30 July 2009

Bad news not just for business travelers

The bad news about business travel gets worse when you consider it impacts everyone’s leisure travel, points out travel commentator Chris Elliott.

"Why? Because business travelers subsidize discounted rates that leisure travelers pay. Have been for a long time, actually," he writes.

So what happens when the business travelers stop traveling for business?

If you said, "we pay," you’re right.

"Either the price we pay for hotel rooms, rental cars and airline tickets — especially airline tickets — will have to go up, or we’re going to see some big names in the travel industry go down," he said.

Airlines, car rental companies and hotels will probably lean on leisure travelers to make up the loss from business travelers, he said.

"Meanwhile, the companies that rely on business travelers (full-service hotels and legacy airlines) are bound to struggle and eventually fail, unless they can find a better business model.

by David Wilkening

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