26 June 2008

Business travel Ã¢â¬Ëœholding upÃ¢â¬â¢ - GTMC

Business travel transactions are continuing to hold up despite the credit crunch and economic uncertainty.

Figures from members of The Guild of Travel Management Companies for May showed a growth in total transactions of 5% compared to the same month last year.

Year on year, 2008 is up by 12% in the total number of transactions undertaken by GTMC members.

But the guildÃ¢â¬â¢s snapshot of May revealed car hire down by 4% on the corresponding month last year and air travel has flattened out, but still running 1% down on May 2007.

GTMC chief executive Philip Carlisle said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœMay 2008 contained one less working day than May 2007. This could be worth a 4Ã¢â¬'5% drop in productivity Ã¢â¬' so the air figures could actually be positive and the car figures might be break even.Ã¢â¬~

The Ã¢â¬ÅâœothersÃ¢â¬~ transaction category, which includes travel insurance procurement, passport and visa ordering, airport taxi bookings and chauffer drive, is known to act as an early warning system for the health of business travel.

The sectorÃ¢â¬Ëœs results for May show a slow down, with a drop in transactions of 23%.

Year-on-year the category shows growth of 14% but the drop in May could be an early warning sign, the GTMC said.

Hotel transactions were up by 17% up on May 2007 and by 22% year on year. Rail travel was up 13% during the month and 21% in the first five months of the year, perhaps reflecting a more Ã¢â¬ÅâœgreenÃ¢â¬~ approach to buying business travel by British comapanies, the GTMC suggested.

Carlisle added: Ã¢â¬ÅâœBritish business travel remains robust in comparison to other countries and the 5% total growth in transactions for May is still encouraging.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWhile business travel growth may be flattening, there are as yet no signs of a critical reduction, overall.Ã¢â¬~

by Phil Davies