In-Person U.S. Business Meetings To Decrease Due To Higher Air Fares, Economic Slowdown

Alexandria, VA (AHN) - Travel and marketing associations forecast a downscaling of business meetings, conferences and conventions on account of less domestic flights, higher air fares and continued economic slowdown.

The strong euro is also hurting American business travelers who need to go to Europe for meetings. To cope with these forces, U.S. business travelers cut short their European trips, with some even buying round-trip tickets within 30 hours to save on hotel expenses, Caleb Tiller, spokesman of the National Business Travel Association, told the New York Times.

Other businesses have moved multinational meetings to the U.S., which has been to the advantage of European business travelers who get to attend the vital meeting and shop in American malls.

According to Susan Gurley, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, in a survey of 125 travel managers, 49 percent said they reduced travel spending in 2007. "Most companies are getting tougher on enforcing compliance with travel rules... these days supervisors want to know exactly what a traveler expects to accomplish before signing off on a European trip," Gurley told the New York Times.

The Hyatt hotel chain reported a slight decline in business group functions for the first half of 2008, said Ty Helms, senior vice president for Revenue of Hyatt Hotels. He added that meetings that still pushed through downscaled on food and beverage budgets.

Kim Reynolds, president of Strategic Meetings Solutions, disclosed that many companies have imposed higher levels of justification before employee travel is approved or client invitation to company-sponsored functions is allowed. "My clients are taking a much harder look at who internally is attending and asking the hard questions in terms of, 'Do you really need to attend? And what is your purpose for attending?'" Reynolds told USA Today.