News BUYERS
UK BUYERS: NO DIP IN BUSINESS TRIPS THIS YEAR
THE MAJORITY OF UK travel buyers are not expecting to see a decline in business trips this year, according to a survey by corporate card specialist Airplus. The company quizzed 100 UK-based
buyers on the prospects for 2013 as part of a global survey of more than 2,000 corporate travel managers. Some 64 per cent of British buyers said
they thought the number of trips would be the same as last year, while 28 per cent believed travel would increase, with only 7 per cent expecting a decline. As for spending on travel, 45 per cent of UK buyers thought this would also be flat in 2013, 38 per cent expecting it to increase, with 15 per cent predicting a reduction. Some 41 per cent of buyers said that air fares would rise this year with 43 per cent saying they would stay the same. 44 per cent thought the cost of accommodation would rise this year with 40 per cent expecting rates to be flat. Most UK travel managers also
expected the volumes and costs of car rental, rail and meetings to be around the same level as 2012.
Airplus UK managing director Yael
Klein said: “I believe a stable business travel market should definitely be seen in a positive light. Many other large European business travel markets, including France, Italy and Spain, predict spending to go down, albeit marginally. “As business travel spend seems to point quite consistently to the state of the national economy, we would hope this is, therefore, a good indication for the outlook of our economy over the next 12 months.”
TMCs
TRANSACTIONS AND CLIENT SPENDING FALL HRG HAS SEEN
TRANSACTIONS and client spending fall over the last four months, as companies have looked for further cost savings. The business travel giant said that the number of transactions was down by 2 per cent for the four months to the end of January compared to the previous year, while client
spending fell by 3 per cent over the same period. Overall revenue for HRG was down by 7 per cent. HRG said in its interim
management statement to investors that “market conditions have remained challenging” since its last update at the end of November. “This plays to HRG’s strengths as clients place heavy reliance
on our expertise and experience to help them maximise value from their travel and related expenditure, while lowering aggregate spend,” said HRG in the statement. “Increasingly, clients are seeking a more consultative approach to travel and expense management, typically where HRG is rewarded with a share of costs saved on
their behalf, and we welcome this emerging trend.” HRG chief executive David
Radcliffe added that although the “market backdrop remains uncertain”, the company was on course to “deliver a full- year performance broadly in line with expectations” for its financial year, which ends on March 31.
7 IN BRIEF
■ ENTERTAINMENT AND FINANCIAL specialist TMC The Appointment Group has expanded its global operations by opening an office in Australia. The London-based agency, which already has offices in New York and Los Angeles, has now opened a main office in Melbourne, although there will also be staff working from Sydney.
■ GOOD TRAVEL MANAGEMENT has expanded its operations with the purchase of Uniglobe Regent Travel. Hull- based Good Travel Management has aquired its fellow Uniglobe member for an undisclosed sum from owners Martyn and Patricia Greenwood. Good purchased fellow TMC Mercian Travel in 2011. Uniglobe Regent Travel is based in Stockport and has been operating since 1997.
TMCs
CWT BOSS ‘OPTIMISTIC’ DESPITE SALES DOWNTURN
Doug Anderson
CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL unveiled figures showing total global sales last year of US$27.7 billion – a 1.1 per cent reduction on 2011’s record figure of US$28 billion. The
number of transactions also fell slightly by 0.2 per cent to 61.7 million. The UK’s biggest TMC said overall sales in the UK fell by 1.9 per cent to £1.175 billion compared to £1.198 billion in 2011 – but this was better than the wider EMEA region where sales were down by 4.4 per cent. CWT’s chief executive officer Doug Anderson described the UK and European performance as “strong considering the economic climate we faced in western Europe”. He told BBT: “Europe was a tough environment to operate in for travel in 2012. In those circumstances, I’m very satisfied with our performance in the EMEA region.” But Anderson added there were signs of “more confidence” among companies because the eurozone crisis had “stabilised” in recent months. “Confidence is coming back into the business sector,” he said. “Clients are loosening up the purse-strings of their travel budgets – at least to some extent. They are realising that business travel is necessary in order to do deals and grow the top line. We are now in an atmosphere where clients are not expecting any more significant bad news.” CWT saw its biggest growth during 2012 in Latin America where transactions rose by 21 per cent compared to the previous year. North America also saw a rise of 2.3 per cent in bookings. But there was a 2.4 per cent fall in transactions in the Asia-Pacific region despite strong performances in China and Japan. “We actually had underlying growth in Asia-Pacific, but the decline was down to our decision to walk away from a couple of contracts in the region,” said Anderson. “I think there will be strong growth in Asia-Pacific this year.”
www.buyingbusinesstravel.com
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