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Economic slowdown not stopping business trips, says survey
Fears of an economic slowdown are not deterring executives from travelling, according to the latest Barclaycard Business travel survey.
A poll of more than 3,000 business travellers found 33% plan to travel more in 2008 than they did in 2007.
The majority of respondents (77%) anticipate travelling the same amount or more in 2008, with 36% citing business expansion in the UK as the main reason, and 31% citing overseas expansion.
But although they intend to keep travelling, 55% said they are most likely to fly economy class when travelling for business, compared with 46% in the previous year.
Over the 12-year history of the Barclaycard Business Travel Survey, business class travel has reduced significantly.
In 2001, 41% of respondents cited business class travel as their main class of travel when travelling by air, but now 11% now travel business or first class.
Barclaycard Business director of commercial cards Denise Leleux said: “Travelling on business to expand into new markets or win new business has always been an indicator of economic confidence.
“This year’s results show that confidence is still there and that business people are still positive about economic and business growth.
“But they are also becoming even more cost conscious – perhaps more so this year than before. And it is clear that the long term impact of premium economy services on many long-haul scheduled carriers is continuingâ€.
While British Airways remains the most used airline for business travel (28%) both easyJet (ranked 2nd) and Ryanair (ranked 3rd) have increased their market share.
EasyJet recorded a year on year increase from 7% to 15% and Ryanair from 3% to 8%.
According to the survey, the airline most used for business travel:
BA 28%
easyJet 15%
Ryanair 8%
Bmi 6%
KLM 6%
Flybe 5%
Various/cheapest/depends 4%
Virgin 3%
Emirates 2%
Lufthansa 2%
Luxury, all-frills accommodation is also on the decline for business travellers, with 54% choosing hotels based on value for money and 49% saying the cost of a hotel was the sole factor when choosing accommodation.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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