The Green Connection

Domestic business travel today, especially within the major metros and large cities in the country, is getting more and more tedious. Believe it or not, with a surge in the economy and the resultant spurt in business travel, this burgeoning segment has created a nightmarish situation for all and sundry connected with business travel. Today, getting airline seats, and more so hotel rooms, in any of the major metros is next to impossible. This high demand has resulted in sky-rocketing prices to the extent that cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are today out-pricing themselves in the market and hotels are still running at over a 100 per cent occupancy. A shining example of this is the situation I faced on a recent business trip to Bangalore. At the outset I was forced to take an earlier flight from Delhi to Bangalore as all seats were sold out and the return to Mumbai was the same situation with the only seats available being on the late night flight. The hotel accommodation situation was even worse as it coincided with the week of the Aero India 2005 show in the city. This meant that the hotels were now selling rooms in the range of US$ 400 to US$ 800 per night. "We are full up, take it or leave it," was the message …what option does the business traveller have? Of course, leisure travel at times like this is out of the question. This leads us to a situation where hotel rooms and airline seats are at a premium and something needs to be done to rectify things quickly. The airline seat capacity problem seems to have a solution in sight with around 10 new low-cost carriers scheduled to commence operations in the country over the next 12 months or so. How the airports and support infrastructure will cope with this expansion in capacity is another matter altogether! As far as rooms go, I guess business travellers are better advised to take off to leisure destinations and take their deal-making to more relaxed environs. If meetings in plush hotels and conference centres are not possible why not do it out on the golf course? The cover story in this issue of feBusiness Traveller focuses on how golf has become the new corporate passion and a sport that brings together most of India Inc's head honchos. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more deals struck out on the greens than in the boardrooms. After all, green is the colour of money…

Sheldon Santwan
EDITOR, feBusiness Traveller

Sheldon can be reached at editor@businesstravellerindia.com