2012 Industry Pulse: Business Travel Buyers Sentiment - Europe
Statistics & Metrics
Date: December 5, 2011
About this Resource
Highlights:
• The Great Recession was felt in Europe as much as in any other region around the globe. However, a new crisis affecting primarily Europe has emerged focusing on sovereign debt. This is clearly having an impact on business travel sentiment in the region, although the outlook remains positive.
• Only 24% of Buyers feel the overall economy is better now than it was one year ago, compared to 33% who think it is worse now.
• A nearly equal number (28%) feel the economy will be even better one year from now, compared to 26% who feel it will be worse.
• Compared to one year ago, more Travel Buyers (51%) feel the business travel industry is doing better than feel it is worse (11%).
• More than one-third of Travel Buyers feel the business travel industry will be in better shape one year from now (36%), compared to 17% who believe it will be worse.
• The average travel spend in 2010 for companies represented in the sentiment survey was €75.7 million.
• Travel Buyers estimate total spend has increased by an average of 5.2% in 2011 and will continue to expand by another 3.5% in 2012, further evidence that the wake of the Great Recession is in the rear view mirror and that companies remain bullish on the future despite economic headwinds in the region.
• Increased airline fees and higher rates/fares are the primary reasons for an increase in spend in Europe, although more trips, increased hotel fees, and more travelers are still a significant factor as well.
• Evidence that higher fees and rates/fares are impacting travel budgets is found in Travel Buyers’ expectations for 2011 and 2012. With the exception of domestic car rentals, Travel Buyers expect prices to rise by roughly 4% in 2012.
• Increasing spend on outbound international business travel is another large driving force behind the increase in total travel spend. Currently, Travel Buyers estimate 59% of their travel budget goes to international travel. This is expected to increase to 62% in 2012.
• According to Travel Buyers, remote meetings by any method (teleconference, tele-presence, virtual web meetings) are reducing business travel much more than increasing it. In fact, between 37% and 55% of buyers say this is the case depending upon the specific technology in question.
• As a result of the strong economy, a majority of Travel Buyers expect airlines to be more strict when it comes to volume and market share threshold negotiations this year. Many expect no change from hotels, car rentals, meeting venues, and TMCs, although the balance is for slightly more strict thresholds in all areas.
• Airlines and hotels are wielding more power in negotiations as the business travel economy remains strong. Travel Buyers expect slightly worse discounts in 2012 from these areas.
Resource contributor
Paul Yachnes
I am Research Library Manager with GBTA Foundation, responsible for building and maintaining the Digital Resource Library and answering member research and reference questions. If I can help you find research, whitepapers, RFPs, presentations,...
