If you’re looking to change the company you use for corporate travel, or are thinking of hiring a business travel services provider for the first time, below are some useful questions to ask.

• What services do you provide?

Before signing up to any contract or agreement with a corporate travel company, you’ll want to know exactly what they can provide.

If you’re a large organisation, making sure they provide a full range of services to meet the travel needs of all the individuals in your company is important.

• How experienced are your business travel agents?

Experience counts for a lot when it comes to corporate travel. Asking this question will give you an understanding of the level of knowledge and expertise available to your business when you choose a corporate travel services partner.

• How will you add value to the business?

When you’re paying for any service, whether it’s business travel services or anything else, return on investment is important.

By asking how a potential provider will add value to your corporate travel, you’ll be able to get a good idea of their professionalism and commitment to customer satisfaction. A corporate travel partner that can save your business significant sums of money and time is the ideal scenario.

• What other clients do you work with?

Asking for evidence of other client relationships is one way to deciding if a potential corporate travel partner is the right fit for your business.

For example, you may be an organisation with 200 employees who travel regularly, but the business travel services company might have only dealt exclusively with much smaller firms in the past. It’s important that you’re happy with their ability to handle the number of bookings your company makes.

• Why should we give you our business?

This question often puts people on the spot, but it can be useful when it comes to selecting a business travel services partner.

The answers to this question should be about you as the customer rather than the corporate travel agency. For example, “We are the best in our field and have been operating the longest” isn’t a very good answer and tells you nothing about the benefits of using them as a supplier.

Author Bio: The Co-operative Travel Management http://www.co-operativetm.co.uk/ provides a full range of online and offline corporate travel services. Hiring the right business travel services partner can make a real difference to your business, so ask the questions above and choose a name you can trust.

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Initially, there was some mystery around who had purchased the Canadian jets, but it is now known that they have gone to Odyssey Airlines. Bombardier are responsible for manufacturing planes as well as trains and previously said that it had sold 10 aircraft to customers in the UK who were requesting to remain anonymous.

British Airways currently operates an all business class flight between the two cities twice a day using London city airport, which is located in the centre of London and can only handle smaller aeroplanes. The new venture is hoping to take customers away from British Airways but there are plenty of obstacles that the company is going to face and there is a record of companies trying to break into this business and failing.

High costs have meant that several big players in the market have previously collapsed, including Maxjets, which failed in 2007 and Silverjet which ceased trading in 2008. John Feren from the Aviation Capital Group has commented, “Small companies often struggle to make a profit in the market and the loyalty programmes and frequent-flier points that are rewarded by larger airlines are difficult for a smaller company to compete with.”

Furthermore, many industry analysts say that in order for a small venture like this one to succeed they need to have an alliance with a larger airline. Ray Neidl, a New York airline analyst has stated, “If a company like this finds its niche they run the risk that a big player will come in and simply take the market away from them. Not to mention it’s a very tough market because of the high price of oil and intense competition from other airlines.”

The travel industry is notoriously cutthroat and Odyssey Airlines have so far kept a low profile. The company has registered web addresses but other than that there is not much information about them. The director of the company is Adam Scott who incorporated the venture in September 2010.

However, when Mr Scott was contacted through an e-mail address found on the website, he denied all links with the Odyssey Airlines project. He was later contacted by telephone and once again denied any relationship with the airline. No sources associated with information coming out about the airline have agreed to have their names published.

The new jets from Bombardier that the company has ordered are due to enter the market late next year but it is expected that Odyssey Airlines will not begin operations until a year or two after that.

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Even though business travel at that time is usually quieter, HRG has predicted as few as 12,000 to 16,000 rooms will be available in London for general marketplace needs.  Because of that TMC has started their Olympic strategy a year ahead of opening ceremonies and encourages clients to opt for out of city accommodations or an apartment rental for extended stays.

It is very important businesses know that the games will most likely effect corporate clients with some not so common circumstances for planning travel. An event with the magnitude of the Olympic Games needs a large amount of pre planning. But local businesses need to do the same and be proactive. The management company also warned of inbound flights being restricted due to visitors arriving for the games.

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Others admit to feelings of missed family, stress and not being home for important dates like birthdays and anniversaries. Coleman Parkes Research conducted a study on behalf of Polycom a unified communications leader.

The study sheds some light on at least one reason behind the disconnect; 50% of the short haul flights were executives attending additional regular meetings of which many could have been conducted via a video conference for much less time, money and disruption of business and family.

The study also found that 40% of the companies still have not implemented video conferencing. Polycom video conferencing has helped one of the leading brewers of beer in the world. The video conferencing solution has allowed for a large reduction in travel and has boosted productivity.

Coleman Parkes interviewed over 400 senior business executives in January and February 2011 across Europe and from varying industries all at companies with 1,000 or more employees. They focused on executives who frequently traveled and included Marketing Directors, COOs, CMOs, Senior Consultants and Sales Directors.

Among the key findings were that over 50% of all the short haul flights were for regular meetings. Over one third of the executives questioned whether the value for the business was there. Another one third said many of their meetings could have been conducted with video conferencing.

A full 46% feel the company would save a great deal over time by using video conferencing. Over 40% indicated they arrived late for a planned meeting due to delays in traveling. In 2010 the average senior director of a company took seven to eight flights domestically and between six and seven international flights. Over 30% of executive that were interviewed spent more than three weeks outside the office at meetings in 2010.

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One change that seems permanent is from taking short flights to using the train. The difference with travelling by rail is that even though the actual flight on a plane may be much quicker, there is still a lot of time lost in the airport and in long lines making it at times quicker overall to travel by rail.

With large areas of America and Europe working on new lines for high speed rail, this may eventually becomes the long term norm for short haul trips. Long haul journeys also were down during the recession. Fewer people were flying eliminating unnecessary journeys but this is slowly returning to the trend since most countries are returning from the recession.

Over distances of great length there is still not cheaper means of transport or quicker nevertheless companies will probably continue to look at different options to cut down on travel with fuel being so expensive.

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About one fifth of the respondents said that their companies have increased corporate air travel spending by at least 20% from the same time period in 2010.  More than half indicated that spending was up by some percentage, with almost half of those companies reporting expenditures up by at least 11% to as much as 20%.

When asked about the forecast for the rest of 2011, the response from travel managers was similar.  About 25% said they expected to see an increase in spending from 2010 of anywhere from 11% to 20%, and another 16% anticipated an increase of 20% or more.  The conclusion reported by UBS is that in general, corporate spending in this area is not going to fall off in the coming months.

The UBS analysts also reported that some airlines are doing better than others in gaining their share of the business travel market.  United, Delta and Southwest airlines all showed an increase in the number of fares sold, while others, including US Airways and American Airlines showed a loss.  USB did not account for this result except in terms of low-cost carriers looking to secure a bigger share of the business travel market.

About 75% of the companies polled said that the rise in air fares had not affected their volume of travel, and almost two-thirds said there has been no change in their travel policies in the last year.  Also, around four-fifths of respondents said they had not increased restrictions on spending for such ancillary services as in-flight Wi-Fi and checked baggage.

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Travelers that travel very frequently are 260% more apt to consider their health as fair of poor compared to travelers that do not travel frequently. Extensive travelers were also 92% more likely to be obese than others. At the same time, those that do not travel for work are 33% more likely to be overweight. The conclusion seems to indicate that light travelers fair better than any others.

In western countries the work culture is often the cause of a high obesity rate in adults. Working in an office environment makes if very easy to not move away from your desk the entire day. Also there are more cars owned today than ever before so less people are walking and many are just very sedentary most of the day.

Jobs that have physical labour are the ones that have the lowest rate of obesity. Because of that they are most likely to no have many common health problems like heart disease or diabetes. The biggest cause of premature death is because of chronic diseases caused by things such as obesity and smoking.

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Cancellations of between 60 and 95% have been reported. Travel companies are worried about the financial impact. Many large business corporations in Japan have forbidden all non-essential travel to the country.

Many Governments world-wide have begun withdrawing their dependents, including US State Departments’ staff and officials.  Logically if State officials are leaving they must know something other travelers don’t.

Business has been really slow for many corporations since the tragedy.  With no reason to go to Japan, airlines have had to follow suit and cancel flights to Tokyo.  Other airlines have diverted flights to the less affected areas of Southern Japan.

Many Japanese citizens are leaving and airlines have reported full flights out of the country.  The International Air Transport Association, is concerned that the Japanese aviation shutdown could effect the world market. Japanese air traffic represents 6.5% of scheduled global traffic. Taiwan, South Korea and China would suffer badly as they all earn over 20% of their revenue from Japan travel.

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“The rise in business travel all over our regions, with the biggest increase in Asia Pacific, gives us hope,” the company reported.

David Radcliffe, CEO, said, “I am happy to say that we have an optimistic movement in our revenue stream that began in the first half of the year and is going forward. Also, while there was terrible weather, we proved our use to clients by locating other ways to travel and arranging it for them.”

He said that he believed their ability to retain clients was strong and that their business connections were solid.

He added, “Mobile technology is our focus for travel management, as we create new ways to integrate it for the ongoing advantages of our clients.”

“We are certain that our commitment to our customers, our straight forward strategy, and our worldwide infrastructure, sets us in a unique position to make the most of the warming climate and burgeoning opportunities ahead of us.”

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Conference facilities

The choice of modern conference facilities and five star hotels is vast. This means that the competition is keen and there are some pretty good deals on offer, particularly during the current economic downturn. The Jumeirah Beach Hotel is one of the most iconic, and well positioned, five star hotels in Dubai and hosts conferences on a regular basis. The long list of potential hotel venues includes the Marriot, Sheraton, Intercontinental and Crowne Plaza hotels. Large scale conventions can be held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre or the Dubai World Trade Centre – both huge venues.

Staying in Dubai

Dubai has a worldwide reputation for its fantastic entertainment, so employees attending a conference here could find there aren’t enough hours in the day. The city is a surreal combination of ancient Arabic culture and ultra modern high-rise developments. Deira and Bastakia are historic areas where ancient buildings, souks and the Dubai museum can be found, and where wooden Dhows sail up and down the Creek. There are excellent sandy beaches and the best way to get around is by taxi or on the futuristic monorail trains. Bear in mind that Dubai’s ‘weekend’ is Friday and Saturday. Many businesses close on Fridays, but everything is open as usual on Sundays.

Getting to Dubai

Dubai is a 7 to 8 hour flight from the UK and there are many airlines to choose from when you are looking for cheap flights to Dubai.  Emirates, Royal Brunei, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways all have regular direct flights there. Many more airlines and tour operators have indirect flights if you don’t mind a stopover. The climate is hot, dry and sunny but the high temperatures can be overwhelming, particularly in the months of July and August.

Entertainments and activities

Highlights of a stay in Dubai include dune bashing in 4×4 vehicles, visiting the world class water parks, camel riding in the desert, water sports at the beach and the fantastic restaurants bars and clubs all over the city. Dubai is also known for its shopping opportunities, and has several huge futuristic malls with every prestigious brand you can think of at tax free prices. In contrast, the atmospheric souks of the old town feel as if you’ve stepped back in time. You can even take to the slopes at an enormous indoor ski facility and visit the Burj Khalifa – currently the tallest tower in the world.

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