No fun thanks, we’re Australian

Australians are extremely wary of holidaying within 10 miles of a corporate credit card, according to a Accor Hotels study.

All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy. Or girl. And Australian business travellers are starting to look decidedly ... earnest.

Apparently our “road worriers” are the least likely in the region to mix business with pleasure when they are away from home on the company tab. So, no ducking out for a shiatsu massage or a tour of Patpong Road in Bangkok then?

There’s no problem about being serious about your job, but it is hardly rock ‘n’ roll.

According to a poll of 2586 business travellers by hotel group Accor Asia Pacific, Australians and our cousins, the New Zealanders, were the least likely to extend a business trip to take a holiday (both at 11 per cent).

In comparison, those from other countries in the region know a good thing when they see it. I mean, once you are already there, it seems a crime not to enjoy what another country has to offer.

Extending their trip for a holiday were 33 per cent of Taiwanese, 25 per cent of Malaysians, and 20 per cent of Hong Kongers, according to the Accor Asia Pacific Business Traveller Survey 2012.

Strangely, more than 50 per cent of Australians think it is acceptable to bring a friend or partner along on a business trip but only 15 per cent actually do it.

This conflict may go some way to explaining why there was so much fuss when a Canberra public servant was awarded compensation earlier this year after she was injured by a falling light fitting while making love with her boyfriend on a business trip.

The howls of outrage may have come from the 85 per cent of business travellers who didn’t realise they could get away with mixing work, play and away.

Even a long bath back in the hotel was too much “looxury” for all but 21 per cent of us. We will just make do with carboard box in t’middle of road, as they say in Monty Python. Not so for Malaysians and Chinese – 89 per cent and 83 per cent (respectively) like a long soak.

Australians, in general, are wary of using the corporate credit card for “ancillary” services, such as the mini bar, spa treatments and in-house movies. Australian men, however, a more likely to succumb to temptation than women.

(Some do take it all too far. Witness the spending of the Health Services Union East branch, which has included payments to prostitutes and cash advances.)

Australians also differ in their reasons for travel, mostly for networking or internal meetings. Our Asian counterparts are there to “sell, sell, sell”.

Other findings were:

The boys club: Almost three-quarters of business travellers who responded to the survey were male. Thailand, Australia and New Zealand had the highest number of female business travellers. India had the least, with a mere 6 per cent of women business travellers.

Comfy bed: Of the top three services they wanted from a hotel, Australians voted for a comfortable bed number one (74 per cent), followed by a good quality clean bathroom/shower (45 per cent) ahead of free internet (30 per cent).

Convenience: Location is the primary reason for selecting a hotel by all travellers.

More flying: Australians plan to increase the amount of business travel in the next six months.

Book it: We prefer to book travel online, the preferred medium (82 per cent).

Not so green: We are the least likely of all the countries surveyed to choose a hotel above another simply because it is more environmentally conscious. A mere 21 per cent of Australians are driven by environmental factors when choosing a hotel.

(Disclaimer: In the interests of also being a little dull, my husband does work for Accor Asia Pacific)

@fionaatwork

• Tweet