Business Travel, not an expense but a money maker!

Recently, the U.S. Travel Association released a study conducted by Oxford Economics, a worldwide renowned provider of economic analysis forecasts and consulting advice. The study is called “The Oxford Economics Study: The ROI of Business Travel.”

This study has come to the conclusion that business travel creates additional revenues. A few of the key findings are:

· First and foremost, executives and business travelers estimate a 28 % loss of current business without face-to-face meetings. Furthermore, they estimate that about 40% of their prospective customers are converted to new ones with in-person meetings compared to 16% without such a meeting.

· The majority of business travelers stated that 5-20% of their new customers were the result of tradeshow participation.

· Very interestingly, executives state that in order to achieve the same outcome of incentive travel, an employee’s total base compensation would need to be increased by 8.5%.

· Calculation showed that for every dollar invested in business travel companies realize $12.50 in incremental revenue and $3.80 in profits.

· Another interesting outcome is that a reduction of business travel can reduce profits for years. It would take more than three years for profits to recover.

· Global picture: According to the research 10% increase in business travel spending will result in an increase of the US GDP of 1.5-2.8%

For years we have been preaching at POTHOS how important face-to-face meetings are. Finally, this study confirms that not everything can be done in the cyberspace.

For more info about this study please visit www.ustravel.org.