Many businesspeople travel long distances. They spend hours and hours flying from one place to another. How do they utilize their flight-time when cell phones are switched off and the Internet is unreachable? Many of them read and they usually buy more than just one book.
They go into an airport bookshop and pick a few novels or some business manuals, or perhaps something rather easy, something that lets them escape from reality. They see it as relaxation, getting away from the stressful situations of the working day.
Sometimes books help them to gain new strength, but generally it"s to help overcome the boredom of long trips. Some businesspeople work or study during their trips, others enjoy reading thrillers and other kinds of fiction. Some travelers just do not have time or opportunity to read elsewhere and so they save the latest literary prize-winners or one of the classics for their business trips. Last but not least are the people who are afraid of flying. They read books to escape their fear.
For all these reasons, we can see that bookselling at airports is a good business. Airport bookshops have greater sales than shops in other locations. There are, however, some negatives. Business travelers complain that the books on offer do not vary between airports and that stocks are not updated as often as they should be. Some business people say they would like to have the opportunity to swap books they have read when traveling.
Top five business traveler buys
1. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J Dubnet
2. The Rules of Wealth by Richard Templar
3. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
4. Fish by Harry Paul, John Christensen and Stephen Lundin
5. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson.
Source: Borders Books. (Times Online April 2, 2007)
