There was a double digit rise in demand for business travel in the first quarter of 2010, consultants Advito said.
But Advito, the consulting arm of BCD Travel, said the increase indicated a two-speed recovery which was rigorous in advanced markets and sluggish in emerging ones.
Its 2010 Industry Forecast report highlighted four key developments:
- stronger than expected growth in air fares in Asia-Pacific region
- an expected drop in business class travel within Europe
- a further drop in average daily rates in key hotels markets
- increasing impact on the market of fee fro no-shows for car rental.
On the drop in use of premium fares in Europe, Advito said it did not expect this market to recover.
On hotels, the consultants said they expected ADR in hotels to fall in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Advito said it was also seeing pressure on travel buyers to accept joint venture contracts rather than deals negotiated with individual carriers.
"The finding follows the growing dominance of anti-trust immune joint ventures among members of the three major airline alliances," a statement said.
"Joint-venture contracts may lead to more carriers than are needed in the corporate travel program, harder-to-hit targets and direct competition among preferred carriers."
It said clients should "continue to pursue independent negotiations with carriers to ensure optimal coverage".
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