The leaders in business travel expect business travel to increase. GetThere customers represent the largest global travel spenders and they gave a clear viewpoint of travel budget planning in this year’s annual benchmark survey. Seventy-six percent say they are increasing their travel budgets, a clear recognition of the importance of business travel. And this growth is not limited to the U.S. Travel managers predicted higher travel budgets for Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, and Latin America.
These companies are being smart about how they manage their travel budgets. Use of online tools like GetThere have consistently shown impressive results. Online adoption can have a significant impact on agency fees, as well as costs for air, hotel and car. Even areas where labor is relatively inexpensive saw large increases in online adoption, partially driven by corporate mandates but also a result of the growing culture shift to self service.
What’s the future of business travel? Mobile access to travel data is imperative to keeping travelers happy. And happy travelers make smart decisions about their travel. Web and video conferencing get better and better every year. If you haven’t been to a telepresence room for a meeting, you just can’t imagine the quality. Thirty-four percent of those polled expect to use more of these tools. Not exactly a replacement for travel, but these tools do represent better ways to collaborate when travel is just not feasible.
The report includes detailed information across a number of travel metrics, including cost cutting strategies, online adoption trends, industry specific data and ancillary fees. Check out the GetThere website for the executive summary or ask your GetThere representative for the full report.
-Suzanne
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