But slower growth in 2009
Travel managers are expecting costs to rise by 5%-8% in 2009, according to a new survey by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA). The American travel managers' association's 2009 Business Travel Overview & Cost Forecast said that while the number of business trips was likely to grow next year, it would be at a slower rate than in 2004-2007.
The Forecast also predicts that
- Air fares will rise by 7-10% in 2009 with ancillary fees adding up to %5 to ticket costs
- Hotel rates will go up by 1-4%, which are smaller increases than in recent years
- Car rental rates will rise by 1-3%.
NBTA said its research indicated that travel managers will step up their cost control strategies.
These included reducing non-essential travel and enforcing new mandates on travel policies.
Kevin Maguire, NBTA president, said 2008 had seen a slow down in the growth of business travel compared with the growth between 2004-2007.
He added: "In 2009, we will see a continuation of that slowdown in growth.
"The expansion of the trend is the result of measures travel managers are implementing to contain travel costs during an economic downturn.
"The measures vary widely from company to company. In some companies, we are already seeing major cutbacks in travel, while other companies have higher travel budgets in place for 2009.
"Across the board, we can expect to see some changes in the way travel is managed to further maximise value."
- American Express Business Travel said its latest 2008 China Business Travel Survey found that 42% of organisations quizzed had increased their T&E budgets over the past 12 months. It now was on average 31.5% of a company's controllable spend. Amex said the market was still dominated by domestic travel and that compliance had improved over the year with 70% of companies saying they had a policy.
Visit www.nbta.org and http://home3.americanexpress.com