Business Travel Tips

Finnair is introducing anti jet lag headsets on board its flights.
This new device, named Valkee bright light headset, simulates the effects of daylight.

Basically, Valkee is a bright light headset which directs bright light through the ear canal towards the brain.
In doing that, it helps your brain to adjust to a new time zone.

Valkee bright light headset will be tested through a Finnair pilot program on long haul flights. This new device is expected to be offered to Business Class passengers on the route between Helsinki and Shanghai in April 2012.
It should be on sale on board Finnair flights in May 2012.

STR Global released hotel performance data for January 2012.
The table below shows the three key performance metrics by region, year-on-year comparisons, for January 2012.

Below are highlights of key market performers for January 2012 (year-on-year measurements).

- Americas
Chicago, USA, reported the largest occupancy increase, +15.4% (to 47.4%) followed by Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) which recorded +8.4% (to 82.4%). Panama City, Panama, experienced the largest decrease in occupancy, -15.0% (to 55.4%).

- Asia Pacific
The largest increases in occupancy were recorded in Osaka, Japan, +10.0% (to 74.7%) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, +10.0% (to 69.9%).

- Europe Prague, Czech Republic, +20.2% (to 45.4%), and Vilnius, Lithuania, +18.4% (to 44.9%) were the markets recording the largest occupancy increases. Athens, Greece, posted the largest occupancy decrease, -17.4% (to 36.6%).

- Middle East/Africa
The largest occupancy increase was recorded by Beirut, Lebanon, +32.0% (to 53.4%) followed by Amman, Jordan, +30.8% (to 64.7%), and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, +26.9% (to 74.0%).
Cairo, Egypt, was again the market recording the largest occupancy decrease in the region, -42.4% (to 36.4%).

Google Flight Search tool can now be accessed on iPhone and Android devices.

This flight search feature has been extended to mobile devices, Google announced today.

The company said that the mobile platform comes with all the options that are available on the desktop version.

Reports released by the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics for 2011 show that the biggest U.S. airlines had one of their best records for on-time performance.

Data show that 79.6% of fligths arrived on time — within 15 minutes of their scheduled time — during 2011, the fourth highest in 17 years, even if down slightly from 79.8% in 2010.

About luggage services, 99.7% of fliers got their bags on time in 2011 and the rate of mishandled baggage hit the lowest, 3.39 per 1,000 passengers, down from 3.51 in 2010.

About other service measures, BTS’ data show the rate for bumping passengers was the lowest since 2002, 0.81 per 10,000 passengers, down from the 1.09 rate the previous year.

The complete DOT’s reports for 2011 are available at this link.

Spending on business travel in the United States is expected to increase in 2012 according to a study by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
The GBTA’s report, “Business Travel Quarterly Outlook”, which monitors business travel spending among U.S. companies, predicts an increase of 4.6 percent over 2011.

This is a positive sign for the travel industry and also for the health of the U.S. economy as a whole.

However, the report reveals that the number of trips is expected to decline by 0.8 percent in 2012. That means most of the 4.6 percent increase will come from rising travel costs.

That seems in contrast with what a recent research from Deloitte LLP found. Last September, the market research company found that 85 percent of the 1,000 business travelers surveyed expected to take the same number or more business trips in 2012 than in 2011. (source)