Highlights:
— Situ commissioned a YouGov survey of more than 550 business travellers and conducted in-depth interviews with a selection of industry leaders
— The research uncovered diverse expectations across four generational cohorts of travellers: Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers
— The resulting report highlights notable differences in demand for non-hotel accommodation; adoption of company-approved booking tools; and interest in booking sustainable properties
Situ – The Global Accommodation Agency – has published a white paper that uncovers and analyses the travel expectations, behaviours, and preferences of four generational cohorts: Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers.
For this research, a comprehensive online survey was carried out in collaboration with the market research company YouGov1. The survey investigated the behaviours and preferences of business travellers and asked participants about key travel behaviours and priorities. These included: accommodation choice, booking behaviours, flexibility, sustainability credentials, in-room technology, and desired levels of support for wellbeing while on work trips.
In addition, a number of experienced professionals from the business travel sector were interviewed to augment the survey data and gain insight into the day-to-day realities of professionals working in business travel. Interviewees had extensive experience across corporate travel management and accommodation provision, including managing business travel within their organisations.
Want to learn more? We hosted a webinar that delved into the key insights we uncovered in the white paper – with some of our interviewees as guests.
The new report, ‘Mind the Gap: Generational analysis of the accommodation requirements and buying behaviours of today’s business travellers,’ reveals increasingly diverse accommodation choices and booking habits across the cohorts, as well as differing views on sustainability credentials and the need for in-room technology.
The findings also provide notable insight on how much flexibility different generations require when booking accommodation, and whether business trips are seen as a ‘chore’, ‘perk’ – or a viable pathway to career progression.
Further key insights include 30% of Millennials stating they wanted full flexibility when choosing where to stay. And when it comes to sustainability, just 41% of Gen X and 34% of Baby Boomers think this is important when selecting accommodation.
Other findings include Gen Z tracking towards non-hotel accommodation, including serviced apartments and short-term rentals, while just 21% of the cohort state they use company-approved booking tools – demonstrating the challenges many businesses face when managing a corporate travel programme.
Phil Stapleton, Situ’s Founder and CEO, commented, “Exploring these generational differences – or ‘gaps’– is a vital and ongoing conversation for the corporate travel industry, which faces growing pressure to better understand and respond to the evolving needs of a multigenerational travelling workforce.
“The nuances around generational needs and preferences are yet another dimension for the buyers and suppliers of business travel services to consider, alongside priorities such as flexibility, tech, and duty of care.
“An understanding of these different needs is yet another piece in the mosaic of how we understand the individual traveller and will help us to continue our mission to optimise traveller experience and prepare the industry for the years ahead.”
Overall, the study points towards a desire for increased agency and personalisation; values that are a response to both industry advancements and broader societal change. As a result, this latest research is designed to equip companies with new insights to better cater to the needs of their employees.
[1] All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,145 adults, of which 554 are working adults who reported taking part in business travel. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27th–28th May 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+)
