Business travellers embrace digital revolution

Technology becoming a key enabler for distributed working practices

Business travellers are in favour of Wi-Fi on planes

Increasing numbers of business travellers are looking to technology to support mobile working practices, enhance productivity and save time, according to the latest annual Barclaycard Business Travel Survey.

The report questioned over 3,000 business travellers nationwide and found that 44 per cent travelled more last year than they did in 2006, while one third plan to travel more in 2008 than they did last year.

Technology was highlighted as a key enabler for these more distributed working practices.

Half of the respondents were in favour of wireless internet capabilities onboard planes, while 46 per cent would use their mobile phones for more than voice communications if the technology was widely available.

"As business travel continues to rise, so does the need for technological advances designed to save travellers time and money," said Denise Leleux, director of commercial cards at Barclaycard Business, in a statement.

"Travel technology is constantly evolving, enabling them to do the things they want regardless of location."

However, despite the large numbers of business travellers, many other respondents looked to technology to avoid travelling long distances.

The report showed that online conferencing capabilities are gaining in popularity. The number of firms favouring either web or video conferencing as a communications tool rose to nearly 30 per cent.