"We're not currently seeing a reduction in business demand," United Continental Holdings CEO Jeff Smisek last Thursday declared during an earnings call. The operative word is
currently, since a United filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that same day referred to "reduced demand from business travelers in the third quarter of 2011."
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.
There are more signs of a recovery in business and meetings travel, as a new NBTA Foundation survey of 170 North American Travel buyers found that corporate travel budgets grew an average 5.5 percent this year and will grow more than 4 percent in 2011 -- due to higher demand, rising prices and
more airline fees.
I'm heartened to see some evidence that the meetings business is picking up among some hoteliers, yet there's still some time for aggressive sourcing for bargains. Starwood Hotels & Resorts earlier this month said that it is seeing higher weekday occupancies and revenue per available room -- partly due to more business bookings and "pent-up" demand for meetings and conventions bookings, according to a
story in The Beat.
