Canadian Businesses Still Value Face-to-Face

business-small-Aug11

Despite all of today’s technology, when it comes to getting down to business, Canadians still favour face-to-face meetings.

Canadian travellers believe business travel is important for company financial performance and are satisfied with their overall business travel experiences, according to the GBTA Global Business Traveller Sentiment Index, in partnership with American Express.

The research, which includes a survey of 420 Canadian business travellers, examines satisfaction with, and the resources available for, various aspects of business travel and analyzes the increasing use of technological innovation.

Two-thirds (67%) of Canadian business travellers believe their management considers business travel to be very important for their company’s financial performance. However, Canadian business travellers surveyed have taken an average of 8.95 business trips in the last year, a significant drop from the previous year (13.36).

“It’s clear that Canadians view business travel as essential to their overall performance,” says Paul Parisi, vice-president and general manager, Global Commercial Payments, American Express Canada. “But with increasing costs of doing business, companies should make sure they have a solid business travel policy in place to manage spending and ensure they are getting the most value out of their business travel.”

Four-in-five (81%) Canadian business travellers are satisfied with their overall business travel experience, which is above the average satisfaction rate of those surveyed around the globe (73%), and the majority meet their business goals when travelling (81%). In fact, most (68%) believe technology can never replace meeting with people face-to-face in order to conduct business.

However, those aged 55+ are more successful (83%) in meeting all their business goals when travelling than their millennial colleagues, aged 18 to 34 (70%). This older age group is also more likely to believe technology won’t replace face-to-face meetings (79%) than their younger counterparts (52%).

“Despite how easy it is to connect virtually today, Canadians report face-to-face meetings are of paramount importance,” says Parisi. “Technology is advantageous in many ways, but in-person meetings foster strong personal relationships that are difficult to form otherwise.”

For more, go to http://www.gbta.org/foundation .