The number of business travellers from India,especially those representing small and medium enterprises,travelling abroad is rising significantly,says a British Airways' survey. This is a signal that the country would soon emerge as "one of the greatest business travel markets" in the world,it said. According to the 'British Airways Business Traveller Report' involving 107 businesses,"68 per cent have reported increased business-related travel since the depths of the financial downturn of around 18 months ago". Of this,over 20 per cent of Indian business travellers claimed to have doubled their travel,while nearly half have increased their travel by 25 to 40 per cent. "Travel for business from India is on the rise across all sectors and all classes. While the larger companies are increasing travel in business classes,the rise in economy,premium economy and business class travel from the SME sector seems to be equally strong",said Judy Jarvis,British Airways Regional Commercial Manager (South Asia). "The report reinforces our view that India is already taking its place as one of the greatest business travel markets in the world," she said. The report said one of the reasons for the rise in business travel was that Indian businessmen see it as an investment in client relationships (67 per cent) or necessary for securing new clients (59 per cent). The report also found that business travel in India was much more optimistic than in other markets ¿ 82 per cent of respondents believe that their business-related travel will increase in the next 12 months and only 3 per cent expect to fly less next year. "A quarter of the businesses surveyed said that they undertake more than 25 domestic trips in a year; and 34 per cent undertook between 5 to 10 international business trips in 2010. A small minority consistently flies first class both domestically and internationally," it said. The report also highlighted the precarious nature of travel during a financial slowdown. It said that 67 per cent of respondents agreed with the notion that,when times are hard,travel is one of the first and easiest cuts to make. Indian SMEs,in particular,hit the brakes when faced with financial difficulties and the majority (85 per cent) stopped most international and some domestic travel to reduce costs during the financial crisis,it added.
