If you want to know who the new-age business travellers are, all you need to do is check your Instagram feed and voilà — you will see digital influencers, media personalities, chefs, DJs, writers, entrepreneurs, photographers, bloggers and many more “new” professionals, who are constantly hopping between cities and spending a large part of their time at airports, on planes, or in hotels. The very notion of the business traveller has transformed in the past couple of years. The stereotype of a suit-clad, briefcase-toting business person has now given way to trendy athleisure enthusiasts and sneaker-clad professionals, who, interestingly enough, now carry the “business traveller” tag.
This new business traveller is looking for a more informal way of life and this translates into the travel experience as well. These travellers are not just the C-suite segment but modern professionals who update their social media channels on the go, while balancing work emails.
These modern travellers are driven by apps. They are armed with their ‘handy smartphone’ (an integrated technology platform), that encompasses travel booking apps, hotels, destination services, smart products and data intelligence. These resources cut out unnecessary human interaction to a significant level, thereby increasing overall efficiency. Moreover, these travellers, primarily from the millennial generation are more flexible in terms of their travel schedule. For instance, they don’t mind flying for six hours just for one business meeting.
The concept of bleisure is at the centre of a new-age traveller’s work-life as opposed to a traditional businessman who is hopping from one meeting to another. Shivesh Bhatia, Delhi-based food blogger, baker and author says, “Bleisure is all about effectively perusing business travel as a lifestyle experience, taking out time for self, spending time and money on experiences that help you capture the essence of the destination you are at.”
Another aspect that separates these two segments is the point of ‘research’. Where a new-age traveller is well-prepared with the details about his destination of travel, a corporate individual would rely on local sources for his needs.
Image: Right-Shuchir Suri, Entrepreneur and Founder of Food Talk India
Airport Expectations
While smooth check-ins, technology integration, quick security and immigration services, healthy F&B options and accessible charging points have been a necessity for quite a while, today, there is a heavy focus on these factors by the new-age business traveller.
When travelling, new-age business travellers make the most of credit card benefits, which help them enjoy discounts on air fares, special discounts on select websites, airport lounge access, and excess baggage allowance, among others. Some of the premium cards include benefits such as concierge service for pre-trip assistance, base fare waiver on flight bookings, offers on hotel reservation and flight bookings baggage insurance, entertainment bookings and so on.
Moreover, they are increasingly veering towards technology for virtually all answers for to travel needs.
Frequent flyer Shuchir Suri, an entrepreneur and founder of Food Talk India, says, “A modern traveller demands technology integration within all aspects of travel like an app for web check-ins or loyalty programmes with a preferred airline. Also an exclusive lounge access can enhance the travel experience by leaps and bounds.”
A seamless airport experience is also becoming an important factor for these travellers. More and more travellers are looking for airport concierge services designed to help passengers not only to relax and enjoy their travels without hectic queues and long waiting hours but also prefer affiliated services that go beyond the airport experience and assist travellers throughout their entire trip.
On the subject of concierge services, Suri adds, “I use the Platinum American Express Concierge Services for smoother booking of flights, hotels, car services as well as reservations for dining and entertainment. A tap of a button enhances convenience and saves time, two very important factors for a traveller on the go.”
Healthy F&B is the need of the hour for today’s business travellers.
Frequent traveller Amninder Sandhu, celebrity chef at Mumbai’s Arth restaurant, agrees. “I look for smoothie bowls, and fresh salad options that one doesn’t usually tend to find easily, especially at airports across India.” This points in the direction of F&B experience at airports, across the world, and the need to provide healthy options for a diet-conscious traveller.
Image: Right-Santoshi Shetty, Mumbai-based travel, fashion and lifestyle blogger
Improved retail options/shopping
Convenience, concierge services and easy accessibility of daily essentials is a bonus at airports. Bhatia, says, “An airport should have all the basic travel essentials on sale. Often, travellers might miss packing a few basic but important goods.”
Additionally, Chef Sandu points out that it is crucial to have some general convenience stores and pharmacies across the airport for quick buying.
Image: Right-Abhinav Mathur, resturanteur/men’s lifestyle influencer
Inflight Expectations
Personalised forms of entertainment
In addition to inflight wifi, airlines have started streaming entertainment to passengers’ devices. This helps travellers get their daily dose of audio-visual content. They look for these inflight aspects since they have hours of content loaded onto their laptops, tablets and smartphones and would prefer watching on their own devices.
Today’s frequent flyer demands a good-quality headphone, recliners for a comfortable journey and an updated inflight entertainment system. Shetty feels that getting the right temperature inside the flight is something every airline should look at. Additionally, offering cosy blankets are a must as they make the journey much more comfortable.
Your on-the-go business casuals
Airport style is not about formal suits, but comfortable and casual attire such as a blazer paired with a plain tee, joggers and sneakers. Modern travellers believe that one should keep comfort as paramount, especially for long-haul flights. Abhinav Mathur, restaurateur/men’s lifestyle influencer, says, “I prefer a cool pair of sneakers with a comfortable tee-shirt or a hoodie, joggers instead of jeans. For a formal look, my best bet would be a suit which fits comfortably, and made with anti-wrinkle cloth.”
Insider Business Tip: Get your coat checked in with the stewardess to prevent your apparel from getting wrinkled.
More food options
Inflight catering is an important component says Mumbai-based Youtuber Scherezade Shroff Talwar. “The inflight food options have become quite limited. Many airlines just have a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option, whereas earlier the flights had multiple options. I also believe that low-cost carriers should include more variety that are high in quality as well.”
Fantastic crew service
Another important aspect that these frequent flyers are emphasising on is a well-trained cabin crew. A traveller like Suri feels that customer experience during a flight mostly relates to the cabin crew being dutiful and sensitive towards passenger needs. Likewise Youtuber Aanam M R Chashmawala; founder and CEO, What When Wear also feels that a helpful staff is always a boon. She says, “I recently, injured myself while overseas and the Cathay Pacific flight staff took great care of me through my 20-hour journey from Los Angeles to Mumbai.”
Airplane hacks to stay groomed
Getting a hair spa right before boarding a flight doesn’t let your hair look dry and frizzy once you land suggests Shetty. A must-carry is a small travel-toiletries bag with a hand cream or a moisturiser, mini make-up kit, perfumes, comb, lip balm, among others. She says, “One of my airplane hacks is to carry a rose water facial spray that helps keep the skin hydrated at all times.” Grooming hacks like these will help especially when one has to directly head to the meeting venue directly from the airport.
