AirPlus International, a payment provider, shared data about travel spending in the UK’s business sector. According to data, the travel budget of the business travel market in the UK has gone up by 119% in the 2023 first quarter.
AirPlus Business Travel Index indicates a minor drop in flight rates in spite of inflation. However, business class tickets are slightly cheaper than in the previous three months, costing an average of £4,274. Prices for economy tickets declined by about 4% to £363.
Bookings occurred on average 27.8 days before travel, earlier than they did last year, according to payment statistics. The current advance booking period is bigger than in 2019 (21.6 days) when reservations during the epidemic were made with little advance notice. This could be a result of businesses trying to alleviate ongoing capacity restrictions.
The report also showed that British businesses are stepping up their sustainable travel strategies as a result of a decline in one-day trips. Only 4.4% of bookings in the first quarter were for such trips, which is less than half of the figure for 2019.
Another thing that the report revealed is that travel to China has surged since the quarantine rules were loosened in January. China is now 12th on the list of overseas locations, up from last place the year before. China had been on third in 2019.
In Q1, the US continued to be the most popular business destination for British visitors, followed by India and the UAE.