The global drop in energy prices has hit Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s sales figures for last year.
According to the travel management firm’s 2015 financial results, transactions in Latin America fell 7.8 per cent due to the “weight of the energy sector” and “economic recession in Brazil”.
There were also drops in transactions in Europe, Middle East and Africa, although North America saw sales climb 1.1 per cent. Asia Pacific volumes were stable.
CWT president and CEO Douglas Anderson said 2015 was a “challenging year” for the industry, with the “continued sharp fall” in energy prices and oil in particular.
Overall sales volumes at the TMC reached $24.2 billion, which CWT said “reflects the curtailment” in travel expenses by energy customers.
CWT said it was a “strong year” for its app CWT To Go, with a 62 per cent growth in user registrations to 560,000.
In early 2015, CWT launched fully integrated mobile hotel booking in 17 markets, achieving 35k hotel bookings and $10 million in sales.
Anderson added: “We continued to focus on enhancing our technology offering, with the deployment of mobile hotel booking on CWT To Go and the global launch of CWT AnalytIQs, a powerful tool to report and manage travel data.
“Finally, we strengthened our growth platform in France with the acquisition of Ormès, a leader in meetings and events, and the sale of our leisure business Havas Voyages.”
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