Newsy in New York

April 6 2010 by Chris McGinnis

good-news.jpgEarlier this month, I took a business trip to New York City where I hosted Best Western's Business Travel Summit, an annual event that brings travel industry execs and travel industry media together to network and discuss trends. I was also in the Big Apple to attend the Strategic Travel Symposium, which was organized by the National Business Travel Association.

Over the course of my three-day trip, I picked up a mountain of news and insight that might interest the readers of this blog. Here's a download:

Robust Recovery: Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist for the Economic Outlook Group, a think tank/economist/academic type kicked off the Business Travel Symposium with an optimistic outlook. He thinks all the talk about a lackluster recovery lasting five to 10 years is too pessimistic. He sees robust economic growth overall in the near term, citing stats showing the fastest economic growth in the last six years took place in the fourth quarter of 2009. But when he looks at business travel in particular, he thinks the fundamental changes we've made in recent years (i.e. cutbacks, shifts to virtual alternatives, etc.) will mean that business travel volume will recover at slower pace than the overall economy.

Airline Fares and Fees: In February, the average price to fly one mile in the U.S. increased 5 percent, according to the Air Transport Association. Fares are rising because airlines have been able to reduce their supply of seats by parking planes in the desert. Now that competition among travelers for the remaining seats is heating up, fares will rise accordingly. In addition to higher fares, airlines will continue to tack on extra fees to help firm up their mushy bottom lines. In January alone, airlines pulled in half-billion dollars in "ancillary revenue," a term used to describe just about any airline charge other than fares [fees for baggage, ticket changes, upgrades, food, etc.]," said Kevin Chrissey, an airline analyst with UBS who spoke at the symposium.

Stronger Dollar: A strengthening dollar is good news for business travelers headed to Europe where the euro has taken a dive in recent months. Economists say that the decline, which will likely continue, is due to the drag on the European economy by the financially unstable "PIGS" countries--Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain.

Hotel Bookings Rise: With all the great hotel deals out there, demand is starting to pop. For example, advance bookings at Best Western were up 16.4 percent during the second week in March compared to the same time last year. (They were up over 6 percent for the month of February.) That's significant considering Best Western is the World's Largest Hotel Chain®.

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