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By Nathan Andrews, Author & Hospitality Consultant
I read recently that using nouns as adjectives sometimes has unintended or unfortunate consequences. Case in point ‘business’ is a verb, it is a noun and an adjective, when used in conjunction with travel it becomes the descriptor or adjective, giving a specific nuance to the use of the word travel.
But what image or images does the term ‘business travel’, conjure? For many, it elicits pictures of cocooned and pampered travel experiences, business class travel, exclusive lounges, and luxury hotels. For many of my readers who travel on business regularly, the reality is quite different. Long commutes to and from the airport, the angst of navigating security and check-in, delayed flights, cramped seats and unremarkable food is at all.
So where does hospitality come into this equation? After all the room and the flight are the same in terms of quality and experience irrespective of the reason for travel. The answer I believe is in the very genesis of hospitality.
Until the eighteenth century almost all travel was occasioned by work, be it a trader in ancient times importing or exporting spices, precious metals, exotic fabrics or just wine and grain, all of which meant travelling to the source of the merchandise. The traveler needed a place to stay which birthed the first inns, a place to rest, and perhaps get some food and water for the animals if traveling by road. Security too doubt was a concern as camping in the open not only exposed the traveler to the elements but also to bandits and thieves.
These basic needs gradually refined the yet unknown hospitality industry, moving from rudimentary inns to hostelries at key junctions, to more established entities with the advent of rail and steamships. The users of course still primarily those travelling for business or government reasons as the time involved was still significant.
Fast forward to today, where I believe the needs of business travellers still drive the planning and architecture of the planned guest experience for the most part. With the exception of specific tourist destinations and resorts which are designed around the leisure traveller ( a virtually non-existent category till the advent of easily accessible air travel), most hotels continue to, and rightly so design their offerings around the perceived needs of the business traveller.
The corporate travellers’ need for connectivity has made wi-fi free and ubiquitous. Women-only floors offer an enhanced sense of security to businesswomen. ITC offers specially curated room-service menus for the single traveller, something I wish other brands would also offer. Irrespective of the offering of the hotel, be it budget or luxury the fundamental requirements remain the same, a clean and comfortable bed, a refreshing bath and a good breakfast to kick-start the day.
To all the hotel operators, I believe I speak for all my fellow road warriors give us the basics in an efficient and reasonably comfortable manner and we will be your loyal customers whenever we are in your city. The bells and whistles are nice, though sometimes they can be irritating but that is not what the business travel needs. His or her requirements are pretty much the same for the past three millennia.
