As business people start to travel again and have the need to acquire new contacts, prices are expected to go up, especially in Asia and Latin America.
Not too long ago it appeared that conference calling and internet searching was the way forward in terms of making contacts abroad for businesses as the business class section of many aircraft was reduced to a half empty part of the plane with business people paying the same as economy passengers were 5 years ago.
The good news for airlines is that the ties, suits and laptops are stepping aboard again and business travel is most certainly on the up throughout the globe.
The rise in Europe and North America is expected to be rather conservative, as many Europeans are still capable of traveling by car or train and North Americans are still afraid of splashing out on business trips.
However according to the forecast of American Express, the situation is different in Latin America and Asia, where business travel is set to soar and airline companies along with hotels are set to grab the opportunity to make a lot of money in years to come.
AMEX Global Business Travel Global Forecast is an annual report by American Express predicting transport prices. It has predicted a rise in air travel because of more business passengers travel by plane nowadays and be cause of increased rates and overnights stays in world’s hotels.
However, it has provided slightly less encouraging news as far as car rentals are concerned as this is an area where businesses are expected to continue saving on a global scale. This is the short-term prediction, whereas the situation may improve after 2012.