NEW YORK -- Business travel globally is
growing at around 5% to 7% annually, said Hubert Joly, president
and CEO of Carlson Wagonlit Travel worldwide.
For Carlson Wagonlit,
he said, the growth rate is in the double digits... . We continue
to be surprised by how robust the corporate business is. In the
U.S. and globally, corporate travel is better now than pre-9/11, he
said, adding, That is behind us from a business
standpoint.
He said the things
that drive business dealings and the related travel arent
undermined by the kinds of crises experienced recently.
So, what would curtail
corporate travel? Things like the end of Chinas growth bubble,
Asian flu or more terrorism using airplanes as weapons, he
said.
Barring such events --
and acknowledging there are no guarantees -- the executive sees
explosive growth potential in the travel-management
arena.
It is still a
relatively new industry, he said, pointing to Japan where perhaps
only 5% of corporate travel is managed or China where none is
managed except among multinationals doing business in
China.
Even in the U.S. and
Europe, there is still enormous potential, partly a simple function
of the growth of the market. Other opportunities, Joly said,
include further consolidation of travel buying and further
penetration of the managed-travel market in Europe. A key selling
point, he said, is that good travel management can save clients
from 5% to 20% on costs.
In the U.S., he said,
for Carlson, there is potential for growth in the midmarket, but
that would be a market-share move, he continued, rather than growth
for travel-management companies generally.
To contact the
reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Nadine Godwin at [email protected].