The Impact of Business Travel Trends on Corporate Events

This report examines the evolving landscape of corporate events and business travel, focusing on the strategies hotels use to attract business travelers. It explores the growing trends of last-minute bookings, the impact of AI and self-booking apps, and the importance of prepaid booking systems. The report highlights how hotels, such as Marriot, are adapting to these changes by providing features like inbuilt Wi-Fi, SMART technological access, and flexible booking options. The analysis covers key aspects such as the use of chatbots for customer service, the implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT), and the increasing importance of online prepaid booking systems. The report emphasizes the need for hotels to understand the lifestyles of business travelers and provide services like laundry and room service to meet their needs. Overall, the report provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities within the hotel and hospitality sectors, offering a comprehensive overview of the current trends shaping corporate events and business travel.

Running head: CORPORATE EVENTS
Corporate Events
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Growing Trends in the Business Travels
and Tourism Sectors
Source: (Chibili 2017)
Business travels is one of the major
aspects of the Hotel and the hospitality
Industry. In order to give a boost to the
hospitable sector the hotels often arrange for
the International trade fairs and the
corporate events. These events have to be
conducted in areas that give people feeling
corporate ambiances. There are also many
other factors that the big corporate hotel
industries have to take into account. The
hotels will have to use many strategies that
will be helping them to attract attention from
business travelers. It has to be noted in this
context that the hotels must take strategies
like last minutes booking, last minute online
cancellations, seasonal offers, free discounts,
and others. There are many well-known
hotels that conduct all the important travel
meets and the occasions.
Figure1: Inbuilt Wifi in Hotels
Source: (Amankwah‐Amoah et al.,
2018)

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Marriot Hotels is one of the well-
known hotels in the UK. They are well
known for providing an enthralling
experience to their guests. They invest in
their R&D teams so that they can get all the
possible resources in order to upgrade their
services. They have to make sure that none
of their guests are getting any areas of
complaints. Marriot Hotels in the UK have
also successfully developed its corporate
events services. In other words, they have
tried their level best in arranging proper
accommodations for the guests who would
purchase their services for any important
business meets or corporate events.
Marriot hotel is one of the most well-
known hotels that operate in the UK. They
have about 470 hotels working over a large
number of areas ac cross the world. They are
trying their level best to meet up with all the
changing needs demands of their customers;
in order to do these, they have also started
strengthening their travel and tourism
aspects. There are many important business
activities that take place all around the world
and attended by people. There are many
important events like trade fairs, seminars
and conferences, and many other such
activities. However, the hotel and the
hospitality sectors keep in mind that these
business travels are not like the normal
travels made by people. People usually go
on business travels in order to attend some
unimportant meetings or to the fake part in
some of the International conferences that
take place. As a result of this, the hotels
have o keep some other other kinds of
arrangements ready for these guests. They
keep the arrangements like inbuilt wifi or the
other uninterrupted internet systems. Apart
from this, they also have made sure that they
are being able to provide SMART
technological access to the tourists who are
coming for the business meets or other such
international conferences and meetings.

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Figure 2: Inbuilt Wifi in Hotels
Source: (Derudder and Witlox, 2016)
The travel and tourism sectors are
also found in-depth research and analysis in
order to match up to the needs and demands
of the business customers. In order to do
this; they have to keep an eye upon the
recent trends that are developing in the
business travel and tourism sectors. Some of
the recent trends that have been noted in the
business travel sector increase in
last ,minutes bookings, advance or
prepaid bookings, new destination visits
and many other such aspects. The last
minutes booking trends are increasing at a
very rapid rate as the people all over the
world are looking for the easiest and the best
possible service. Particularly in the case of
business travels, the guests are always under
huge work pressure.
They have the pressure of going out
to some new place and taking part in some
of the most prestigious International
meetings. Thus they often do not get much
time in booking their tickets beforehand.
Often they are not sure about the exact dates
on which these business meetings or the
conferences are about to be held.
In order to get the information about
the exact dates they often have to delay their
dates of booking the tickets. Often these
business travelers book their tickets only 13
to 14 days before their date of traveling is

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finalized. Thus the hotel industries are trying
their best to cater to this need by launching
the last minute booking facilities. They
have developed many smartphone
applications that are often very useful for
this particular aspect. The travelers use the
apps in their phone and make their last-
minute bookings at any point in time. The
prepaid booking or advance booking helps
the business travelers to check and make
bookings for their multi-day tours. The
hotels must develop their WebPages in such
a way that it helps in giving a wide range of
options to their travelers. Often the
customers going on business meets have to
travel to many different places for the
purpose of client meets, oversees business
transactions and others. As a result of this,
the hotel industries have to provide options
like prepaid or advance bookings. These are
always very helpful for travelers who have
to travel to so many different places as a part
of their business meet.
AI or artificial intelligence is also
one of the majorly growing trends in the
field of business travel sector. In other
words, business travelers are always in
search of something new and something
innovative. They are looking for services
that are satisfying, quick and easy to access.
The hotels often use the chatbots or the other
automatic services in order to deal with
customer complaints and solve the same
within a very short period of time. Often
doing the work manually is very time
consuming and there are chances that the
hotel staffs might end up in making some of
the other errors., As the hotels get a huge
number of bookings during the peak times, it
is really not possible for them to maintain
the accounts or look after the needs and
demands of all their customers in a proper
stay, In order to overcome these issues there
are many new approaches that are being
adopted by the hotel and the hospitality
industries.

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Figure3: Chatbots for a proper
communication system
Source: (Anuar et al., 2017)
In order to overcome these issues
and to meet with the needs and demands of
the business travelers, the hotels are taking
many new approaches. The IoT or the
internet of things is one of the most
advanced and the newest forms of
applications that are being used by the
hotels and the hospitality sectors. This is a
new internet-based software application
system that helps the hotels in providing the
guests with a new and very memorable
experience. They can use many smart
devices at the same time through a common
means of communication. This helps in
making the hotels to speed up their services
and make sure that the guests are not facing
any kinds of issues or problems. This is like
a one-stop platform for using all the services
in an error-free and proper manner. For an
instance the coffee machines can be
controlled through this device, It will auto-
generate options to the hotel staffs if the
coffee machines are running out of service
or if the heating systems are not properly
working. This device is one of the most
innovative systems that will help the
organization to deal with on-time services.
Self-booking is another important
innovation that is being used by many of
the hotel and hospitality sectors. This is
one of the most essential innovations that is
being used in the field of the business travel
and tourism sectors. All the customers in
general and the business travelers, in

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particular, are often uncertain about the
scheduled dates of their travel. As the
business travelers mainly undertake the tours
for some business purpose there is a chance
that they are not sure about the dates when
the events are going to take place. For an
instance, if the events is that of any national
or any international conferences there are
chances of the dates getting shifted, Thus the
business travelers who would travel from
China to the UK will naturally have to alter
their travel dates accordingly. As a result of
this, the hotels are trying to give the self-
booking options for all their travelers. This
will help them in booking or canceling then
dates as per their will.
Figure4: Self Booking App
Source: (Kucukusta, 2017)
Often the business travelers are
under huge pressure. They do not get much
time to call up the hotels and involve in any
length hotel booking process. They have to
get their bookings done in a very easy and
instant manner., In order to do that, they
usually look for hotel booking apps via their
phones or their laptop. Thus the hotels are
trying to develop flexible self-booking apps

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for their travelers. They give huge intricate
details about the rooms availability, room
tariffs, room type, the check in and the
check out times and also all the other such
details. These details are very useful for
travelers while they are making their online
bookings. Some of the important mobile
self-booking apps that are being used by the
hotels and the hospitality sectors are Airbnb,
trivago, Make MyTrip and others, the
corporate travelers can enjoy a smooth
hassle free hotel bookings system as per
their terms. There are many hotels that have
already started using these services like the
Starwood hotels, Maryland Hotels, Marriot
hotels and other eminent hotels that are well
known for conducting the business meets
and the other corporate events.
Figure5: Hotel Booking Apps
Source: (Cohen, Hanna and
Gössling, 2018)

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Figure6: Business Travel Guests
Source:(Bowie et al., 2016)
There are many changes taking place
in the hotel and hospitality industry every
now and them. It is predicted that over the
years there will be many new and
challenging trends coming up in the market.
As a result of this, the organizations have to
make sure that they are being able to combat
such changes. Some of the changes that are
about to come up, including online
transaction systems. The upcoming business
entrepreneurs or millennial are often in
search of the best and the easiest services.
Thus it is quite evident that they will always
try to go for services like prepaid online
booking system. The hotels have to realize
that this is an era of scientific advancements.
Thus they have to adopt the multichannel
system. In other words, the hotels must
make use of all the upcoming scientific and
technological advancements. They must use
the online prepaid booking system, the
payment methods must be secure and Hassel
free. This will enable the business travelers
to choose the rooms as per their wish and
convenience.
There are hotels that often have the
least understanding about the lifestyles of
the business travelers, In order to make sure
that they do not face any kinds of issues, the
hotels have to make sure that the laundry
services and the room services are ready.
The business travelers often have to go out

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of the hotels in order to attend many
important business meetings. In such cases
the hotels must make sure that they are fast
in providing the room service that will have
a pair of business casual washed, ironed and
properly folded and kept within the room of
the guest. The AI or artificial intelligence is
one of the best scientific aspects that the
hotels must cater to, This will be helping the
hotels to make these services auto-
generated. As a result of this, the hotel staffs
and managers will be able to get time to time
update regarding the orders and the services
that are to be given to their guests.

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