Internet eating further into business travel bookings

The use of travel agents for booking business travel is down from 31% in 2005 to 28% last year as use of the internet increases, according to new research.

Almost half (47%) of all business travel is booked using external websites, up by 10% year-on-year.

More than three quarters (76%) of business travel is now booked using a company credit or charge card.

The research from the 11th Barclaycard Business Travel Survey is based on a poll of 4,000 UK business travellers.

It found that 41% of business people stated that their companies did not have a travel policy and a further seven per cent stated that they did not know whether it had one or not.

The findings suggest that the traditional role of an assistant arranging business travel appears to be changing.

Only nine per cent of businesses travellers used external companies to book their travel and more than a half (55%) of all business travellers now book their own travel with only 29% of business people delegating this task to administration staff.

Travel costs account for a large proportion of a company’s budget with 39% of businesses spending up to a £1,000 a month on travel, almost a fifth (19%) spending up to £5,000 and five per cent spending between £5,000 and £50,000 a month.

It is clear that for a company to get value for money and the best possible travel deals, centralised policies are essential, according to Barclaycard Business.

The research also suggests that drives to reduce company fraud and internal administration costs are working. Only five per cent of business travellers now use a personal credit or debit card for business travel.

Commercial cards director Denise Leleux said: “It is surprising that despite tight budgets and efficiency drives many companies still do not have coherent internal policies when it comes to purchasing travel.

“Companies spend a large amount of money of business travel each month and centralised polices could reduce these costs and ensure businesses get the best possible deals from their travel providers.”

She added: “It is clear that attempts by companies to monitor travel more closely, reduce fraud and streamline internal administration costs have resulted in a large proportion of business travellers using company cards to purchase travel and accommodation.

“Not only do company cards make travel purchasing more efficient and transparent for companies, they also provide the business traveller with flexibility and ensure that they are not personally out of pocket when travelling.”