Intouch: Clearing flight paths

Companies in the Asia-Pacific region are slowly starting to spread their wings to resume long-haul travel, according to an analysis of travel trends by FCm Travel Solutions.
While demand on key corporate routes to destinations in the US and Europe remains sluggish, early indications, particularly in the months of April and May, now show businesses in Asia Pacific are beginning to travel outside the region again.
FCm data shows corporates also are closely scrutinising their travel programmes and modifying their preferred hotel programmes to include more 3.5 and four-star hotel properties. Businesses shifting to lower-rated properties are requesting more inclusions such as free wireless and discounted dining.
Small to medium-sized businesses that have embraced open skies policies for air travel have been able to reduce the average price of tickets by as much as 15 percent.
FCm Travel Solutions general manager New Zealand Jenny Macdonald said one of the more positive trends to emerge from the 2009 first quarter had been the massive savings corporates have achieved as result of changes made late last year to corporate travel programmes.
“These policy changes combined with the current climate of discounted rates are yielding significant savings for our clients.”