Expected to be one of the highlights of the Market Place show, the 3th The Observatoire des Déplacements Professionnels des PME-PMI was presented on 4 April at the Carrousel du Louvre. The results show an upward trend, with an average increase in budgets of around 2.3% for 2012. The majority of the 150 or so companies questioned (51%) nevertheless reported stable budgets, while 16% of those surveyed recorded a fall in spending. Unsurprisingly, the report by Concomitance highlights the correlation between the economic situation and investment strategy - the proportion of travel budgets down by 22% among companies in difficulty, compared with 8% among those in a growth phase - as well as the geographical focus of business travel. Domestic travel thus exceeds 70% in companies in difficulty or in a relatively favourable situation, while international travel tends to account for half of expenditure (46%) in the healthiest structures. Looking ahead, budget stabilisation is likely to increase again this year (56 % of companies surveyed), while the number of budgets in decline is falling (13%). This trend is mainly driven by transport-related expenditure: international air travel is expected to increase in 34% of cases, compared with 30% for the domestic rail network.
