THIS REQUIRES A LARGE SUM OF MONEY WHICH MOST COMPANIES HAVE CONSIDERABLY REDUCED.
More often than not, business travel entails boarding a plane for a short- or long-haul flight and this is what makes airborne journeys a very significant part of the corporate travel segment.
At the same time, the global economy’s fragility and the monetary uncertainty of recent years have had an impact on attitudes and made companies turn to cost-effective solutions, according to HRG, a London-based consultancy that offers travel, expenses, meetings and events management.
As businesses seek to reduce travel costs, there has been a shift in trends, with one in three managers reporting revisions of travel policy, commented Matthew Pancaldi, global client management director, HRG.
“There has been an overall move from business to economy class, and within both classes, a shift towards lower cost, less flexible fares, as companies look for actionable ways to reduce their corporate spend,” he revealed.
Reporting on the private jet industry, Andrew Jurd, charter sales manager, TAG Aviation Europe, said that market trends are indeed guidelines to be taken into consideration and in this case, they point to businesses at the lower end of the market spectrum turning cost-conscious.
Recognising that there has been a shift with the operator’s clientele becoming increasingly cost-focussed when chartering jets, he mentioned, “At present, our focus is a little more price-orientated, especially with new customers.
We always offer fair and competitive pricing and often find that once a new client has realised the benefits of travelling privately with TAG Aviation, they are willing to spend a little bit more for the added customer service value we deliver.”
In addition, data derived from Business Travel Show, held in February in London, suggest that this will be a challenging year as budgets increase at a slow rate and rising travel costs are causing much concern. One quarter of the show’s buyers actually expect funds to shrink.
Another interesting finding is that the portion of business travellers which anticipate to use low-cost carriers is at 86 percent, while there will be a year-on-year rise of 27 percent in low-priced flights booked.
