Technology adds to the drop in travel spend for business sector

As the travel industry heads towards a recovery, the majority of travel managers for companies continue to look for alternatives to travel in the way of technology in 2010.

Research undertaken by marketing group Kotler in conjunction with the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, over 55 per cent of those participating said they would rely on electronic alternatives more in the future than previously in order to meet their travel spend reduction goals.

It also showed that these companies who had widely implemented the use of conferencing technologies recorded greater travel spend reductions last year, with conferencing having the biggest impact on business travel.

The survey also revealed the best practices for conferencing and demand management correlated with even greater travel spend cuts. Most respondents expected to see increases in the use of electronic alternatives for purposes ranging from team meetings to large events and meetings with suppliers with partners. Over 40 per cent even predicted their organisations replacing more sales-related travel with conferencing over the next few years.

Despite these plans to rely more on conferencing technology, doubts and confusion remain about the effectiveness of this technology as travel replacements. One example was respondents were asked about the effectiveness of conferencing in lieu of travel for five common meeting purposes, with the biggest concerns being that video conferencing was not rated as usually effective.