For the most part employees of corporate businesses, financial services
firms and law firms spend more on airfare and less on hotels than three years ago, according to Ovation Travel Group, which recently released its quarterly "Business Travel Indexes" through the third quarter (July - September) of 2011.
The indexes compare the preceding 12 quarters of travel patterns for each group. Data includes: average airfare and hotel price paid by quarter, and the breakdown of the percentage of first, business, and economy class tickets and domestic versus international flights by quarter.
The corporate business travel index data is culled from a cross-industry-sample of clients, representing over $100,000,000 in annual air spend; financial services firm data is from industry clients representing over $50,000,000 in annual air spend; and the law firm data is culled from a cross-sample of lawyers travel’s (a division of the Ovation Travel Group) law firm clients, representing over $70,000,000 in annual air spend.
A look at each group:
Law firms spend on average $40 more on flights now then these firms spent in the third quarter of 2008. However, the firms spend only a slight amount less, of about $10, on hotels. Also, law firms travel first class 2.5 percent less, a drop that occurred mostly between the end of 2009 and 2010.
On average the corporate business traveler spends $50 more on air travel and about the same amount on hotels since October-December 2008 compared to now. Although on a whole corporate businesses spend more on flights these companies fly first class less; 8.7 percent of business travelers flew first class in late 2008 and now 7.6 percent. However, just three months ago business travelers were flying first class at about the same rate as 2008, of 8.5 percent. Business travelers spent the least amount on hotels and flights in January- March of 2009.
Although those employed at a financial services firm spend $20 less on airfare now than in late 2008 just three months ago this group spent $50 more on average on airfare than in late 2008. Financial services firms spend about $60 less on hotels. The biggest discrepancy is with first class flying. This group flew first class about 29 percent of the time for all of 2009. Between December 2009 and September 2010 this number dropped by 10 percent.
To view the indexes online visit http://ovationtravel.com/press/2011Q3Index.pdf