CWT Says Sales Dropped 23 Percent in 2009

Carlson Wagonlit Travel reported a 23 percent drop in sales volume last year but said it is hoping for moderate growth in 2010. Douglas Anderson, president and CEO of the travel management company, said business travel is picking up in the United States and is “bounding along the bottom in Europe.”

“I personally expect moderate growth for us globally this year, in the small single digits,” Anderson said. Anderson said the company is seeing signs that business travelers are returning, but that they are traveling smarter.

“Many of our clients tell us they will increase their travel this year to drive their business development,” he said. “But they will remain cost-conscious and place great importance on ‘productive’ travel.”

A worldwide CWT client survey shows that optimizing hotel spend, improving traveler compliance, optimizing simple bookings, and driving air and ground transportation savings are their top four areas of higher priority for 2010.

Total CWT transactions for 2009 were down 9.3 percent compared with 2008. Sales volume, which totaled $21.4 billion, fell 22.8 percent year over year.

The higher drop in volume versus transactions demonstrates the aggressive cost-cutting measures companies took to reduce their travel spending and was seen in all regions, CWT said.

Volume in Asia Pacific and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) was impacted most, declining by 27.6 percent and 27.1 percent, respectively. In Latin America, volume declined 21.2 percent year over year, while North America saw a 17.4 percent decrease over the same period.