Business travelers remain optimistic and sentiment remains strong despite economic headwinds in some parts of the world.Senior-level business travelers including senior/executive management (74 percent) and directors (77 percent) agree the health of the economy is excellent, according to the second wave of research out today from the GBTA Business Traveler Sentiment Index™ in partnership with RoomIt by CWT™, the hotel distribution division of CWT.

Global business traveler sentiment concerning trip experiences improved modestly over last quarter, growing 0.4 points. Growth is highest among U.S. travelers which grew 5.7 points from last quarter. This suggests growing satisfaction with the overall travel experience. Most global travelers (68 percent) say they would travel more often if given the options.

Technology is a key factor influencing business travel sentiment.The study confirms the importance of technology and shows that it also is a key area of differentiation when travelers assess their satisfaction with their business travel.

“Establishing a better traveler experience sets the foundation for increasing compliance and savings in hotel programs,” said Peggy Studer, RoomIt by CWT vice president of marketing. “Having innovative and modern technology that serves travelers relevant search results or automatically rebooks lower room rates streamlines finding and booking the right room, keeping travelers not only more productive, but overall happier.”

“With advances in travel-specific technology, travelers are more productive and willing to travel even more than they currently do” said Scott Solombrino, GBTA COO and executive director.“This bodes well for our industry and the global economy.”

Hotel Technology

Global business travelers widely use in-room hotel internet with 80 percent saying they spend an average of at least one hour per day using in-room Internet to do work, while 51 percent spent at least two hours per day using it to work.Two in five business travelers (41 percent) accessed the Internet using their own hotspot or a hotspot provided by their companies—this was especially common in Asia Pacific.

Business travelers are interested in a variety of different innovations from hotels both currently available as well as future hotel technology innovations: