Are businesses cutting back on staff travel?

Are businesses cutting back on staff travel?

In an economic climate characterised by cost cutting and austerity measures, are UK businesses choosing to cut back on business flights to make ends meet? Meet and Greet parking specialists Stress Free Parking investigates.

Although Meet and Greet parking bookings are up for many airport parking operators, a recent study by eco-organisation WWF suggests that businesses may be cutting back on travel in response to the recession.

The WWF report claims that almost half of businesses have reduced the number of flights booked for staff since 2008. Entitled Moving on, why flying means more for business, the research also goes on to argue that the change in behaviour may become permanent, as businesses get comfortable with the new way of doing things.

Of the 47% of businesses in the study who reported having significantly cut their number of business flights in the last two years, 85% said that they would be unlikely to return to their former levels of business travel, even if things picked up with the economy.

This, according to the WWF, is testament to the fact that new, greener and more efficient ways of working are being found and enjoyed.

New, flight-free ways of working

87% of the companies approached in the WWF survey said that they had increased the use of audio, video and web conferencing to help them to reduce their reliance on flights.

Many organisations had also begun to use trains to cut down on their bill for domestic flights, with others using intercontinental train services instead of short-haul flights.

While alternative modes of transport are now regularly being used for domestic and short-haul business trips, flying is still the most popular choice for long-haul trips.

The other side of the coin

Although the companies in the WWF survey may have admitted cutting back on business travel, evidence is emerging elsewhere in the travel industry of a return to business flying for many organisations.

BA and Iberia's parent company IAG for one, has reported an 8.2% rise in corporate travel throughout the early months of 2011, evidence that confidence is returning.

Recent figures from airport car hire experts AVIS reported a 45% rise in bookings - many of which were business-related, and leading UK airport car parking firms Looking4Parking and HolidayExtras are also seeing increases in bookings on last year.

These figures go a long way in demonstrating that cuts in business travel may be more temporary than conservation organisations hope.

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