Essential business travel leads to increased spending

Date: 31st July 2009

Sole traders and other small business owners are still setting money aside to spend on travel, despite the financial pressures of the recession.

New analysis from Business Travel Magazine, released today, suggests that a budget for travelling is essential to ensure the survival of some firms.

The comments chime with recent industry data released by Visa Business Cards, which showed a ten per cent increase in travel-related transactions over the year to June 2009.

Moreover, travel spending on the cards was also found to have picked up as the year went on, with an increase of 13 per cent measured for the second quarter of this year.

This trend also comes despite the fact that the intervening months have seen the worst of the credit crunch and economic downturn so far.

Gill Upton, editor of Business Travel Magazine, said: "The difference between traveling for business and travelling for pleasure is it's not optional – you don't do business and your company will go bust and in these very straightened times, what they have got to do is go out and clinch deals.

"Businesses have to travel – there is only so much they can do by phone and video conference and the rest is done face to face."

Ms Upton added that she was "not surprised" by Visa's reported ten per cent rise in travel transactions.