While serviced apartments have long been a key choice for globally mobile staff and relocating employees, regular business travellers are now turning to furnished apartments rather than hotels when they are travelling for more than 30 days, says new research.With business travel expected to grow to $1.7 billion (£1.3 billion) globally by 2022, how and where employees' work is changing. Nearly 40% of Gen Y and Gen Z workers wouldn’t accept a job that doesn’t include travel and 30% of workers would accept a lower salary if they were given more business trips.The UK is the fifth biggest market in business travel, spending more than $50 billion (£39 billion) on business travel in 2017 alone. A new study by Homelike – a furnished apartment booking platform for business travellers – has found that one-third (30%) of UK travellers would choose a furnished apartment rather than a hotel for long-term business trips.

Business traveller priorities

Of the 1,000 UK business travellers surveyed by Homelike, 25% stay in other cities for more than 30 days and 30% are responsible for booking their own accommodation. When choosing where to stay, the main factor influencing their decision was a central city location (43%), followed closely by the quality of the property at 42%. The cost came third at 36% and other important factors were property size (24%) and proximity to green spaces (21%).Dustin Figge, CEO and co-founder of Homelike, explains, “We founded Homelike because we were fed up with travelling for business and either having to live long-term in a hotel room or attempt to book an apartment through providers that predominantly work offline.”

Creating a 'home away from home' while travelling

The research also found that Baby Boomers aged 55+ (40%) and Gen Z (41%) travellers, in particular, would prefer a furnished apartment to a hotel. Of the Millennials surveyed, most want to create a 'home away from home' when travelling: 29% want to be near a green space, 23% want to be able to host their family and partner, and 21% want to take their pets with them.Figge adds, “Our research proves what we already knew, that people are moving away from booking a hotel for 30+ night stays and are instead looking for a higher quality, more comfortable experience when travelling long-term for business. The market needs to evolve to reflect that.”

Minimising stress for employees

The Homelike study also found that the least favoured part of long-term business travel is missing family and friends (32%), followed by feeling unhealthy due to eating out, drinking and not having access to a gym (17%), as well as general stress (15%). These factors could all be contributors to the fact that mental health cost UK businesses £35 billion in 2018.When the results were split by gender, it was found that female business travellers find their social life more important than men do, with 24% wanting their family or partner to live with them while travelling, versus 13% of men; plus, 11% want to be allowed to host friends in their accommodation versus 8% of men. The priority for men is their health, with 11% wishing to be located near a gym versus 7% of women.For more information about Homelike, visit: www.thehomelike.comHead to our Business Travel and Serviced Apartments sections for more news and insights.Subscribe to Relocate Extra, our monthly newsletter, to get all the latest international assignments and global mobility news.
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