The age of connectivity clearly has its limits: despite all the tools at their disposal for communicating while on the move, European business travellers rarely keep in touch with their loved ones during a business trip. This is the conclusion to be drawn from a CWT (Carlson Wagonlit Travel) study which surveyed more than 1,900 international business travellers. The results are clear: " only a quarter of European business travellers keep in touch with their family when they are away from home ". With statistics below the European average (13%), French professionals are even considered to be 'bad pupils'... As a result, 45% of French travellers think that business travel represents more disadvantages than advantages for establishing and maintaining family relationships, a figure well above the European average (26%). In addition, 64% of French professionals have missed at least one event or special occasion in the past year due to business travel.
Conversely, American professionals are used to maintaining contact: one professional in two (50%) stays in touch with his or her family during a business trip, compared with 27% in Europe and 31% in the Asia-Pacific region. According to this CWT study, American travellers talk to their family at least once a day, compared with 37% in Europe and 32% in the APAC region. As for the communication channel used, Europeans generally prefer telephone calls (49%) compared with 41% in Asia. SMS is more common in the United States (20%), limited to 13% of respondents on the European market. CWT also estimates that around a quarter of travellers in each region use Skype with their family.
a gap for business travellers
" Of course, business travellers miss out on family life when they're away, but the majority of them make sure they keep in touch "says Julian Walker, Head of External Communications at Carlson Wagonlit Travel. He added: " While technology continues to evolve, the majority of business travellers still prefer traditional means of communicating with their families. ".
