By Rachel Chan

CUTTING travelling costs is the top priority of corporate- travel managers in Singapore, a survey said yesterday.

Up to 77 per cent of respondents here expect the cost of business travel to rise in the next two years, said the Travel Management Study conducted by AirPlus International Travel Management.

This makes Singapore No. 2 among 15 countries surveyed on cost expectations. South Africa, at 81 per cent, tops the list.

However, it is unlikely that business travel in Singapore would go down.

This is because Singapore is the most important market for business travel in Asia. It is home to more than 4,000 regional headquarters formultinational companies, more than half the total number of 7,000 regional headquarters in Asia, AirPlus said.

Nonetheless, the International Air Transport Association said that air-passenger traffic has been badly hit by the financial crisis. The industry has suffered record losses of US$5.2 billion (S$7.9 billion) this year.

Airfare and hotel costs top the list of price worries globally, said Mr Christian Gall, executive director of core countries international at AirPlus.

A my paper check with low-cost carriers AirAsia, Jetstar and Tiger Airways showed that more corporate travellers are opting to travel on budget, particularly for short-haul trips.

More high-level managers have also downgraded short-distance flights from business class to economy, said a local spokesman for corporate travel-services company Hogg Robinson Group (HRG).

Companies are also reviewing the need for five-star hotel stays, particularly in expensive cities, said Mr Greg James, general manager of HRG's London headquarters.

As a result, finding the balance between making travellers comfortable and managing costs will become increasingly challenging.

Mr Gall cited the example of a British travel manager who was instructed by her company to cut travel costs.

"So she moved everybody from British Airways to low-cost carriers," he said. "But the uproar from travellers was so high that she was dismissed six months later."

Still, AirPlus remains upbeat about its business in Singapore. It forecasts double-digit growth next year and will invest between $10 million and $20 million to build a regional operating centre here.

The Travel Management Study was carried out between May and July. Phone interviews were conducted with 1,500 managers in 15 countries - including China, Italy and the United States.

AirPlus is a global businesstravel payment-solutions company based in Germany.

Singapore is included in its fourth global benchmark survey for the first time.

rachchan@sph.com.sg

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