Surprising number of companies cut travel spending

Twice as many U.S. companies as previously expected are cutting their travel spending this year in response to economic weakness and uncertainty.
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives says 71% of its member companies now plan to spend less on travel this year than in 2008. That's a huge and unprecedented shift in corporate travel managers' plans from just five months ago, says Susan Gurley, the association's executive director.

In September, when the association - whose members typically manage travel budgets of $50 million to $100 million a year at midsize or large U.S. corporations and institutions - asked about travel spending plans, only 33% of respondents said they expected to cut back. In fact, 36% said they would be spending more on travel in 2009.

But in the just-completed survey, only 8% of the ACTE member companies that responded said they now expect to spend more on travel this year.

Most companies are seeking to spend 10% to 20% less on travel than they were expecting to spend just five months ago, the latest survey shows. Using the most conservative figures for estimating the dollar impact of such cuts, the ACTE suggests that the 176 member companies that responded collectively will spend about $880 million less on travel this year than they had planned.