Many benefits to business travel, despite being unhealthy

John Connelly isn't home much. Being home half the days of any given month is considered a lot for him. The vice president of business development for gaming device maker Bally Technologies regularly logs a couple of hundred thousand miles in annual travel miles and has hit 300,000 a few times, too.

Balancing a 10-year marriage and two young daughters with work isn't always easy, he admits. To make up for being out of town so much, when Connelly is home, there are family trips, date nights and plenty of outings. Before kids were in the picture, he would sometimes take his wife on trips, too.

Connelly, 42, works hard and enjoys a great income and lifestyle for his efforts. But he describes a "no-man's land" between his executive position travel and the world of business travel for those on tighter budgets and with different circumstances. If he weren't making an executive's salary, a little extra money simply wouldn't be worth the heavy commitment he puts in.

"We decided when the children were young as long as … I'm able to provide a life that is significantly better than I would if I were doing 9 to 5, then I'll do it," he said.

For a while, Connelly was traveling as many as 25 days a month. The half-month schedule these days is better, he says. But given his executive title, winding down travel isn't that easy. To do well in his job, he sees traveling about 25 percent of the time as an absolute minimum.

"If you're going to be an executive of a global gaming company and really want to assure the company maintains the good to great status, at least a number of the executives need to be visible. … Videoconferencing and emails are efficient, but only for a period of time. … At some point you have to go out there and break bread with the people and get a sense of the market," he said.

Aimee Hoyt, senior vice president of human resources for casino gaming entertainment giant International Game Technology, oversees all of the company's human resources functions. She is on the road about 50 percent of her workdays and routinely eclipses 100,000 travel miles in a year.

Hoyt agrees with Connelly that executives need to be visible and in the field as much as possible. But she also says other personality traits are needed for someone to enjoy a lot of business travel.

"The first thing you have to have is a natural intellectual curiosity about other cultures," she said. "You've got to want to be in China, see the Great Wall and local temples and understand what makes that culture."

Hoyt said that IGT's executive team puts deep understanding of the culture as one of core principles for developing global business. That is why for international trips, whenever there's a chance, she tries to arrive a day or two early to not merely sightsee but study the culture. Whether it's Sydney, Macau, Estonia or somewhere else, she visits museums, tours universities, samples local cuisine and other elements.

Even domestic travel has her studying city cultures. The practice keeps her on her toes and knowing her own personal work limits.

"You need to prioritize extremely well and know what your body can take physically," she said.

Studying business travel

Hoyt's point about business travel's physical toll now has research behind it. A 2011 Columbia University study published in the Journal of Occupational Health using data from more than 13,000 people found that frequent travelers reported higher body mass indexes and obesity levels and an overall lower self-rating of health.

"Increasing amounts of business travel was associated with poorer health," summarized one of the study's authors, Andrew Rundle. More specifically, those who traveled more than 20 nights a month were 2.61 times more likely to report poor health than those who traveled only one to six days a month.

Rundle said poor health may be linked to more travel simply because regular exercise and access to healthy food on the road is not always easy.

"It's hard to eat healthy food in an airport," he said. "You're on a layover and you're going to be eating high-calorie food. You're eating at a hotel, eating larger portions.

"A lot of hotels have gyms, but they're often not very high quality. … You have this meeting and you're trying to duck out and go to the gym. Travel just disrupts physical activity and exercise."

Rundle also said travel encourages splurging, particularly on food. Add the stress of tight schedules and a heavy workload and it's worse.

"People give themselves permission to behave badly while traveling. 'Travel time is not part of my real life so I give myself permission to eat badly,' " he explained.

But Rundle's study has a counterpoint. Although business travel may not be the best for someone's health, the majority of business travelers still enjoy doing it. A study released over the summer by TNS, a market research firm that was gathering data for Marriott's Fairfield Inn & Suites, found that 92 percent of 1,001 business travelers surveyed were generally satisfied with how much they travel. The biggest drawback was missing family, the study noted.

"It's not that there were more positives than negatives, it's that the positives overshadowed the negatives around missing family," said Shruti Buckley, global brand manager and vice president for Fairfield Inn & Suites.

Most of the study's travelers were probably not road warrior types like Hoyt and Connelly. The group surveyed averaged about nine trips a year of varying length. And most people mentioned they enjoyed learning about other areas of the world and different cultures as the highlight of business travel.

Working with data

Rundle said his study is not intended to be against business travel. He, too, admitted there are great psychological benefits to traveling, particularly the time before a trip.

"The way I see it is that I like traveling when I'm sitting on my couch thinking about a trip to Shanghai. ... But in the moment when I'm getting off the plane in Shanghai I'm tired, stressed. I want food," he said.

Rundle recognizes the importance of face time, meeting clients and staying in touch with other branches of one's company. He said there are probably plenty of people who can find the good in their business trips, even if they miss family and are off their diet and exercise routines.

But he also said that with his study being mentioned in several newspapers and magazines, the hospitality industry took notice. He started noticing advertisements for hotels with good gyms and healthier food near stories where his study was mentioned. And that's a good thing.

"From a corporate wellness point of view, you have to start thinking of how to make healthy travel easier," he said.

Patrick Mazza, director of business development for Atlas Travel's Midwest region, said he works with his share of corporations that say a gym is a priority.

"A lot of companies we work with, their culture is that they'll only negotiate with those who provide breakfast and a fitness room option," he said. "But it depends on objective and culture."

Buckley said findings in studies like TNS and Rundle's help inform her company's practice. Extensive input from guests through the years also has the hotel chain tweaking designs and offerings when needed.

One area Fairfield changed is its lobbies. People like to meet there instead of in rooms, Buckley learned. So the hotel chain has made it a point to create lounge and communal areas in its lobbies.

And a space with a positive feel is key on the lobby and room front, she added. Buckley also said hoteliers who focus on keeping a room looking and feeling fresh and energizing with color can also help business travelers stay motivated to maintain their workout routines.

"People still want to feel like they're walking into a space that's uplifting and bright," she added.

And with so many business travelers wanting to learn more about their surroundings, Buckley said there is an emphasis on staff knowledge of a local area.

"From a service standpoint, it makes us ask ourselves, 'How do we create that experience?' " she added.

Nate Levinson, operations director for Trilipid Research Institute, based in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is on the road for about one week out of every month. He, too, says travel's pluses outweigh its negatives. The newly married 31-year-old avid hiker, runner and skier enjoys an active lifestyle at home. But on trips to the Southwest, including Las Vegas, where he looks to add sales staff and other members to the growing skin-care company's team, keeping with an exercise routine isn't easy. But he accepts it as part of his work.

"I find you always need to balance with travel and home," he said. "You need to be out talking to customers, potential job candidates, all the above, but you need to be able to come back home longer term."

Carolyn Yucha, dean of the nursing school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, travels only about five times a year, usually to professional conferences. She enjoys the knowledge she gains on her trips, but also finds it difficult to stay on top of her many tasks that await her back home.

"When I go out of town I try to get as much done before I leave because when I come back I have all this catching up to do," she said.

Although most of her trips are in places she has been to many times, occasionally a trip to a new location comes up. If she has time, she'll take in some of the local sites.

But she enjoys one thing about business travel above all. It happens when she's on the plane and her phone is off.

"That's when I read a book I've been wanting to read," she said.