There are still huge differences in the way companies around the world handle business travel, as the new AirPlus International Travel Management Study reveals. The study is about to be published for the sixth time in 2012. Market research company 2hm interviewed a total of 1,701 travel managers on behalf of Air Plus…
There are still huge differences in the way companies around the world handle business travel, as the new AirPlus International Travel Management Study reveals. The study is about to be published for the sixth time in 2012.
Market research company 2hm interviewed a total of 1,701 travel managers on behalf of Air Plus International at the end of 2011. The survey is the most comprehensive and thus the definitive annual study in the travel management sector. This year’s study documents the current boom in the global business travel market, which has now recovered from the previous recession.
Between reserve and optimism
The study reveals substantial differences in assessments of and approaches to business travel around the globe. In general, managers from the countries affected by the euro crisis take a reserved view of the future development of corporate travel. Other regions show cautious optimism, whereas travel managers in growth markets such as Brazil, South Africa, Singapore and Australia are bursting with confidence.
Limited resources call for professionalism
In its latest study, AirPlus also asked travel managers about their role within the company. The result: resources remain limited. 34% of respondents said they did not have enough time for travel management. That corresponds to only a slight improvement over the previous year, when 37% complained of this problem. Even in companies with a high level of travel expenditure, one in two managers (48%) only spent a quarter of their work hours on managing travel issues; only 15% are in the fortunate position of being able to devote more than three quarters of their office hours to this subject. This figure is all the more surprising in view of the fact that companies in this category spend at least USD 1 million per year on business travel.
Many travel managers try to cope with their time constraints by using professional methods to organise their work. Thus, 82% of the surveyed companies have travel guidelines – an 11% increase over the study prior to the recession in 2009. 82% (as against 78%) analyse their travel expenditure, 81% (instead of 75%) make use of corporate credit cards, and 59% of respondents have switched their accounting to electronic invoices. This figure too represents a significant increase on the previous year (48%).
The study
The survey was conducted by the international market research institute 2hm on behalf of AirPlus among 1,701 travel managers in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the USA. Subdivision into companies with a low, average and high travel volume made it possible to identify different trends as a function of company size.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
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