More reductions than in America
A new survey has found that 98% of European companies plan to cut travel spend this year.
The study also found that 93% of respondents said they foresaw cuts in travel budgets during 2009.
The survey was carried out jointly by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and the Belgian Association of Travel Management (BATM).
The poll received 66 replies from travel managers based in Europe.
Of the 98% which plan cuts, 59% said they would cut spending through re-negotiations with suppliers and demand management.
A further 39% said they would rely solely on demand management - using alternatives to travel like video conferencing - to reduce their spend.
This is the third survey ACTE has carried out to track travel spend for 2009.
Susan Gurley, its executive director, said: "These percentages are higher than those compiled from an ACTE survey by a majority of US travel managers just one month earlier, in February 2009 and reflect the growing ripple effect of the overall global economy.
"Regardless of recent market rebounds, these figures are a clear indication that companies are preparing for a long financial siege."
ACTE/BATM said the latest survey showed how European companies valued travel managers "relying heavily" on them to find cost savings and enforce cost-cutting measures.
One major finding of the poll was that companies are changing their travel policy to cope with the economic downturn.
65% said changes reflected the need for specific ceilings on spend or new definitions to justify the need for a trip.
There was also a stronger focus on policy compliance reported by 68% of respondents. Companies reported 85% in air travel, 59% in hotels and 46% in both the use of self booking tools and booking meetings.
There were also indications that companies were raising the level of management information collection.
While 26% said there was no increase, 51% said their companies had tightened up on MI while 23% said their processes were already fully automated.
ACTE/BATM said its survey found that cost cuts "even extended to tighter controls of unused tickets" with 40% saying they were placing a greater focus in this area. Although 39% said this was already an area of tight control.
Company travel departments seem to have escaped their own cuts with 74% saying that staffing level had not changed since the recession set in although 26% said their personnel had been reduced.
"This is the third travel spend survey conducted by ACTE in a series tracking travel spend for 2009. The association first predicted a major economic crisis 18 months ago, and began changing its educational programs for a global recession accordingly," said Ms Gurley.
www.acte.org [1] www.batm.be [2]