all heard the stories. I’ve witnessed a few business folks behaving in ways that would embarrass the crud out of their mothers, but on the whole the vast majority of business travelers I’ve seen recently have been considerate of the people around them. They talk in low voices while on the phone, they follow the FAA rules about electronic equipment usage, they patiently wait in line for the family with 3 kids, 7 bottles of water, 6 roller bags and a stroller to clear security. They don’t usually push and shove to get in or out of a line. And they don’t demand special attention from gate agents, flight attendants, hotel staff, or drivers. The rudest travelers I’ve observed lately have been folks on vacation.

4. They get to eat in fancy restaurants every night. I suppose some could afford it, but the reality is the fancy restaurants are an exception for the practiced business traveler. The rookies may try this for a while, but they learn pretty quickly that fancy meals and late nights make working on the road miserable. Most business travelers eat at the hotel where they are staying or a local take out. They are focused on getting something to eat, getting work prepared for the next day and getting some sleep. People who don’t travel a lot find it hard to believe but when you are on the road what you get hungry for is a simple meal like you can easily fix at home.

5. Business travel is glamorous. Yes, there are perks like frequent flyer miles and hotel points. But business travel is a lot about waiting to get where you are going, fitting in as much business as you can while you are there, and then going home. Its airports and hotels and offices and meetings. There’s very rarely time for sightseeing. Most experienced business travelers treat the travel as a normal part of their day – just a long commute. Interestingly, I think business travelers tend to be more focused on getting the job done while they are traveling so that they can relax when they go home.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or a corporate exec, your ability to expand your impact in the world is enhanced by business travel. It’s nice to know that most of the fellow travelers you’ll meet on the road are just regular people focused on doing a good job. Sure, there will be the occasional twit and some pretty funny stories to share, but most of it is routine as you join the ranks of the polite, yet focused business travelers.

Business Travel Tips; Reduce Stress and Enjoy Yourself

Traveling for Business is Less Stressful When You Take Time to Prepare and Organize.

Here are a few tips for your business travel that will make that time away from home just a bit more enjoyable. Let’s start with packing for business travel. Start with the purchase of a good carry one bag. Any seasoned business traveler will tell you carry on is the only way to travel. It will keep you out of baggage claim and you will never have to worry about lost luggage. Buy a couple of good quality pieces constructed of polyurethane-treated fabric that have nylon zippers. The polyurethane will keep the moisture out and the nylon zippers are far less likely to snag.Consider keeping a duplicate of as much as possible when it comes to those things that you use on a daily basis such as your toiletries. This way you won’t have to worry about unpacking them when you return home. They can just stay in your business travel bags. You may also think about going to your local drugstore to purchase trial sizes of your toiletries. Try to pack your bag with space saving in mind. Cut down on the number of business suits for example by packing alternate shirts and ties that will go with the same suit.Women can change the look of a suit with different blouses, scarves, sweaters or jewelry. Pack socks and underwear inside your shoes. Not only does this save space but it will also help keep the shape of your shoes. Pack your belts around the edge of your suitcase. When considering the items to pack think of those things that are necessities and those items that may make your business travel just a little more comfortable.

Here is a business travel tip when choosing your mode of transportation. When choosing transportation for business travel the distance that you will be traveling should be considered. Although air travel is the first choice when it comes to long journeys for a shorter trip that is only a couple of hundred miles away a train or automobile may be the better choice. Take into account the time you would spend traveling to and from the airport. Also, don’t forget to consider the amount of time taken at the airport to check in, board, disembark and then find transportation to your final destination etc.

If you do choose to fly consider alternative airports just outside your departure and destination city. Typically these airports may have fewer flights but also will have less chance for overbooking and delays.

Always try to stay in hotels that cater to business travel. Most of these hotels will have high- speed internet access and will offer access to business machines. For unbiased reviews from other business travelers just like you we recommend that you research
hotel reviews at TravelPost.com

One of the more important business travel tips is to check your cellular service prior to leaving for another city. Check with your cell phone service provider. You may find that they don’t provide service where your business travel takes you and therefore you will need to find an alternate carrier for this trip.Can you imagine not finding out until you’re there!

Hope that you will find these business travel tips helpful and may all of your business travel bring further success!

Business travel has become so common that a considerable proportion of the corporate world of America is spending more time in airplanes and hotels than on their couches or in their automobiles.

According to a recent estimate, about 40 million adults in the US travel on business at least once a year to a location about 50 miles from home. More than 20 percent of the trips made by African Americans, for instance, are related to their work.

Those who do not need to travel frequently on business consider business travel glamorous and exciting. However, in reality, business travel is often arduous.

It is tough physically, tough on the family, and especially tough on the pockets of businesspersons who do not have the luxury of generous expense accounts to take care of their travel expenses.

In addition, those who travel on business regularly, quickly wise up to the fact that a stress-free and safe journey requires the smooth functioning of a number of interconnected factors, which includes the vagaries of the weather.

According to a study conducted recently, monitoring business travel trends:

– 58 percent of business travel is undertaken for association meetings and conferences,

– 43 percent comprising of business travel made by individuals,

– and 29 percent for corporate meetings.

The study also identified some of the most popular destinations within the US for business travel. They are:

– Washington, D.C.,

– New York,

– Los Angeles/Long Beach,

– Chicago,

– Atlanta,

– Boston,

– Houston,

– Minneapolis-St. Paul,

– Detroit,

– and Dallas.

Irrespective of what the destination is, business travel is seldom an enjoyable experience. Some companies will allow their business travelers the opportunity to enjoy their travel surroundings but this is usually short lived depending on the demands of the trip.

Business travelers, who have to make frequent trips, need special facilities to ease the hassles of traveling. Airlines and hotels are increasing the levels of services they provide in order to meet the growing demands of business travelers:

Usually, business travelers research fares on their own and make their reservations online. According to a survey, it was found that only 32 percent of corporate travelers used the services of travel agents for their reservation needs, while the rest, 68 percent, preferred using the internet or online services to plan at least some part of their business traveling arrangements.

Business travelers are usually technologically conversant; hence, choose to handle all their traveling arrangements through the Internet, limiting the necessity of having to interact with travel agents and professionals dealing with customer service.

Most tourism related sites offer one-stop travel facilities for reservations of flights, booking rooms in hotels, and providing transportation on the ground.

Major airlines like Delta and American have included travel-friendly features like locating cheap fares, finding economical hotel accommodation, and hiring cars on a rental basis inexpensively on their websites.

Travelers, thus, can make arrangements for an entire business trip, which includes seating preferences, confirming special food requests, and a text message or e-mail verifying their flight status and information about the departure timings with a few clicks of the mouse button.
Most of these sites provide boarding passes that can be printed out and online check-ins within 24 hours of the departure of the flight.

At the airport, those travelers in a hurry can take advantage of check-in kiosks in order not to have to wait in long lines, and get their boarding passes and their seating information.

Frequent Flyer Miles, Automatic Upgrades, and Comfortable Seating:

One of the biggest perks of traveling frequently on business is the facility of accumulating points, which can be exchanged for vacations. Travelers, therefore, are always on the look out for hotels offering generous points facilities.

Frequent air travelers also favor automatic upgrades and comfort inside the airplane, such as generous legroom and additional storage facilities overhead. Business traveler programs like EliteAccess provided by Continental Airlines offer comforts like guarantees of no-middle-seat and upgrades to the first class if possible.

Getting Value for Money:

Companies are constantly curtailing overhead expenses by cutting down on the travel allowances they give their executives, while business travelers look for ways in which they can maximize their allowances to the fullest.

For example, several hotels offer free breakfasts, while others provide complimentary facilities such as a welcoming snack or allowing their guests to make free long distance and local calls. Many hotels also offer free newspapers, tea and coffee.

Feeling at Home Far Away from Home:

Business travelers are so frequently away from home that they look for services that replicate their home comforts.

Although hotels are selected primarily for value and location, but business travelers expect home-like comforts like high quality toiletries, comfortable bedding, choices in beverages, cable TV and films, broadband internet access, exercise and convenient check-in/out facilities, and so on.

Anyone that travels a lot should consider travel insurance, but those that travel for business often overlook the importance of this protection. Business travel insurance is simply a good idea because it can provide you with the protection that you need whether you are traveling just a short or long distance away from home. You never know when you are going to need the protection that insurance can provide, so you should look into business travel insurance before you go on your next trip.

The great thing about business travel insurance is that the individual can purchase it or a company can purchase it. Many companies are choosing to purchase the insurance for all of their employees that travel. This is a very economical way to buy the coverage as many companies can offer bulk buy discounts. This can be a particularly good idea for companies that host a lot of conferences, meetings, team building events, training courses, product launches, and the like. Many businesses offer corporate hospitality outings and the like, and even on these fun getaways employees should be protected and business travel insurance is a great way to get that protection.

If you happen to be an employee that travels to a lot of business oriented annual general meetings, exhibitions, seminars, or conventions and you aren’t provided with business travel insurance you can buy it yourself. The coverage is not at all expensive, and you may even be able to purchase the coverage at the same time that you plan an event or plan your travel, which will make it convenient to purchase. When you purchase this protection you can go on your business travels and not worry about what would happen if you were robbed, if your luggage was lost, or if you needed medical attention in an area where your usual medical or dental insurance was not valid.

Many of us think about travel insurance when we are going on vacation or visiting exotic vacations, but this is not the only time when you need the protection that this type of insurance can provide. Business travel insurance is just as important as the insurance that you would buy when flying across the world for an exotic vacation or honeymoon because there is just as much opportunity for you to encounter health problems or circumstances that you just did not plan for. Why should you be any less equipped to handle these problems on a business trip than you would be when you are on vacation? When you leave home you should feel safe, secure, and confident in your abilities to handle any situation and with business travel insurance you can do this.

If you don’t travel often or you only travel once a year you can opt to purchase your business travel insurance for just one trip. All you have to do is disclose when you will be travelling, where you will be going, and when you will be returning. This is generally very affordable and will offer you the protection that you should have on your one trip. If you travel all the time for work you can choose to buy your business travel insurance for the whole year. While this is more expensive in the beginning, it is cheaper over the course of the year than it would be to purchase the coverage every time you go away on travel. Many times there are also different levels of coverage to choose from, so you can choose from very basic coverage to very extensive coverage, based on your needs. When you purchase the travel business insurance you may want to consider the areas that you travel to as well as what sort of coverage your other insurance coverage may provide as this information will help you determine what sort of coverage you need.

It used to be more difficult to buy travel insurance, and that is why many people simply opted not to do it. In many cases you had to go right to an insurance agent and you had to fill out a ton of paperwork, or you could go to a travel agent and do the same thing. Now, you can purchase your business travel insurance right along with your other travel needs such as but not limited to your event planning services, your car rental services, lodging, transportation, and airfare. This is very convenient and allows for those that didn’t want to bother with the coverage before because of the hassle to purchase the benefits of travel insurance. Next time you receive notice that you have to travel for your job, why not look into travel business insurance and see what protection it can offer you? It’s better to have the protection and not need it than need it and not have it!

According to the American Express Global Business Traveller Survey 2013 if you are a business traveller and you sat next to me on your next flight there is a one percent chance that you would engage me in conversation, so much for business going social! Whether you would want to engage me in conversation is another matter but this article is not about me it’s about the developing trends in business travel from a healthy flier perspective.

The survey was conducted by American Express in the summer of 2013 with participants from the US, UK and Australia. Approximately 500 randomly sampled business travellers were surveyed in each country.

The standout headlines are

(1) As the global workforce goes through change the Millennials are beginning to make up a larger portion of it.

(2) As a group the Millennials value a better work life balance and are savvy about it while on the road.

(3) There is an added focus on relieving travel related stress.

Narrowing in on the US market the travel stress theme is specifically in evidence.

74% of travellers said they drank extra water to stay hydrated.

48% stretched on the plane.

44% use a hotel gym.

20% avoid alcohol.

The majority use a combination of diet and exercise to stay healthy while on the road and 41% supplement their diets with vitamins.

Even if it is only implied these figures show that more business travellers are beginning to recognise and value the correlation between flying healthily to arrive well, be productive and successful in business.

This can only mean good news for the healthy flying niche. If the influence of the Millennials as a demographic block is brought to bear the way the baby boomers have done for the last few economic boom cycles the healthy flying niche and other industries will be better for it. This period in time is all the more important because we have the makings of a perfect storm. We have an influential demographic that fliers and values health. We have challenged or non existing healthcare provisions which mean staying healthy and out of the healthcare system is at a premium. We have an epidemic of Autoimmune disease and we have Globalisation and Technology which play the roles of saint sinner and saviour all at the same time. There are more people taking to the sky that before, journeys are more stressful than before and the frequent flier has to negotiate all of this while still performing at the top of their game.

Globalisation is forcing the pace of change we are experiencing. The good about it is more nations are coming online as it were, the bad is it becomes an even more crowded marketplace to negotiate. The same applies with Technology it forces change but also brings an always on and in view aspect to our lives. How we are able to harness both of these forces to enable a better flying experience for health inclined frequent fliers is a million dollar question in more ways than one.

Some strides in this direction are already being made, I would expect efforts to continue in this direction with some seriously useful kit to be available to fliers. At the moment we have a few notable players. The Napwell sleep mask, the Re-Timer sleep glasses and Valkee LED earbuds are a few aimed strictly at jet lag or sleep trouble often accompanying jet lag. On the other hand there are technologies that have a native use which can be adopted by fliers for relief of some jet lag symptoms. Brainwave Apps and Barefoot Earthing Technology products are some of these second category technologies. The Photon shower revealed at a TED talk in 2013 sounded promising but is only a concept with no firm plans for production. The explosion of fitness gadget that work with the latest smartphones or stand-alone is a curve you can expect travel related gadgets to follow. There are actually some such gadgets already in the marketplace. The AirPlus Traveller Productivity White Paper on how to manage traveller productivity used such a product.

As I mentioned earlier the most potent indictment of the times we live in is to be found in the strong currents of change caused by Globalisation and Technology. I would argue that Globalisation is increasing global collaborative work where people travel and come together on a project for the short-term. This trend is already prevalent in show business, journalism and the fashion world and even in the technology industry. As it continues to develop the need for people to arrive on form and ready for business becomes more obvious. Even without going that far the multinationals who spend large sums of money to recruit the best they can find want them to maintain their performance edge when they are sent half way around the world on the company’s business. It is common knowledge that it is no longer enough to just book a business class seat and expect the employee to arrive well.

As the travel industry players and the corporate world become more cognizant of the costs of travel related stress and jet lag, quantifying it in terms of the bottom line becomes a useful yardstick. The aforementioned AirPlus Traveller Productivity White Paper and the Carlson Wagonlit Solutions Stress Triggers for Business Travelers White Paper (which includes the Travel Stress Index tool) are two attempts to put a perspective on the scale of the problem. How the data in both of these tools is put to use is a question for the corporations individual fliers as well as the airlines and the travel industry intermediaries. For airlines at least it seems the battle lines are drawn, with the rollout of the latest offerings from Boeing and Airbus creeping into the stocks of most major players the focus is moving away from the hardware (the planes) to the software (customer service and deliverable product enhancements) this last category could potentially include any number of health initiatives to make sure business frequent fliers arrive well.

Cited Works

“American Express Survey Finds Majority of Global Business Travelers Balancing Work and Play While on the Road” – The Plane Facts (Infographic)

AirPlus. Traveller Productivity: How to tailor your travel policy to improve traveller performance (White Paper) PDF File.

Carlson Wagonlit Solutions – Stress Triggers for Business Travelers: Traveler Survey Analysis (White Paper) PDF File.

It’s that time of year again; time to predict marketplace trends. Whether trying to explain the past year’s business ups and downs or preparing for next year’s marketplace, those in the know have begun forecasting, prognosticating and generally gazing into their crystal balls. After having read many of these predictions, including the results of various, pertinent surveys, here’s my take on what we can expect in 2010 and beyond with regard to trends in business travel.

Corporations will gradually begin to concentrate on managing trade and reducing travel. While everyone seems to agree that face-to-face meetings will continue to remain fundamentally indispensable in the way of doing business, most notably with regard to client relationships, corporations will put the emphasis on managing trade and reducing travel. Even so, businesses will carefully study how they may obtain the greatest return on investment from travel, doing away with any needless or excessive business trips.

The competition for employee talent may well lead to a noticeable reduction in limiting travel protocols, balanced by stronger compliance standards. Travel guidelines may also turn out to be less restrictive as businesses increase their attempts to draw and maintain suitable professional individuals. Further attention will be focused on employees’ work-life balance as well as managing productivity and less on accomplishing savings at the expense of traveler comfort and well-being.

Companies will ramp up attempts to control travel-related hazards. Preserving the safety of business travelers will continue to be of the utmost importance to travel managers, especially with regard to high-risk travel destinations. Corporate travel professionals will be looking for the ability to recognize services which will facilitate the improvement of traveler safety.

Consumers will depend upon merchants to become a motivating force in discovering “green” solutions. Fundamentally, businesses will seek to balance environmental issues with economic obligations, putting into practice a holistic, sustainable methodology with regard to travel.

Technology will continue to enhance the business traveler’s experience. Significant concepts will feature self-service, plug and play, one-stop shop and cellular phones. Simply put, from the decision to travel to post trip reporting of expenses, corporations will persist in seeking out technology that is more user-friendly and of worth to employees during their travel process. At the booking stage, additional travelers will make use of on-line tools as companies strive to better accommodate individuals within their travel design.

Believe it or not, this is not the complete outline of significant changes that may impact business travel as a whole. In Part 2 of 2010 Business Travel Trends we will continue to explore the very real possibilities that may play out for the business traveler in the not so distant future.

For any company that has their employees engage in regular travel, it is important to have a good corporate travel strategy. Part of developing and improving on a corporate travel strategy is solid business travel reporting. Business travel reporting provides the company with details about the cost of travel and how the money is being used. This data not only helps to keep track of expenses but it also can be used to identify areas of waste and inefficiency. When this information is tracked and analyzed it can be used to improve upon your company’s business travel strategy. Using the service of a corporate travel agency is an effective means toward achieving all of these goals.

Due to their experience and their connections in the travel and finance industry, a corporate travel firm will be especially suited to provide these services with the highest degree of detail. A corporate travel agency uses a variety of methods to analyze and track a clients business travel expenses. They can use data from banking and credit card records along with the travel records to identify the most and least efficient travelers in your company. They can help to manage airline data to find which carrier is providing the most business friendly service for the most affordable price and they can help to identify waste and abuse of funds.

A corporate booking agency can also help employers to analyze information in a way that can determine how effectively the employees travel and how well they stick to the itinerary and how closely the individual employees stick to the travel strategy. This can be achieved by referencing the data accumulated from credit cards, expense accounts, airline data, hotel bills and rental information. Once all of the data is collected and analyzed, the corporate travel firm can prepare a complete report. The reports will cover a variety of different areas and will often be accompanied by a written summary of the overall information. Clients can also request specialized reporting from a corporate travel agency. These may be to address an area of concern or to see how a new aspect of the travel strategy is working.

Most business travel agencies recommend that their clients schedule regular meetings with their travel manger to go over the business travel reporting and to find ways to improve the corporate travel strategy. The management of a business should meet with their corporate travel manager at least once a year. In these meetings the travel manager can help the client go over the business travel reporting and understand what all of the data means. The manager will help to identify areas of waste and point out parts of the travel plan that are working well. At this time the client can address their concerns about the travel strategy and work to adjust the business travel strategy. A corporate travel agency can also help their client with a plan for implementing the new strategy and addressing the changes with their staff.

Having the services of a business travel agency is a necessity for any company that engages in regular travel. Having a well thought out strategy will not only save the company money, but it will also make sure that the staff is getting the most out of their trip.