Research and white papers

According to American Express Business Travel's Meetings & Events department, 2014 will see a stagnation in the MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Convention, Events) segment.

The cost of business travel in Europe is set to rise slightly in 2014 according to American Express, which has just published its traditional "Forecast", market by market.

Le 9^th he Business Confidence Index published on 17 October by Regus anticipates a decline in business travel in France. More than a third of the professionals surveyed are considering reducing their business travel over the next twelve months.

Generation Y business travellers are said to spend more than their elders, who are said to be making fewer and fewer business trips as the years go by. These are some of the conclusions to be drawn from the "Future of Travel" study published by Egencia and Expedia, following a survey conducted by Harris Interactive in 24 countries.

The shutdown that has been paralysing the US federal government for almost two weeks is not without consequences for business travel in the United States. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has published a survey showing the impact of the political stalemate on business travel.

HRS and EPSA have published a study on hotel expenditure in French business travel, based on the views of both buyers and travellers. The document provides a relevant overview of the sector, and identifies attractive potential for optimisation for the various players involved.

The FlightStats website has published its punctuality rankings for August. Finnair is ahead of South African and Tyrolean Airways. Tokyo airport recorded the best results.

An international survey conducted by Ipsos Morià has named New York as the best city in the world in which to do business.

Despite the empowerment of business travellers enabled in particular by the development of mobile applications, travel managers have no intention of giving up control over bookings. Quite the contrary: the study published on 11 July by Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) highlights clear opposition to unmanaged travel.

HRG has published a study of business travel transactions for its UK-based customers. The business travel agency (TMC) draws some optimistic conclusions, while highlighting the wide disparities between certain destinations, and the marked downturn in business class.

American Express Global Corporate Payments, in partnership with CFO Research, has just published the "Global Business Monitor", a survey of CFOs (Chief Financial Officers) in 500 companies worldwide.

Sweden and Turkey top the list of European countries offering the most free Wi-Fi access in hotels, according to a study recently published by HRS. France is a poor performer, ranking 16th.^th position in the rankings.

For the 4^th his year, International SOS has published its HealthMap 2013: a particularly useful document for companies that can better identify the health risks to which their business travellers are exposed, and put in place appropriate measures.

Free Internet access is now considered a basic hotel service. At least in the eyes of business travellers: a clientele which, in one case out of two, would immediately eliminate an establishment charging for network access, according to a YouGov Plc study for InterContinental Hotels Group.

Paris is laughing thanks to its high volume of business, while the French provinces are weeping over their sluggish domestic business: the French hotel industry recorded marked results in 2012. In Extenso/Deloitte forecasts growth of between 1% and 2% in France in 2013, driven by the top end of the market (see table at the bottom of the page).