Business Travel Spending to Increase in 2008

Business travel spending will continue to increase in 2008, according to the latest survey of senior-level executives and corporate travel managers by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE).

Respondents reported that travel budgets increased, on average, by eight percent in 2007, citing increased supplier costs (air, car hotel) and growth in the number of trips business travelers are taking this year.

ACTE shared high-level findings of the survey with the business travel community today at ACTE’s Global Education Conference in Munich, Germany. The fifth annual Executive Corporate Travel Survey was conducted in August 2007 by an independent market research firm, and sponsored by ACTE.

The survey generated 305 qualified responses from companies based in Asia, Canada, Europe, and North and Latin America and the United States ACTE will work in conjunction with the survey’s sponsors to publish a detailed white paper on the results later this year.

For the first time, the survey included procurement personnel, who are increasingly overseeing managed travel programs at companies big and small. One consistent theme –managing business travel expenditures is a top priority for all respondents, especially among senior executives, of which 72 percent said it is “very important.”