A recent study brings to light the usage of business travel policies by corporates, mobile payment trend, growth of business travel and more.
The 8th annual International Travel Management Study conducted by
AirPlus International in late 2012 highlights interesting statistics n about the business travel market.
A total of 2100 travel managers were surveyed in 24 countries including Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Russia, UK and US.
Key findings:
1. Travel volumes and costs- Only 29% of travel managers anticipate growth in trip numbers (down 6% from 2012).
- Majority (56%) of respondents expect volumes to remain the same.
- Asia-Pacific and Latin America anticipate more travel - 43% of respondents, compared to 24% in Western Europe and 29% in North America.
- 39% of respondents expect travel costs to rise, including greater increases in emerging markets (62% in India, 55% in Turkey, 51% in China).
- 33% of low spenders expect to book more air travel, the figure rises to 39% for medium spenders and 46% for high spenders.
- 29% of low spenders anticipate booking more hotel overnights, rising to 34% for medium spenders and 40% for high spenders.
A possible explanation is that companies, which already spend heavily on travel, have identified a return on their investment in terms of increased sales and are therefore more enthusiastic about investing further in travel to generate even greater returns.
Future trends in business travel volumes
In the accommodation space, the highest number of travel managers expecting to pay more for hotels is Brazil (59%).
Brazil incurred some of the highest hotel rate rises anywhere in the world in 2012, with average rates jumping as much as 20%.
Similar increases are expected in 2013, while in 2014 the booming South American country will host the FIFA World Cup. However, many new hotels are expected to open in time for the tournament, which could ease inflationary pricing pressures.
Future trends in the number of hotel overnights
India is the country where large number of travel managers expect air fares to rise.
Not only do the majority of Indian respondents believe trip numbers will increase, but the market has experienced substantial air fare rises in recent months, owing to a big jump in airport charges.
Future trends in the number of flights
2. Strategies for reducing costs
- 82% of companies have at least some travel policy in place, while 72% have a policy for all aspects of their travel programs.
- 25% of low-spending companies have no travel policy, compared with 15% of medium spenders and 10% of high spenders.
- 93% of businesses with a policy say they check compliance with its rules, up from 89% last year and 88% the year before.
- Only 4% think their policy will become more relaxed. The majority (53%) anticipate no change but a significant number (41%) predict their policy will become tougher.
- 63% would like to receive electronic invoices only, an up from 59% last time and 54% three years ago.Existence of travel policy or guidelines
- More than half of respondents (52%) now use an analytical tool or software to evaluate their travel costs.
- 58% of respondents have specifically negotiated fares with airlines, 72% with hotels, and 55% with car rental companies.
Future trend in travel policies
Use of analytical travel management tools
3. New challenges and opportunities- Mobile payment continues to integrate itself into the travel program, particularly in Asia-Pacific where 19% of travel managers saying some or all travellers have used it. That compares with 13% in North America and 9% in both Western Europe and Latin America.
- 19% say they believe mobile payment will simplify travel expense accounting and 13% think it will add more detail to travel expense reports.
- 12% think mobile payment will improve monitoring of travel policy and 11% think it will help travel managers to manage their travellers’ corporate card payments.
- 62% do not yet see any advantages to mobile payment, suggesting much more education is needed on this subject.
- Green travel management is being led by the largest spenders with nearly one-third of large companies saying their travel policies address environmental issues and 20% saying they make a financial offset for greenhouse gas emissions.
4. Status of travel managers and time management - 91% of travel managers say that they enjoy their travel related tasks.
- Nearly half (44%) report not having enough time for it.
- 58% find it difficult to balance the needs of both travelers and the company.
- 64% of travel managers in China and 56% in Singapore say they lack sufficient time for their work.
- Only 8% spend more than three-quarters of their week managing travel, while 62% spend less than one quarter of their week on travel.
- In China, not a single respondent spends more than three-quarters of their time on travel, while 86% spend less than one quarter of their time .
Current positioning of travel management