Booking Survey

GetThere Survey Reveals Online Booking Helps Corporations Maintain Strategic Travel By Lowering Costs

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 2002--

Annual Survey Shows Corporate Use of Online Booking Nearly Doubled In One Year

While most corporations have cut back on overall travel, GetThere, a Sabre Company, today released a survey that shows many companies are maintaining essential travel by using online booking systems to reduce costs. Companies responding to the GetThere Corporate Benchmark survey reported that 43 percent of their employee trips are now booked online, which is a significant increase from the 24 percent reported for the same period last year. The vast majority of companies reported that they are seeing 15 percent lower average airfares and 43 percent lower travel agency fees for trips booked online.

While most companies have had to reduce travel spending, many are strategically using online technology to reduce the cost of travel rather than purely eliminating trips, said Jeff Palmer, president of GetThere. While managing costs is crucial, the companies that find ways to maintain essential levels of travel are more likely to emerge in a strong competitive position as the economy recovers.

One of the most interesting areas of cost savings is how employees make compromises and select lower price options when they see them online. People fundamentally want to do the right thing for their company.
GetThere, which provides online corporate booking technology to thousands of corporations, including more than half of the Fortune 200, conducts the Benchmark Survey to identify key trends in corporate travel management and the use of online technology. Following were some key findings:

-- 88 percent of companies reported that airfares booked online were 15 percent lower, on average, than those booked over the phone;
-- 89 percent of the companies surveyed reported their travel agency service fees were 42 percent lower for online bookings, on average;
-- The average percentage of the corporations' trips that were booked online was 43 percent, which was up significantly from the 24 percent adoption rate reported this time last year;
-- A majority 52 percent of companies are either using or considering a full or partial mandate of their online booking site; a trend which continues to increase due to economic pressures, executive awareness and employee comfort booking online.

About the Survey

The GetThere Benchmark Report is based on a survey of companies with 2001 global air travel spending that ranged from less than $10M to more than $300M with an average of $55 million. It provides a snapshot of the trends and savings realized using online travel booking systems, and was created to help companies identify how their travel programs compare with others in the industry. The complete results of the survey are being provided only to GetThere customers.

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