The trend will have escaped no-one this holiday season: the cost of travel has risen significantly in recent months. And inevitably, business travellers have not been spared this widespread inflation. However, while the phenomenon is global, not all travel managers are exposed in the same way. Depending on the destinations most frequented by their teams, the impact of the increase can vary considerably. This is what TravelPerk has tried to put a figure on it by means of a global survey published on August 4. The business travel management platform used its own booking data to draw up a list of the most popular destinations in Europe. state of inflation in the air, rail and hotel sectors. Travelperk has chosen to compare fares charged in the 15 main business destinations between the first and second quarters of 2022. The 15 main air and rail routes were also analysed. And if it appears that the American market is the most affected - particularly in the East of the country -, Paris is one of the "problem" destinations from a fares point of view...
In the hotel industry, Paris is one of the top 10 destinations to have seen the biggest fare increase (+38%), sharing fifth place with Berlin. New York (+49%), Boston (63%) and above all Chicago (77%) occupy the podium. Conversely, another top European business destination, London is one of the destinations where the increase is least marked. However, the increase was 22%... Note that Singapore stands out with only 4% of fare increases recorded by Travelperk.
The City-State also stands out in the air travel sector: according to Travelperk, it is one of only two destinations affected by a reduction in fares. On average, the price of a flight from London to Singapore has fallen by 10%. The San Francisco-London (decidedly) was also spared (-4%). The New York-Paris route saw its fares soar in the second quarter (+62%). But it was the New York-San Francisco which remains the most problematic, with an increase of almost 100% (96%)...
In the railTravelperk's study is logically devoted to the European market, given the density of the network compared with the United States in particular. And here too, Paris has seen major increases. The increase for Paris-Bordeaux (+30%) and Bordeaux-Paris (+35%) did not escape the attention of French travel managers. The Paris-Lyon corridor - another strategic route for business travel - saw a more moderate increase (+7%).
service providers are seeing an increase in demand and are seeking to make up for the income lost during the pandemic
" Our data clearly shows that, although Europe has seen significant increases across the board, the most dramatic increases in travel costs in the first half of 2022 have been in the US. "says JC Taunay-Bucalo, Chief Revenue Officer at TravelPerk. He points to a perverse effect of the pandemic as one of the factors driving the increase. In his opinion, certain suppliers are surfing the "revenge travel" wave to generate what might ironically be described as "revenge revenue"... ". These increases are due to a number of external factors that all sectors of the travel industry are grappling with, including rising fuel prices, labour shortages and disruption to the global economy. However, it is also true that providers are seeing an increase in demand and are looking to make up for lost revenue during the pandemic. ". Furthermore, according to JC Taunay-Bucalo, companies should not count on a de-escalation over the coming weeks. He warns: " As demand for travel remains extremely high, with businesses and consumers rushing to resume face-to-face meetings for work and leisure after the pandemic, we expect the cost increases we are seeing to continue for the rest of the year. "...
