The Guild of Travel Management Companies’ (GTMC) latest survey shows growth across all sectors of business travel, confirming an upturn in confidence.
The quarterly transaction survey, conducted among GTMC’s members, revealed the total number of transactions between July and September increased to 3,658,300, up 10% year on year.
Anne Godfrey, CEO of GTMC, said the results suggest that recovery in the business travel sector is “slow but steady”.
A 12% increase in air travel transactions (to 1,588,500) exceeds 2008 levels for the first time, a “real sign that business travel is on the up,” said Godfrey.
Hotel bookings grew by 10% (to 834,350) during the quarter, compared to July to September 2009, the first double digit growth since 2008.
Godfrey said: “It would appear that business travellers are not just making business trips but are staying overnight.”
Car hire bookings rose by a promising 10%, to 65,760, “due to normal business rather than repatriation of ash affected travellers,” said Godfrey.
Rail has been the strongest performer for the past 18 months, but in the last quarter it showed a relatively small increase of 7%, to 1,086,700.
The planned public sector cuts may impact on future rail bookings, warned Godfrey.