Press releases
Business travel on the rise as face-to-face remains the preferred way to do business
The 11th annual Barclaycard Business Travel Survey, launched today, has revealed that despite pressures on business travel budgets, concerns about the environment and advances in communications there appears to be no sign of a slow down in business travel. The new research shows that more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of people had travelled for business either the same amount or more in 2006 compared to 2005 (34 per cent travelling the same and 44 per cent travelling more).
The research also found that people still believe that travel is an essential part of their business. An overwhelming number of business travellers (79 per cent) believed that their business had benefited from business travel with only three per cent stating that they could have achieved the same success for their company without travelling.
The findings will come as good news for travel providers. The 11th Barclaycard Business Travel Survey questioned more than 4,000 business travellers across the country and builds a comprehensive picture of the UK’s business traveller, gauging views on business travel and travel behaviour.
Of the 44 per cent of business travellers who were travelling more during 2006, almost half (48 per cent) cited business expansion either in the UK or abroad as the reason, suggesting that the economy has continued to grow over the last 12 months.
Denise Leleux, Commercial Director Issuing, Barclaycard Business said:
“It is clear that despite modern communications such as video conferencing people still believe that travel is an essential part of business. The vast majority of business people accept that travelling is still efficient and effective and that without it they could not produce the same results.”
The survey also found that businesses are still covering many miles to conduct their business needs. One in five business people (21 per cent) travelled more than 500 miles per week with 16 per cent travelling up to a 1000 miles. Nearly three-quarters of business people (73 per cent) stated that their majority of business travel was within the UK.
Despite the expansion of the EU, such as the new accession states in Eastern Europe, and the rise of the Asian economies, business travel to these areas remained relatively low. Only 10 per cent of travellers stated that they had travelled to Eastern Europe the most, while six per cent had travelled to China the most and three per cent had travelled to India, both down on last year. The Middle East and Africa have seen an increase in business traffic, with an increase of four per cent to the Middle East and an increase of two per cent to Africa.
Most frequently travelled to areas:
| Country | 2005 |
2006 |
|---|---|---|
| UK and Ireland | 75% |
73% |
| Western Europe | 56% |
51% |
| US and Canada | 23 % |
21% |
| Eastern Europe | 10% |
10% |
| Asia Pacific | 10% |
10% |
| Middle East | 2% |
6% |
| China | 7% |
6% |
| Africa | 3% |
5% |
| India | 4% |
3% |
Denise Leleux continued:
“It would seem that even though business expansion is the primary driving force behind business travel, meetings are still concentrated within the UK and Western Europe.”
