Corporate travel takes the brunt of the recession

The travel industry as a whole is suffering quite badly in the current economic climate, but no sector is quite feeling the pinch as much as corporate travel. As companies tighten their budgets expensive travel comes at the top their lists of things to cut back on.

Many meetings that would have usually have taken place face to face are now being conducted over telephone lines or the internet. For the business persons that have to do things in person and are using planes, many are trading in their luxury business class seats for something a little further toward the rear of the jet.

Some major airlines are taking these growing trends seriously and are looking to reduce the number of business and first class seats they have in favour of more rows of economy. It is a hard slog for these airlines also because they would rely on the higher end clients to make up a considerable amount of the company profits.

“Current economic challenges and public scrutiny of travel and entertainment spending has placed corporate travel on the chopping block. Sharply curtailed corporate travel budgets will mean not only less travel in 2009, but stricter policies and tougher policing when spending does occur,” said Susan Steinbrink, a corporate market analyst for PhoCusWright.

Thanks to www.dailytravelnews.com for the above quote, for more details on this story please visit their website.