Business Travel Tips

According to a survey conducted by the National Business Travel Association in August, 21% of corporate travel managers said environmental practices are important in choosing a travel company — up from 16% a year earlier — USA Today reports.

Big companies and states are increasingly steering their travel business to hotels that meet “green” environmental standards.

The newspaper cites a few examples.

- Florida, New York, and California certify “green” hotels and urge state employees to consider staying in them whenever possible.

- Tech giant Oracle, accounting firm KPMG and the American Institute of Architects are among companies or organizations that check hotels’ green practices before they sign contracts.

- Major cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, are pushing local hotels to take environmentally sustainable steps to gain a competitive edge in attracting conventions.

Linda Chipperfield of Green Seal, one of the better-known groups that certify environmental practice, explains the trend: “Corporations want to be able to say, ‘This is what we’re doing.’ They can put it in their annual reports,” And hotels understand the trend, as the number of hotels certified for environmental practices is expected to double by spring. (source)

According to a study released by Egencia — the Egencia’s 2010 Corporate Travel Forecast — average ticket prices (ATPs) for corporate travelers are expected to increase globally as average daily rates (ADRs) for business travelers are expected to increase only in Europe.

- North America
Several factors are likely to push corporate travel prices upward, including: the post-recession economy impacting corporate travel demand, airlines maintaining capacity discipline, and recent airline industry mergers, with average ticket prices (ATPs) anticipated to increase by 5 to 10 percent.
Conversely, average daily rates (ADRs) for business travelers are expected to stay flat or decrease up to 5 percent year-over-year for key cities.

- Europe
With European cities showing signs of positive growth, business demand will begin to increase in travel especially in finance markets, ATPs and ADRs in top European destinations for business travel are expected to rise slowly.

- Asia-Pacific
Corporate travel ATPs are expected to rise just slightly across Asia-Pacific cities due to increased demand outstripping supply. However, fewer business travelers to the region to mean lower to flat ADRs, with the exceptions of Sydney and Singapore,

- Travel management trends

(more…)

As states and municipalities in the U.S. look for revenue to balance their budgets in recessionary times, taxes imposed on renting a car are becoming a way to close budget gaps.

Some figures

There were 114 separate state and local excise taxes for renting or leasing a car in 43 states as of the end of last year.
In 1990, there were only 14 of them, according to the Coalition Against Discriminatory Car Rental Excise Taxes, a group formed to combat the proliferation of the taxes and which tracks them.

Michael McCormick, executive director of the National Business Travel Association, which represents about 4,000 corporate travel managers and suppliers, says taxes can cost a Fortune 100 company $5 million to $10 million a year. […]

Rental-car companies aren’t happy with them either. They don’t want to be tax collectors. Nor do they want to hear disgruntled renters complain about the charges on their bills.
So three years ago, eight rental-car brands and the National Business Travel Association formed the coalition to publicize the taxes, educate consumers about them and lobby against them. (Source)

According to the report produced by PhoCusWright, Inc — “PhoCusWright’s U.S. Online Travel Overview” — the online leisure/unmanaged business travel market is significantly outperforming every other distribution channel in the U.S. in 2009.

The report shows that while the total U.S. travel market will post a 16% drop, online leisure/unmanaged business bookings will decline 7% . The report indicates that in recession times travelers are increasingly turning to the Web to shop and purchase travel.

It also predicts online travel’s share of the total travel market will increase from 35% in 2008 to 39% in 2009.
Online travel agencies (OTAs), by heavily promoting deals and last-minute special offers and eliminating many booking and customer service fees, are outperforming every other distribution channel and proving far more recession-resistant than supplier Web sites.

PhoCusWright’s report projects very modest growth for the travel industry in 2010, but the outlook varies for travel segments and distribution channels. (source)

The recession has fundamentally changed the traditional business travel model. Even though industry experts suggest business travel is slowly coming back, companies are more firmly in charge of enforcing travel policy than ever.

Charles Petruccelli, the president of the American Express Global Travel Services division, says in The New York Times that once a genuine economic recovery begins there will be some relief in spending restrictions for some travelers, but strict control and efficiency will remain in place. “The policies that have been firmly put in place in terms of the type of air fare class you must use, the type of hotel you must use — I guarantee you these will stay in place for a long time,” Mr. Petruccelli said.

Increasingly, business travel will need to be justified in terms of its effect on the bottom line.

Meanwhile, there will be more dependence on teleconferencing and other technologies to replace, or at least supplement, some routine travel. […] No matter what fare you pay, prepare for a new demand for being constantly connected. All over the world, airlines are planning to wire their fleets for in-flight Wi-Fi services and, on foreign carriers, for in-flight use of cellphones.

Mr. Petruccelli says: “Companies will want maximum efficiency out of the traveler, Any solution that allows you to have access, to be able to work better while you’re traveling, is going to be very important.” (source)