A survey of US corporates has found that 71% will spend less on travel in 2009, with 21% claiming they will spend the same.
When the same survey was done in September 2008, only 33% said they would spend less, 31% said they would spend the same, and 36% said they would be spending more.
According to the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), which carried out the research, there are a number of reasons for the change.
“The continued drop in US consumer confidence has a profoundly negative effect on demand, which causes increases in layoffs and joblessness,†said ACTE executive director Susan Gurley.
“Lack of demand causes a slump in manufacturing, which in turn creates a slowdown in global commerce. This has a massive trickledown effect on business travel. Among the hundreds of thousands of layoffs reported in the US alone, there are literally thousands of business travellers now removed from business travel circulation.â€
The ACTE 2009 Business Travel Spend Survey found the hardest hit area of business travel is internal meetings, which can constitute up to 40% of a travel budget.
The survey showed that interest in electronic travel alternatives, such as videoconferencing, jumped from 32% in 2008 to 50% in 2009, making it the top priority for this year.
Some 61% of the travel managers indicated they have approached vendors to renegotiate contracts in mid-term, with 83% focusing on their hotel vendors as the most likely source of savings.
According to 67% of ACTE members, the hotel industry has been the most proactive in responding to the current crisis.
Meanwihle, 46% of travel managers are approaching their airline suppliers, and 31% are looking at reducing their car hire spend.
By Bev Fearis
