New Year… Same Worry

Business travel has opened this year with much the same worries as before. It's still a question of cost and how to control it… or rather manage travel costs better. The mantra 'more travel but reduced budgets' seems ridiculous but can this be achieved?

Read our cover story and find out. Its not limited only to international travel because 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. 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. That too, at a time when most corporate houses are looking to cut down travel costs. 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!

Some of these cost issues can be tackled by seeking the guidance or expert advice from travel management companies. Many corporates today are turning to such services to structure their business travel and optimise the cost-benefit ratio. Technology could be the other cost saver. The more one hears and sees of travel these days, the more one is convinced that technology is the single largest influencer of change in the way we travel. There are various instances that prove its impact on our travel, both in terms of the options it offers and the convenience. Online bookings, e-ticketing, Wi-Fi connectivity, easy access to information whether on land, sea or sky, the ever changing interface of the omnipresent laptop and mobile phone are just a few areas where technology has completely changed the face of the way we travel. I'm sure the year ahead will see some innovations in business travel and rationalisation of costs will be at the top of the agenda.

Sheldon Santwan
EDITOR, feBusiness Traveller
Sheldon can be reached at editor@businesstravellerindia.com