Companies Loosen Purse Strings, Raise Travel Budgets

Even amid continuing worries over instabilities in markets around the world, companies showed a pattern of raising their travel budgets during 2012, and this upward trend looks like it will continue over the long haul according to the new Control Risks Survey released by the International SOS. The report surveyed 300 professionals in human resources, travel, and security in the United States.

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According to the survey, 78 percent of companies raised their travel budget during the year 2012 and 59 percent expect to raise these budgets again during the year 2013. In fact, if the survey holds true, businesses should spend 4.6 percent more during 2013 than they did in 2012. According to the Global Business Travel Organization, U.S. companies spend $266.7 billion on travel each year.

Though businesses are still worried about spending more than necessary in this shaky worldwide economic situation, the prospects for building new business ventures in remote locations and emerging markets is worth the price to travel there. Travel expenditures are increasing both in international business travel and in group travel.

These trends appear to be long-term, with companies in the survey reporting they’re willing to allocate more resources for travel budgets than they were during the worst parts of the recent economic recession. However, the only risk to companies sending employees overseas isn’t just what comes out of their pocketbooks. Security was another factor in companies’ reluctance to send employees traveling abroad.

Companies in the report stated their greatest worries were for employees traveling to the Middle East and North Africa.  A large 38 percent of companies responding to the survey indicated their travel budgets would remain about the same as during the year 2012.

International SOS, the company which issued the survey, specializes in helping companies manage issues such as health care, medical assistance, and security around the world. [/show_to]