Hotel chain, Marriott is worried that the decreased activity of business travellers will affect its business in heavy terms.

Already, it states, business is down, to the tune of a $20m deficit in the past 3 months compared to the months before.

With shares dropping by 25% also this year, its not a good time for the industry they state – especially those chains that rely heavily on business travel.

The rising oil price, airline capacity cuts and weak US consumer confidence are all starting to affect hotel groups, which withstood the economic downturn in the early months of 2008. (more…)

Popularity: 20% [?]

To get more daylight in their lives, UK office workers are being advised to work on a more mobile arrangement.

With technology such as WiFi, intranets, extranets, smartphones and so on, research done by BT suggests that it should be taken advantage of and people should be working in different ways – and locations.

Two thirds of people are not satisfied with the amount of natural light at their work area and this contributes to a poorer attitude to work.

Isnt it time that you got out to the park bench and did some work?  You could always use a pay as you go serviced office space area such as Demute or Regus.

Popularity: 25% [?]

We all have our favourite locations for doing business, and Australians are no different. According to the Australian travel site Wotif.com, Australian businessmen and women prefer Melbourne to any other Australian destination for doing business.

Over 730 travellers completed a survey relating to business trips within Australia, and almost a third (33%) said that Melbourne was their preferred destination. Only 27% declared Sydney the premium location for business trips, with Brisbane and Perth trailing in third and fourth place respectively. (more…)

Popularity: 9% [?]

One of the main issues that business people have with travelling by plane over long distances is the fact that they are disconnected from their business for long periods of time. No Blackberry, no Internet, nothing. Hopefully this situation won’t be common for much longer – there are a couple of bits of good news for all those who fly a lot (or even at all!). (more…)

Popularity: 13% [?]

British Airways have gone back on their original decision regarding business class check in at the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, and are now going to create a dedicated check in area for passengers of B.A.’s Club World and Club Europe cabins. (more…)

Popularity: 10% [?]

As a frequent rail user between Manchester and London, I use mainly the Virgin Pendolino service, in first class accommodation.

For about 6 years or so I have used the service and was very happy when the Pendolinos came in to service, which made my journey quicker, but what about the improvements from a green perspective?

Here is a list of features that Virgin say are given by the Pendolino trains: (more…)

Popularity: 15% [?]

Business travellers feel that airport-style security is a necessity for rail travel in the UK, a survey has found.

Anti-terrorist measures should be looked at more closely by rail companies and more money should be spent on this by train companies and Network Rail.

Even though it would mean more waiting time and longer queues, business travellers see this as an important measure to give them confidence whilst travelling on the UK rail network. (more…)

Popularity: 11% [?]

Over 80% of the respondents expect their company’s travel frequency to increase, with almost half expecting the increase to be big. Similarly, company travel budgets have increased in the last year for over three quarters of respondents and as many expect this trend to continue in the next 12 months. (more…)

Popularity: 15% [?]