Travel more to earn more: this is the adage advocated by a new study by The Economist Intelligence Unit commissioned by American Express Global Corporate Payments. The report, published on 4 April, shows that 76% of French companies have travelled as much or more over the last three years. This is logical, given the way French professionals view business travel: "nearly 8 out of 10 executives (77%) consider business travel to be essential to company profitability and sales (83%)". Far from replacing business travel, the technological aspect would, on the contrary, make it all the more effective, since 76% of French executives believe that technology has considerably improved the productivity of business travel. "More than ever in times of crisis, French companies see business travel as a real driver of growth", summarises Marc Clatot, Vice-President of American Express Global Corporate Payments in France and the Netherlands, "which is why, in a context of globalisation, they are sensitive to solutions that enable them to acquire global visibility of their expenditure so that they can identify potential savings, particularly in the hotel sector, a new key issue in terms of purchasing and cost control".
