Business travel to the region’s hotels has shown significant improvement in 2010 compared to 2009, according to findings from the Hotelier Middle East GM Survey 2010.
Individual business travellers contributed 44.3% of the hotel’s overall business mix in 2010, rising from 20% in 2009.
Group business also gained momentum on 2009, rising from 5% of the hotel’s overall business mix in 2009 to just under 14% in 2010.
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MICE business, which was rock bottom in 2009 contributing 0%, rose to nearly 7%.
The general managers were asked to breakdown their hotel’s business mix in five categories — business (individual), business (group), leisure (individual), leisure (group) and MICE.
In total, therefore, business guests have on average made up 65% of a hotel’s custom over the past year according to the GMs.
At the same time, InterContinental Hotels Group chief executive Andy Cosslett reported that occupancy had driven revPAR increases in the first half of 2010, with “business travellers returning in greater numbers”.
Airlines have witnessed a similar trend, according to Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan, who said he anticipated the return of business travel over the coming year, while speaking at the 2010 NBTA Conference and Exposition.
Speaking at a CEO Exchange, Hogan said: “The signs of recovery are there, with most of our markets — particularly Asia and the Middle East —showing clear signs of improvement across all cabins”.
The organiser of the Business Travel Show Middle East, Mike Sherrard, managing director of Centaur Travel Group, shared Hogan’s optimism and said there was “an improvement in budget allocation as companies emerge from the grip of the recession”.
He said that suppliers to the business travel sector had “produced some very inventive solutions” to meet buyers’ demands, and that the London edition of the Business Travel Show in February had revealed increased confidence in the sector.
“Exhibitors reported that the visitors to the show had increased budgets and were more ready to spend — a significant difference to the reports post show in 2009 when confidence (and travel budgets) was a scarcity,” commented Sherrard.
However, he added: “The speed of this recovery can only be judged on an individual basis, and there is no definitive trend data available at present to back up the anecdotal impressions given by the travel management buyers”.
“It’s difficult to see a full return to the halcyon days gone by when First/Business Class travel seats were always full….but I do expect to see steady growth back to, or at least, close to pre-recession levels,” concluded Sherrard.
A poll by sister magazine Arabian Business last month revealed a more sceptical view, however.
A total of 56.4% of people said they thought business travel would not pick up for a few years as companies remain cautious about spending.
A further 23% of respondents to the poll, said there might be an increase but it would be seen in economy class not business class as companies continue with cost cutting measures brought in amid the global downturn.
Only 10.3% of respondents to the online poll were optimistic that business travel would see an increase in 2011.
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