THE NUMBER of international business trips will increase by 30% in 2000, with over one-third of corporate travellers expected to take more than 15 business trips during the year, according to research by American Express Travel.
The Year 2000 Travel Trends Survey reveals that over two-thirds of corporate travellers worked more than they would have expected to have done in 1999 and the trend is expected to continue.
The vast majority of travellers expect to work the same or longer hours in the first few years of the millennium.
However, despite the pressures and the long hours away from home, 70% of corporate travellers enjoy travelling regularly for business.
According to the survey, the increase in work demands is also having an effect on workers’ leisure travel patterns.
The annual summer vacation is being replaced by more frequent short weekend breaks as work commitments force executives to spend shorter periods of time away from the office.
Amex Travel Services Group International president Charles Petruccelli said:”With almost one-third of corporate travellers expecting to travel more in 2000, and leisure travellers opting for shorter, more frequent breaks, it would appear that the all work and no play philosophy of the 1980s has survived the 1990s and looks set to continue into the new century.