Remember all those predictions when video-conferencing first came in? Not least that it would mark the beginning of the end for business travel. Executives would talk to each other face to face from offices 3,000 miles apart. Then came the internet: instead of attending conferences, executives would stay in their offices and tune in to presentations.
The predictions were wrong. Business travel has increased at an immense rate over the past decade and will continue to do so.
New technology hasn't replaced business travel, it has been integrated into it. The American Express TTS survey indicates that technology is a great contributor to the increase of business travel. It says that 92% of corporate travellers use laptops while travelling and that over 50% use cellular phones, making 59% of all of their calls while on the road. Technology means that executives can be on the road - at crucial meetings that clinch deals - and still in contact with the office.
Hotels and airlines must look for ways to embrace new technology and press home marginal differences over competitors if they want to win patronage. Internet access in all rooms and even provision of cell phones is becoming a common service, particularly in Asia.