Even as business travel and in-person meetings continue to regain strength, travel alternatives remain a viable option.

Corporations looking to cut back on travel moved to alternatives such as , webcasting and teleconferencing in the midst of the recession.  AirPlus asked corporate travel buyers this month about the current state of travel alternatives.

The responses show that the concept of virtual meetings has become firmly engrained in corporate culture. Only 1 percent of those surveyed said that virtual meetings have decreased as in-person meetings and travel increased in the past year. Nearly one-third (32 percent) said virtual meetings have increased in the past year, but they have not replaced in-person meetings, while another 32 percent said virtual meetings have increased as a replacement to in-person meetings and travel. For another third (33 percent), the volume has remained steady.

For the majority of respondents, the most compelling reason for travel alternatives is the increased cost of travel, ranked by 63 percent as the most “urgent” reason for turning to travel alternatives. “Decreased budgets” was the next most cited urgent reason, with significantly fewer respondents – 32 percent – ranking it the most urgent.

And while champions of travel alternatives tout the beneficial effects on employee quality of life and corporate social responsibility, these are not the most compelling reasons for most respondents.

Regardless of the reason for choosing travel alternatives, the travel professionals who responded to the survey were decidedly ambivalent about the effectiveness of such decisions. More than two-thirds (68 percent) would only commit to saying remote conferencing is “sometimes” as effective as meeting in person. Another significant group was even less convinced of the effectiveness of remote conferencing: Six percent said it was “never” as effective as in-person meetings while 15 percent said that was “rarely” the case. Only 12 percent was firmly in favor, saying remote conferencing was “almost always” as effective.

For a complimentary copy of full survey results, please click here:
AirPlus The Wire November (PDF)

Additional Resources:

Sabre Teams with Polycom on Remote Conferencing Booking Platform

Videoconferencing Set to Soar: Buyers, Planners Must Stake Claim

Former BCD Travel Exec Developing ‘Global Videoconferencing Network’