Another Turbulent Year for Business Travelers: Nearly 8 in 10 experienced travel disruptions in 2024
- TravelPerk’s second annual Travel Disruption Report shows nearly 8 in 10 (78%) business travelers globally experienced travel disruptions in 2024, with 43% facing significant delays of more than one hour
- The highest volume of global cancellations occur in the US with nearly 140k flights canceled in 2024, while European business travelers say they’re the most impacted by transport strikes
- Despite AI advances over the past year, only 10% of travelers prefer chatbots to support them when facing disruption, with interacting directly with a human customer care agent remaining the preferred choice
Tomasz Wrzaszcz, Travel Intelligence Specialist at TravelPerk said: “Though each region faces unique challenges, the end result for business travelers is the same: more time spent in airports, train stations or bus depots, and fewer hours of both productive working or time at home. For the TravelPerk disruptions team, it is essential to try and predict these events ahead of time, and proactively notify travelers and try to offer them multiple solutions to consider. Our priority is to help travelers to feel in control when the uncontrollable happens.”
“Travel can be unpredictable. At any moment travelers have to navigate weather changes, geo-political impact or technical faults leaving them feeling helpless, confused and frustrated.” said Kamil Jagodzinski, VP of Customer Care at TravelPerk. “When disruption occurs it’s key that our customers feel supported by being quick and efficient. Our data shows that despite technological advances, only 10% of travelers want help from a chatbot over a human customer care agent. At TravelPerk, we’ve integrated AI into our customer service teams so we can leverage this technology to handle double the volume of customer queries versus 2023, with the same number of human agents - ensuring customers are able to speak with a human when something unexpected unfolds.”
In today's business environment, the ability to navigate travel disruptions effectively can make the difference between securing or losing crucial business opportunities as TravelPerk customers need to travel for a variety of reasons whether it’s to fix a wind turbine or sign the dotted line. Commenting on this, Yasmine Bratt, Chief Revenue Officer at TravelPerk said: “With 85% of people saying that disruptions impacted their productivity, the missed opportunity for businesses can be significant. Businesses that enable their employees to be more flexible, by arriving the night before or taking the most efficient mode of transport, can more effectively mitigate the impact of disruption - both on their employees and their bottom line.”
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