MORE THAN HALF OF CANADIAN BUSINESS TRAVELLERS SAY THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT PERSONALITY AT WORK, ACCORDING TO NEW HOTELS.COM REPORT

Report reveals Canadians wake earlier, stay in nicer hotels and socialize more on work trips, with manufacturing workers among the earliest risers

New research comes as Hotels.com launches business travel experience that helps travellers book faster and earn rewards for future trips

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New Booked for Business Report from Hotels.com® reveals how Canadian business travellers switch into work mode, what they value most from a hotel and why free breakfast has become the ultimate business-travel perk. More than half (53%) say their personality at work is different from who they are at home, rising to 73% among Gen Z. Hotels.com has launched a new business travel experience globally, designed to make work trips faster and easier to book.

Available through the Hotels.com website and app, travellers can now save their work-trip preferences, find business-ready hotels, rebook preferred stays and earn rewards on business trips—all within the same Hotels.com account they use for personal travel.

According to the new Hotels.com Booked for Business report*, which unpacks business travel trends and preferences, the top findings amongst Canadian business travellers include:

• Work mode is real. More than half (53%) of Canadian business travellers say their personality at work is different from who they are at home, rising to 73% among Gen Z.
• What employers are spending on business travel. Among Canadian business travellers with defined employer limits, the average accommodation allowance is C$242 per night and the average per diem is C$122 per day.
• Business trips bring out different habits. More than half (53%) wake up earlier during work trips, 42% stay in nicer hotels and 33% socialize more.
• Bleisure is now expected, not an add-on. Nearly six in 10 (59%) say the best business travel destinations make it easy to blend work and leisure, with Toronto, New York and London as the top-ranked destinations.
• September is Canada’s power-travel month. One in five (20%) Canadian business travellers say September is among their busiest times of year for work travel, followed by October (16%) and July (15%).
• Convenience comes first. Nearly three-quarters (72%) say good transportation, hotels and overall travel convenience make a destination great for business travel.
• Forget upgrades. Business travellers want breakfast. Free breakfast (53%) outranks room upgrades (33%), loyalty rewards (32%) and early check-in/late check-out (32%) as the most valued hotel perk.

“Business travel is no longer just about getting from one meeting to the next,” said Melanie Fish, Vice President of Global PR and Hotels.com travel expert. “Travellers want a hotel and destination that can keep up with both sides of their personality—from high-speed Wi-Fi and an early breakfast before a big presentation to a great location and a comfortable place to unwind afterward.”

From Boardroom Boss to Vacay Princess

The Hotels.com report also reveals that today’s business travellers are not just changing their schedules when they travel for work; they are changing their personalities. More than half (53%) of Canadian business travellers admit to showing a different side of themselves when on work trips — and the number rises to 73% among Gen Zers.

In ‘work mode,’ and on business trips many Canadians lean into a more focused, structured type A personality, while in their personal lives and on vacation it's all about that type B energy. In fact, 16% admit they are a boss at work but a ‘passenger princess/prince’ in their personal life.

Some of the biggest shifts in personas include:

• Planning: 45% describe themselves as planners, and 42% say they are super organized at work, but only 25% take charge of booking trips outside of work.
• Early risers: 53% say they wake up earlier during work trips than leisure trips. Plus, 55% say they are always punctual when travelling for work.
• Introvert v Extrovert: 22% of business travellers say they are more extroverted outside of work, while 33% say they socialize more when travelling for work, rising to 40% among Gen Z.
• Budgeting: Value for money (45%) is travellers’ number one priority on leisure trips, with 42% admitting that they use their work budgeting skills to get more value from personal travel.

What Canadian Business Travellers Want

For Canadians, a great business trip is about convenience and getting the basics right. Nearly three-quarters (72%) say good transportation, hotels and overall travel convenience make a destination great for business travel, while 59% value destinations that make it easy to combine work and leisure. At the hotel level, 68% say high-speed/free Wi-Fi makes a stay great, followed by free breakfast (59%) and good value for money (47%). Gen Z is especially focused on balancing productivity and experience: 66% say a great business destination should make it easy to combine work and leisure, while 65% say it should be great for meetings, events or getting work done.

Top Cities for Business Travel

Whether for a major meeting or a bleisure extension, Canadian business travellers rank these destinations highest for business travel:

1. Toronto, Canada — 32% Shangri-La Toronto offers a downtown location, PATH access, extensive meeting space, dining, fitness facilities and pool amenities.
2. New York, NY, USA — 30% The London offers a central Midtown base with meeting venues, dining and fitness facilities, close to Broadway and Rockefeller Plaza.
3. London, England — 20% The Standard London is a convenient, rail-connected choice, with meeting space, wellness amenities and access to King’s Cross and central London.
4. Los Angeles, CA, USA — 16% The Sun Rose West Hollywood offers event spaces, restaurants, a rooftop pool, lounge and spa near West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
5. Tokyo, Japan — 14% The Capitol Hotel Tokyu combines a central location with meeting facilities, spa, pool and all-day dining.
6. Miami, FL, USA — 12% Kimpton EPIC Hotel by IHG provides a central base with meeting space, work-friendly amenities, dining and a pool.
7. Paris, France — 11% Maison Colbert provides a central base with meeting rooms, work-friendly spaces and access to major Paris attractions.

Business travel on Hotels.com: built for the way work trips really happen

Hotels.com’s new business travel experience is designed to take the friction out of booking work trips while keeping the flexibility, hotel choice and rewards travellers value for personal travel, letting travellers easily switch between work and play mode.

• Rebook a preferred hotel in a few clicks with Quick Rebook.
• Set preferences once for must-have business-trip preferences, including fully refundable stays, Wi-Fi, breakfast, gym access, and a maximum nightly rate.
• Find work-ready stays faster with business-trip focused filters and reviews.
• Stay flexible when plans change: Travellers can filter for fully refundable stays.
• Turn work trips into future travel: Members can earn rewards on eligible business stays and use them toward future travel.
• Keep work and leisure together: Travellers can switch between business and leisure trips while managing their stays and eligible rewards in one Hotels.com account.

This new business travel experience on Hotels.com is available from 1 September 2026 through the Hotels.com website and app, where supported. Travellers can learn more at Hotels.com.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What is the Hotels.com Booked for Business Report?
A: The Booked for Business Report is Hotels.com research based on a survey of 1,000 Canadian adults who have travelled for business in the last three years, exploring how people behave and feel when they travel for work.

Q: When was the business travel research conducted?
A: The survey was fielded from 10–18 August 2026 among Canadian adults who had taken a domestic or international business trip in the previous three years.

Q: Who is the new Hotels.com business travel experience designed for?
A: The new experience is built for self-booking travellers who manage their own work trips and want to save preferences, find business-ready hotels quickly and earn rewards on eligible business stays.

Q: How do travellers use the Hotels.com business trip features?
A: Travellers can indicate that they are booking a business trip on the Hotels.com website or app, save preferences such as Wi‑Fi, breakfast and rate limits, and then see hotels that better match their work-trip needs.

Q: Can travellers earn rewards on business trips booked through Hotels.com?
A: Yes, members can earn rewards on eligible business stays and apply them toward future trips, turning nights booked for work into value they can use for personal travel.

About Hotels.com

Hotels.com is the hotels expert with hundreds of thousands of hotels around the world. We’re all about giving travellers more of what they want — whether that’s instant savings, flexible options, or rewards they can actually use.

With Hotels.com Rewards, members save with discounts of 10% or more on hundreds of thousands of hotels worldwide and earn one reward night for every ten night stayed – no blackout dates, no gimmicks.

We also make booking a stay simple and flexible with Price Alerts and Free Cancellation on many hotels, so you can feel confident you’re getting great value even when plans change.

Whether it’s a business trip or a bucket-list getaway, Hotels.com helps you get the most out of every trip.

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About this research

Survey of 1,000 Canadian adults who have travelled for business in the last 3 years (domestically/internationally), conducted between 10–18 August 2026.