Specific differences for business travel bookings

For companies with 1,000 business travelers, the difference - and the potential savings - is nearly $50,000 per year.

 

Women book their flights 1.9 days earlier than men and therefore pay on average about two percent less for their tickets. These are the findings of an analysis of 6.4 million flight bookings published by Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) under the title "Gender Differences in Booking Business Travel: Advance Booking Behavior and Associated Financial Impact".

For the study, CWT Solutions Group collaborated with Javier Donna, Assistant Professor of Economics at Ohio State University, and Gregory Veramendi, Assistant Professor of Economics at Arizona State University. Using state-of-the-art statistical techniques, it was possible to establish a link between gender and flight booking behavior.

As the study shows, the financial impact resulting from the difference in booking behavior between the gender groups is significant: for companies with 1,000 business travelers, the difference - and thus the potential savings - is nearly $50,000 per year.

So companies with 20,000 business travelers could save up to $1 million annually if male travelers booked as early as their female counterparts.

Analysis about frequent travelers

Further results of the study show: The older travelers are, the more inclined they are to book flights in advance. A pattern can also be seen among frequent flyers, because the more often employees travel on business, the more they book their trips at short notice. Interestingly, however, gender differences hardly play a role among frequent travelers.

In addition to examining these booking patterns, however, the analytics process can be applied to other areas in the travel process and help travel managers gain new insights and a better understanding of travelers' booking behavior.

This allows travel managers to personalize travel processes more, engage with travelers in a more targeted way, and ensure more accurate travel management and more efficient travel programs overall.

"The analytics process opens up many new possibilities for designing personalized travel processes," says Catalin Ciobanu, Senior Director Data & Analytics at CWT Solutions Group. "It can also be applied to many other forms of traveler segmentation, such as breakdowns by geographic location, booking channels used, or business unit.

Ultimately, by better understanding the traveler, we can improve both the processes and the effectiveness and efficiency of corporate travel programs."

Read more about CWT's business travel study at this Link