According to the American Express Global Business Traveller Survey 2013 if you are a business traveller and you sat next to me on your next flight there is a one percent chance that you would engage me in conversation, so much for business going social! Whether you would want to engage me in conversation is another matter but this article is not about me it’s about the developing trends in business travel from a healthy flier perspective.
The survey was conducted by American Express in the summer of 2013 with participants from the US, UK and Australia. Approximately 500 randomly sampled business travellers were surveyed in each country.
The standout headlines are
(1) As the global workforce goes through change the Millennials are beginning to make up a larger portion of it.
(2) As a group the Millennials value a better work life balance and are savvy about it while on the road.
(3) There is an added focus on relieving travel related stress.
Narrowing in on the US market the travel stress theme is specifically in evidence.
74% of travellers said they drank extra water to stay hydrated.
48% stretched on the plane.
44% use a hotel gym.
20% avoid alcohol.
The majority use a combination of diet and exercise to stay healthy while on the road and 41% supplement their diets with vitamins.
Even if it is only implied these figures show that more business travellers are beginning to recognise and value the correlation between flying healthily to arrive well, be productive and successful in business.
This can only mean good news for the healthy flying niche. If the influence of the Millennials as a demographic block is brought to bear the way the baby boomers have done for the last few economic boom cycles the healthy flying niche and other industries will be better for it. This period in time is all the more important because we have the makings of a perfect storm. We have an influential demographic that fliers and values health. We have challenged or non existing healthcare provisions which mean staying healthy and out of the healthcare system is at a premium. We have an epidemic of Autoimmune disease and we have Globalisation and Technology which play the roles of saint sinner and saviour all at the same time. There are more people taking to the sky that before, journeys are more stressful than before and the frequent flier has to negotiate all of this while still performing at the top of their game.
Globalisation is forcing the pace of change we are experiencing. The good about it is more nations are coming o