Chinese travelers least likely to 'switch off' during personal time but most likely to peruse

online dating sites during work hours

We all know that smartphones, tablets and professional devices are taking over our lives, but a new survey by Accor’s upscale Pullman brand, in conjunction with research institute IPSOS, shows how the increased blurring between business and leisure time differs between regions. Having surveyed 2,200 seasoned international travellers across Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, the UK and USA, the results show that Chinese and Brazilian travellers are the most likely to travel with several devices and the least likely to turn them off during personal time.

As a brand that targets today's 'bleisure traveler' and prides itself on helping guests stay connected to both their workplace and loved ones, Pullman wanted to measure the degree to which work encroaches on the personal lives of seasoned travellers in order to understand its market and create technology solutions to meet their needs.

The survey’s key findings reveal that:

• 92% of the Chinese travelers surveyed believe mobile devices help their career development.  However, only 63% of Australians, 56% of French and 53% of the German travelers share this opinion.

• Instead of a good night kiss, for 72% of Brazilians and 70% of Chinese the last thing they do before going to sleep is check their emails; for the Germans this figure is just 27% and for Australians 47% .

• 61% of all respondents bring their professional devices on holiday - 85% for Chinese respondents, while only 50% of Australians and 39% of Brits do.

Xavier Louyot, SVP Global Marketing Pullman comments: "Our knowledge of seasoned international travelers has led us to observe various trends over the years. Our hotel offer has evolved to anticipate these changes and meet the expectations of this new generation of curious, cosmopolitan, hyper-connected travelers who travel both for business and leisure. The results of this survey confirm our vision of upscale international hospitality which is based on the "work-hard, play-hard" philosophy and reflects our customer's lifestyle."   

Hyper-equipped, free and efficient travelers

“Blurring”, or the gradual intermingling of professional and personal activities, is a global trend which has transformed how we organise our private and work lives, right around the globe; however it seems that ‘emerging’ nations such as Brazil and China are most eager to take up new technology and integrate their professional and personal lives more fully.

79% of Chinese and 71% of Brazilians surveyed have at least one mobile professional device (compared with an average of 60% in the other countries). During a week-long vacation, 14% of Chinese respondents said they spend at least 1-2 days on their professional devices, while only 5% of Australians and 8% of Germans allowed work to encroach on their annual leave so much.  

At the other extreme, our personal activities are increasingly encroaching on our personal lives, with most respondents saying it is acceptable to handle private activities during work hours simply because they also work when they are at home.

However there are differences in the types of personal behaviour that different nationalities think acceptable: for example 60% of Chinese respondents admitted to going onto dating sites at work while only 6% of French respondents and 8% of Australians use their work time to look for a date. And the Americans are among the most likely to spend work time shopping online with 68% saying this was a regular activity. On average, 30% of the survey sample spends at least 30 minutes a day handling private issues during working hours.

French and German travelers are the most resistant to blurring their professional and private lives. They also have the most negative opinion regarding mobile professional devices. In addition, they are the least likely to handle private activities during their working hours. In short, they like to keep their work and private lives more separate.

The Chinese are the least likely to switch off during what should be personal time - 65% of Chinese respondents said they check their professional devices during private meals; while only 34% of Australians and 36% of French would do so. Interestingly, Australians proved the most forgiving of their partner's use of social media during personal time with only 22% saying they had been rebuked by their partner for such behaviour, while the Brazilians are most likely to complain at 61%.

The French have a very negative opinion of the use of mobile professional devices and are the least likely to take their professional devices on holiday or weekend trips. Mostly notably, 59% of them believe it to be a source of stress. They are also more reticent when it comes to opening their private Facebook account to business relations: 60% say they have a personal profile that is only accessible to "friends" outside their workplace. They are also the ones that spend the least time on personal activities while at work.
 

Dominique Lévy-Saragossi Managing Director of Ipsos France concludes: “This survey corroborates and sheds further light on a trend we have observed in several areas. Universes that were, in theory, disconnected, are increasingly intermingled.  In this case, the boundaries between professional and private worlds are increasingly blurred. However, we have a myriad other examples in daily life: the blurring of news and entertainment, of fiction and reality, or even of luxury goods and mass market products.”

*Methodology:
This online survey is based on a sample of 2,252 travelers who stay at mid and upscale hotels and are aged between 25 and 65.  It was carried out in seven countries: France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Australia, and China. About two-thirds of responders were taken from an Ipsos access panel and one-third from Pullman's customer data base. The survey was conducted between June 27 and August 6, 2013.

If you would like to use the survey figures, please specify that they are from a "Pullman - IPSOS Survey"

Pullman is the upscale international hotel brand of Accor, the world’s leading hotel operator, present in 92 countries with over 3,500 hotels and 160,000 employees. Located in the main regional and international cities and in prime tourist destinations, Pullman Hotels & Resorts is principally designed to cater for the requirements of cosmopolitan, seasoned travelers, whether they are travelling alone, with their clans or with colleagues. The brand’s establishments offer a new approach to upscale hospitality. The Pullman network has more than 80 hotels in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America where ideas, histories and cultures meet. Our objective is to have 150 hotels around the world by 2015-2020. Pullman, like most of Accor's brands, is proud to offer the Le Club Accorhotels loyalty program.
Further infomraion concerning the Pullman hotels is available on www.pullmanhotels.com