Business Can Be Pleasure: Canadian Professionals Recognize

• 55% Canadians say experiencing new destinations adds value to their job
• 71% say travel to meet clients or colleagues face-to-face is key to business success
• Booking.com for Business research shows how travel enhances work experience

TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2017 /CNW/ - Mixing business with pleasure might not always be advised, but for Canadian professionals it could be the key to achieving success.

According to research commissioned by Booking.com for Business, the global leader in connecting business travellers with the widest choice of places to stay, almost three quarters (71%) of Canadian working professionals say travelling to meet clients or colleagues face-to-face is essential to business success.

When asked what Canadians hoped to accomplish most on their business trip, over half (52%) said growing their company's business was top of mind. They also saw it as an opportunity to expand their horizons and reach their fullest potential. One in four Canadians (41%) claimed spending time with colleagues and clients to strengthen professional relationship was a priority and over one third (36%) said business travel would help provide inspiration for their work.

Bleisure travel a top priority for Canadian professionals
It's no surprise that mixing leisure with business travel remains top of mind among Canadians, with nearly half (47%) considering it a work perk. In fact, the vast majority of Canadian working professionals (95%) said they would extend their business by three days or less and 48% plan to incorporate leisure time into their work trip.

When the opportunity to combine business and leisure travel on the same trip is presented, over half of Canadian working professionals (55%) say experiencing new cultures and destinations adds value to their job. Not surprisingly, over half (51%) agree that adding leisure to a work trip makes them more successful in business meetings.

Business-ready accommodation is key to boosting business trip potential
Choosing the right accommodation plays a critical role in maximising the potential of a business trip. Globally, six in ten professionals (60%) agree that travel and accommodation options that cater specifically to the business traveller are no longer optional, but essential.

For Canadians, a comfortable bed (59%) and strong Wi-Fi (61%) was at the top of the list for business accommodation must-haves, closely followed by a hearty breakfast (34%). Location also strongly drives the choice of accommodation, with convenient access to meetings (50%) and placement in the city centre (23%) identified as top priorities for overnight stays. With Booking.com for Business, properties that have been favourably reviewed by prior business travellers and tick the boxes for these important business travel essentials are surfaced with priority in the search results.

By making it easy to search, find and select accommodation from the wide variety of business-ready stays available today, Booking.com for Business helps connect business travellers with their ideal place to stay - whether that reflects their professional preferences, business trip objectives or overall lifestyle.

"Experiencing different cultures and destinations and gaining new perspectives through travel is becoming increasingly important to professional success, particularly in today's hyper-connected and globalised business world. Regardless of profession, today's business travellers are savvier about the value up for grabs, both for their companies and for themselves. Where they choose to stay is crucial in realizing that value, with today's business travellers seeking places that align with their specific, priority needs when it comes to location, flexibility and certain amenities," says Ripsy Bandourian, Senior Director of Product Development at Booking.com for Business.

NOTES TO EDITORS
Research commissioned by Booking.com for Business and independently conducted among a sample of working professionals (full or part-time employed adults who have travelled internationally in the last 12 months), provided by Vitreous World. In total, 17,038 respondents were surveyed (1,000+ from the UK, US, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, India and Russia and 500+ each from Australia, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Thailand and Taiwan). Respondents completed an online survey from 3^rd to 18^th August 2017.

About Booking.com
Established in 1996 in Amsterdam, Booking.com B.V. has grown from a small Dutch start-up to one of the largest travel e-commerce companies in the world. Part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN), Booking.com now employs more than 15,000 employees in 199 offices in 70 countries worldwide.

With a mission to empower people to experience the world, Booking.com invests in digital technology that helps take the friction out of travel. At Booking.com, we connect travellers with the world's largest selection of incredible places to stay, including everything from apartments, vacation homes, and family-run B&Bs to 5-star luxury resorts, tree houses and even igloos. The Booking.com website and mobile apps are available in over 40 languages, offer over 1.4 million properties, and cover more than 120,000 destinations in 227 countries and territories worldwide.

Each day, more than 1.5 million room nights are reserved on our platform. So whether travelling for business or leisure, customers can instantly book their ideal accommodation quickly and easily with Booking.com, without booking fees and backed up by our promise to price match. Via our customer experience team, customers can reach Booking.com 24/7 for assistance and support in 43 languages, any time of the day or night.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, and for the latest news, data and insights, please visit our global media room.

About Booking.com for Business
Booking.com for business (http://www.booking.com/business) is a tailored offering specifically focused on business bookers and travellers to allow seamless booking and managing of business travel in the simplest, smartest and most rewarding way. More than one in five bookings made on Booking.com are made for business. Enhanced features for business travel on Booking.com highlight those places which are frequently used for business, tapping into its extensive review data to make easy work of finding those that are business traveller tested and approved. Booking.com for Business also provides a free tool for travel managers and assistants that allows booking on behalf of others. Booking.com for Business is a platform with enhanced functionality and reporting designed to meet the specific needs of corporate travel, while delivering the same ease as Booking.com enabling every business traveller to book with confidence, wherever their business takes them.

SOURCE Booking.com

contact the Booking.com Canadian Press Office: Sarah Zajac, [email protected]