Executive Travel : Expect More Travelers, More Trips in ’95

Business travel, after a tough start in the early part of this decade, is well on the road to recovery, according to recent projections by the United States Travel Data Center.

Overall travel will grow in 1995, including the business travel segment, said Shawn Flaherty, spokeswoman for the center. “The economy is better, and people are feeling good about their finances.

“And not just people, but companies too,” she said. After several years of restructuring and internal turmoil, many companies have begun to settle down.

Companies may be settling down, but they aren’t staying put, say travel managers.

“The thing I really see growing in 1995 is international travel,” said Tom Nulty of Associated Travel International, a San Diego-based super-regional travel agency specializing in corporate travel. With markets becoming increasingly global, business travelers will be going abroad more in an effort to expand the markets for their products and services, he said, adding, “The Pacific Rim and Europe will be hot markets for 1995.”

The U.S. Travel Data Center projects an overall increase in travel of 5% in 1994, with slightly greater growth in the business segment. Growth will continue at about a 4% rate in 1995, Flaherty said.

The publishers of Official Airline Guides are even more optimistic, projecting a 5% to 6% growth rate next year.

In 1994, travelers will have taken 1.12 billion trips, including 293 million business trips, Flaherty said. In 1995, the center is projecting an estimated 1.2 billion trips overall, including 307 million for business.

Indeed, some travel managers are already feeling the increase. December is typically a slower month for business travel, said Jackie Ludwig, business manager of Santa Cruz Travel in Santa Cruz. “But we’re doing a lot of it for the next two weeks.”

The growth will come not only from more business people hitting the road, but from the increasing frequency of trips among those who are already traveling, Flaherty said. Approximately 39.8 million people will have traveled on business in 1994, an increase of 13% over 1991. By the end of the year, the average business traveler will have taken six trips, up from 5.2 in 1991.

Despite the increasing number of travelers and trips, there will continue to be a strong effort to conserve costs on the road.

“I talk to a lot of business customers who ask how (they) can take advantage of cheaper fares,” Nulty said.

Ludwig said more corporate travelers are considering Saturday night stays to get better fares, and are trying to stay at hotels that include a meal in their rates.

Other companies are saving money by cutting back on luxuries. “Instead of flying first class, they’re traveling coach,” said Shannon Roche, travel manager at Bugle Boy Industries in Simi Valley.

There is some good news for companies trying to decrease corporate travel costs this year, at least in California, Nulty said. Business travelers going between the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area should benefit from the aggressive price war between low-cost carriers Southwest Airlines, Reno Air and Shuttle by United.

In addition to making its annual forecast, the U.S. Travel Data Center also released results of its latest survey of business travelers and their habits.

Among the findings:

* Men outnumber women as business travelers (61% compared to 39%).

* About a third of business travelers belong to an airline frequent-flier program, and the average business traveler participates in two of them. In addition, 16% belong to a hotel frequent-stay program.

* Approximately 70% of business travelers make their trips alone, and 21% travel with one other person. The rest travel in larger groups.

* The average business trip lasts four days.

* Travelers who reported flying within the past year took an average of four trips. Only 11%, or about 2.3 million, said they took more than 10 trips a year by air.

* Approximately half of all business trips were for the primary purpose of attending conventions, seminars or trade shows.

More Executive Travel

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