Travel association celebrates record year

The Guild of Travel Management Companies has released final figures for 2007 that show that it’s members made nearly 14 million bookings in the year, an all-time record.

And although the rate of growth in airline bookings slowed in the fourth quarter – up four per cent against a six per cent increase in Q1 and eight per cent in both Q2 and Q3 – that was balanced against massive increases in hotel, rail and other transactions.

For the year as a whole, the GTMC’s members booked a staggering 6.8 million flights (up six per cent), made nearly 3.2 million hotel reservations (up 20 per cent), and booked 2.8 million rail tickets (up 23 per cent)

They also ordered nearly 400,000 rental cars (up 12 per cent) and completed nearly 676,000 “other” transactions – providing travel insurance, passports and visa services, airport car parking and other ancillary travel arrangements – up by a massive 27 per cent.

“In the end, 2007 turned out to be even better than we had hoped,” said GTMC chief executive Philip Carlisle. “At the end of our third quarter, I was predicting that we would top 13 million transactions. In fact, that proved to be a conservative estimate, as we ended the year just 40,000 bookings shy of the 14 million mark.

“While the year-end figures are impressive, it is the fourth quarter totals that provide the real cause for celebration. While our leaders were warning of a spectacular slump, Britain’s business community took no notice, and got on with the job of boosting the UK economy.”

Once again, the fact that growth in hotel bookings far outstrips that of flight bookings suggests that Britain’s businessmen and women are making better use of their time away from the office.

“An air booking counts as just one transaction, regardless of how many sectors are included in the ticket,” says Carlisle. “It looks as though travellers are combining several destinations in one trip.

“Where surface transport is concerned, car rental continues to be an increasingly popular option, mostly on overseas trips. However, the 23 per cent growth in rail bookings suggests that train companies are getting their act together, and perhaps our business travellers are looking for a ‘greener’ option.

“The increase in ‘other’ transactions is harder to call. Clearly there is considerable organic growth but, increasingly, Guild members are also offering their clients a more comprehensive service, covering anything from pre-booked taxis to crisis management.

“That diversification has proved to be a resounding success, and we have no doubt that upward trend will continue.”