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Travel for work to get costlier
Hotel prices lead the way in an on-the-road hike projected for 2008.
By STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writer
Published October 24, 2007
High demand for hotel rooms and seats on packed planes will continue to boost travel expenses for businesses in 2008, according to an annual survey released Tuesday by American Express. "Three factors are driving up costs: airlines flying at full capacity, hotels at relatively high occupancy and oil" prices, said Mike Streit, vice president for the company's business travel advisory services division. The cost of an average domestic business trip in North America, including air fare, hotel room and rental car, is projected to go up $33, or 4 percent, to $890. The average international trip will increase $248, or 8 percent, to $3,424. The weaker dollar makes overseas travel even more expensive, especially in Europe and Asian-Pacific countries. As they did this year, hotel prices should increase more than other business trip costs. In the United States, mid-priced hotel rates will go up 4 to 6 percent, with high-end properties rising 5 to 7 percent. The reason is simple economics: continued strong demand from business and leisure travelers, and too few new rooms in cities such as New York, where rates should jump 10 to 14 percent, said Priscilla Campbell, who oversees the hotel segment for American Express. But price increases in the Big Apple will look cheap compared with Asia and the Pacific, where average rates are projected to rise up to 22 percent. In fast-growing India, room rates could skyrocket as much as 41 percent. By contrast, American Express says, fares for short U.S. domestic flights in coach will rise more moderately: between 1 percent and 5 percent. International and domestic long-distance flights will go up 5 percent to 10 percent. Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384. Best business airports Tampa International Airport ranked highest among airports in the Southeast U.S. and No. 3 nationally in a Conde Nast magazine poll of business travelers published this month. 1. Portland (Ore.) International 2. Ronald Reagan Washington National 3. Tampa International
[Last modified October 23, 2007, 22:36:28]
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