24 AUGUST 2009

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Article from BTNews 24 AUGUST 2009

Travel Guild survey

 

UK BUSINESS TRAVELLERS are progressively changing their travel behaviour, as the recession continues to bite.  That is the findings of the Guild of Travel Management Companies Quarterly Transactional Survey.  The analysis reveals that traditional business travel modes of transport and accommodation, such as aviation, car hire and overnight hotel stays, are now in steep and steady decline.  The downward trend in business related air travel has been falling since the third quarter of 2008, but latest statistics from the Guild reveal the trend is now hitting every segment of the aviation sector as low cost carriers show distinct signs of suffering as much as their mainstream scheduled rivals.  Overall aviation travel is 11% down on the corresponding figures for 2008.  However rail travel is up by a healthy 13% year on year and 7% up on the corresponding period in 2008.  The rail figures show that business travellers are increasingly changing their booking and travel patterns and are incorporating train travel into the travel itineraries, possibly at the expense of hotels, airlines and car hire.  Car hire, which has been in an almost constant downward spin since the third quarter or 2008, added a further 17% decline in the returns for the second quarter 2009 marking an annual decrease of car hire business bookings of 13%.  The hotel sector, which has largely held steady over the past year, performed particularly poorly in the quarter – down 13% against the corresponding quarter of 2008.  The decline in hotel bookings was the single largest drop for the sector in over two years and highlights business travellers becoming ever more cost conscious. www.gtmc.org

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