2008-10-31 21:16:59 -

- Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com/research/62551b/business_travel_ma) has announced the addition of the "Business Travel Market - Market Assessment 2008" report to their offering.

This Market Assessment considers current trends in the UK market for business travel, including travel by UK residents both within the UK and abroad and business travel to the UK by overseas residents. It examines both broad

trends and developments in particular product markets, and discusses the role of suppliers such as airlines, railway companies, other transport operators, providers of hotel and conference facilities, car-rental firms and travel-management companies. The report also includes the results of an original consumer survey to establish the extent of business travel undertaken by adult residents of Great Britain.

Although domestic business travel was affected by the economic slowdown experienced in 2002, it recovered in 2003, while both inbound and outbound business travel remained depressed -- a result of the impact of the terrorist attacks on US targets in September 2001. Between 2003 and 2007, however, there was a decline in both the volume and value of domestic business travel, in contrast to the growth in international business travel to and from the UK.

A key development affecting the business-travel sector has been the growth of the low-cost airlines. The more open regulatory environment that has been in place for several years in Western Europe has allowed such operations to develop, unconstrained by restrictions on routes operated or fares charged. Several new low-cost carriers have emerged since the enlargement of the EU to include many countries in Eastern and Central Europe.

In the present economic slowdown, there is evidence that many business travellers are using such services in preference to the more expensive services of the established scheduled carriers. Such economic pressures have led to the demise of all-business-class airlines such as Maxjet, Eos and Silverjet, and have also resulted in the targeting of business travellers by budget hotel chains.

Within the domestic market, increases in fuel costs should favour a switch from the private car to rail services, provided that capacity constraints can be addressed. International rail services between London and the near continent should similarly benefit from the fact that their operations are less fuel intensive than those of competing air services.

Travel-management companies, meanwhile, will face the continuing erosion of their business in the face of the development of new mechanisms for the provision of travel information and the making of direct bookings with transport operators and accommodation providers.

For more information visit www.researchandmarkets.com/research/62551b/business_travel_ma

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