The frequency of business travel is showing early signs of growth in the next 12 months, says a recent survey.

Forty-six per cent of respondents expect their business travel to increase, marking a rise by 22 points compared with figures of the same period in 2009 (24 per cent), according to the findings from YouGovSiraj’s Travel Tracker survey, a research tool which tracks travel trends quarterly.

While 15 per cent indicated it will increase a lot, a smaller proportion 16 per cent expects their travel to drop over the next 12 months, said the survey.

“It has been a lean year for executives used to travelling for business around the world on company expenses, but business travel looks set to take off again,” said Jane Wilson, director, travel and tourism research at YouGovSiraj.

“As people are feeling more positive about the economy and are increasingly focused on growth, they are now planning to travel on business more,” she added.

Looking at actual flying figures compared to a year ago, people are still flying economy more and business class less.

First or business class travel in January 2009 was 7 points higher than last month. In January 2010, 24 per cent said they flew first or business, compared to 31 per cent in January 2009.

Economy travel (53 per cent) is up by 4 points, and premium economy (23 per cent) increased by 3 points, compared to the same period of last year.

“The financial crisis has forced companies to look more at what these business trips can achieve. And the optimistic expectations show that many firms continue to manage their costs on travel related activities that add to the organization’s value and long-term revenue,” concluded Wilson.

Looking at future expectations, the study shows the majority of the business travelers (55 per cent) plan to fly more premium economy in the next year, marking a significant increase of 46 points in comparison to last year’s figure (9 per cent).

Expectations to fly business and first class rose by 12 points in January 2010, in comparison to 5 per cent January 2009. And 10 per cent feel they will fly more economy this year, as opposed to 21 per cent last year.

While almost a quarter (22 per cent) of business travellers are unsure how their budgets will change, more than a third (34 per cent) are optimistic about higher budgets in the near future. – TradeArabia News Service