Although there are a number of ways to conference within the office and even office to office, US businesses are still paying high prices to send their employees to conferences, meetings and other affairs. In fact the cost of business travel is expected to increase again this year, which may push more of them into the online travel space to find deals and get destination information.
This should come as no surprise as, globally, consumers are hitting travel websites in larger numbers than ever. According to comScore, the online travel sector has increased 25% (Year over Year) and by 32% (Year over Year) in India. In the US, travel continues to be a hot online destination as people plan vacations and business trips. June likely saw more vacation planning that business planning, but the travel category (Ground/Cruise, Hotels/Resorts, Transaction, Travel Agents and Car Rental) accounted for five of the top gaining website categories for the month.
As for businesses, new data from Replicon finds that more business travel is happening across the US and that businesses are paying high prices to send their workers all over the country. On average, flights run businesses $440 each and accounts for 40% of the overall business travel costs. What’s more business travel is expected to increase by 5% this year.
Lakshmi Raj, co-founder and co-CEO of Replicon said, “Although the cost of travel is on the rise, it is an essential part of doing business today. With increased visibility into expense budgets, businesses can manage their spending to ensure it doesn’t hurt their bottom line.”
To counteract the high cost of travel, Raj suggests businesses do more to track and manage travel costs so that they not only know what is being spent but may see ways to cut those costs over time.
By Kristina Knight
https://www.bizreport.com/2011/08/us-businesses-pushing-more-cash-into-travel.html
