AirPlus launched its new International Travel Management Study with the claim that the industry was in a state of "almost unprecedented growth."
There does seem to be a collective air of optimism in Europe but a closer look at the figures suggests that progress is uneven and that one or two areas may not be performing as expected.
But first the optimism.
All the nine European companies in AirPlus's survey expect the number of business travel trips to increase. Those who predict a decline are in single figures in all countries.
The most optimistic is Austria where 63% said the number would rise. (Throughout the survey, Austria seems optimistic as if it were expecting a boom in business travel). Spain (55%) and Switzerland (54%) were also on the high side while Italy (36%) and France (33%) had the smallest expectation that business would rise. (Again in the survey, France seemed often out of step with other countries)
In line with the increase in the number of trips, there was a general feeling that costs would also rise. The feeling was strongest in Austria (58%) and least strong in France (34%). But there were sizeable minorities in Italy (26%) and the UK (21%) who felt costs would actually decrease.
Despite the onward march of the low cost carriers and their effect on the fares of legacy carriers, most thought the cost of air travel would go up. Leading proponents were Spain (60%), the Netherlands (58%) and the UK (53%), a country with more than its share of LCCs.
The figure for France, a country far less touched by the no frills carriers, was 38%.
On air travel, a large majority was also certain that the number of trips would increase. Again it was French companies (38%) which were least optimistic.
Train trips painted a different and perhaps disappointing picture. With growing calls for ecological travel, it might have been thought that rail travel would grow. But most countries said they expected both their rail costs and trips to remain about the same.
France, where 32% expected the number of trips to rise, and Germany (38%) were the exceptions.
But the contrast was stark. In Spain and Austria, a good sized minority, 17% and 16% respectively, expected them to decrease.
There was a more even picture on hotel spend. After a year in which European hotels enjoyed a boom, notably in the UK, most countries expected their costs to rise. Spain (53%) was foremost in this, possibly because the country still has a shortage of certain types of properties.
But Switzerland (46%), the Netherlands (48%) and Portugal (45%) were typical figures.
But there was a more mixed view on whether the number of hotel reservations would increase. Most thought they would but the figures varied from the optimism of Switzerland and Austria where 52% predicted an increase to France where only 32% thought the number would rise.
The survey, for the first time, produced figures on meetings and convention spend. Again most expected their spend on meetings to rise but also again, the figures varied. Austria (41%) and Switzerland (32%) were the two countries which were most sure of this with, again France (16%) and Germany (19%) the least optimistic.
With the addition of the UK (30%), it was the same countries which expected the number of meetings booked to rise: Austria and Switzerland and the same who felt less certain: France and Germany.
The two areas which perhaps produced the most surprising figures were on travel policies or guidance and on savings opportunities.
In the continent's two major markets, the UK and Germany, travel guidance, often regarded as a backbone of travel management, actually decreased. In the UK, 64% said they had guidance on all aspects of travel in 2006 compared with 81% in 2005. In Germany the figure dropped from 83% in 2005 to 79% in 2006. In the UK, 17% of companies had no guidelines in 2006 (13% in 2005).
Total guidance also dropped in the Netherlands from 73% in 2005 to 60% in 2006 and in Spain from 59% to 55% although it increased in Switzerland, Austria and France.
There was also declining optimism that there were still savings opportunities in travel. On air travel, the UK remained the most convinced at 77% but Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal all thought the opportunities had dropped.
On rail, a large majority in most countries thought there were no opportunities at all, surprising when bookings and reservations can increasingly by made online or on specially built software.
It was in hotel spend that most saw the main opportunities to save. Germany and Portugal (both 70%) and Austria and the UK (both 68%) saw the most opportunities. But even the French at 48% showed marked optimism.
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