- Details
- Category: Industry News
Most Small Businesses Give Fed Government a Barely Passing Grade: American small businesses aren’t feeling the love from the Biden administration, according to a new survey from Goldman Sachs of nearly 2,000 small businesses across the Continental US. A whopping 93 percent of those small biz owners feel that Washington isn’t doing enough to prioritize their issues over those of big business, while 55 percent are worried about a recession in the next 12 months. Respondents also cite the difficulty in finding and retaining qualified employees as their top concern (35 percent), followed by inflation at 23 percent and affordable employee benefits at 13 percent. On a positive note, 68 percent rate the current economy as fair or better, and more than half expect to create new jobs in the coming months. The full report can be read here.
Source: Goldman Sachs
Delta to Offer Free Wi-Fi on All Flights: In an industry that is known for slashing perks and charging for every little thing that customers will reluctantly pay for, Delta is sharing some good news with its frequent fliers. By the end of this year, Delta hopes to have more than 700 of its aircraft equipped with free Wi-Fi, with full availability on international and regional aircraft by the end of 2024, according to an announcement from CEO Ed Bastian during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show last month. The airline has partnered with T-Mobile to bring “an easy, seamless experience” to its passengers. While Wi-Fi has not always been reliable on flights, so far the reviews are mostly positive across the travel blogosphere. Passengers have to use or sign up for a free SkyMiles account to access the free perk. The only drawback now is you can longer use “airplane mode” as an excuse for not answering those texts and emails at 30,000 feet. On the flipside, your flight won’t likely be delayed due to some stubborn celebrity refusing to stow their phone. Ah, the peace and quiet was great while it lasted.
Sources: Delta, CNBC
Las Vegas Tourism Was on Fire in 2022: There’s no stopping a trip to Sin City! The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority recently released its year-end report for 2022, noting that the city had a 38.3 million visitors, only about 4 percent below its 2019 high. Big spending—and winning—at casinos also boosted the state’s coffers as casino taxes equate to nearly 20 percent of the state’s total revenue. Additionally, convention attendance (like the upcoming 2023 CD/NLA Show this March 5-8!) was just below that of 2019 at 5 million (6.6 million in 2019). Hotel occupancy, building of additional state casinos, and sports betting was also up year over year. However, with such increased demand, officials are worried that a second airport might be needed, stat. Seeing a record 52.6 million passengers in 2022 at Harry Reid International Airport, with max volume expected to be reached by 2030, talks are for a new airfield about three dozen miles southwest of Reid near the California border along I-15. Another slated project—albeit with private funding—is a high-speed rail line connecting LA and Vegas, with construction expected to begin this year.
Sources: AP News, LVCVA, Brightline West
[02.07.23]
- Details
- Category: Industry News
January’s US jobs report was a stunner all around, shattering the expectations of economists nationwide. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 517,000 for the month, almost tripling the Dow Jones estimate of 187,000, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent, the lowest since May 1969 (before we walked on the moon!). Many economists were encouraged by the strong numbers in 2022 but predicted that a slowdown was ont he horizon, starting with the first month of 2023.
US Travel Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman
On February 3, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that job growth was widespread, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and health care. Leisure and hospitality added 128,000 jobs in January compared with an average of 89,000 jobs per month in 2022. As the chauffeured ground transportation industry can attest, leisure and hospitality was the hardest hit sector during the pandemic; however, in recent months, the sector has seen consistent growth, largely leading in gains month-over-month among other industries. However, despite the continual positive growth, according to the BLS, to date, employment in leisure and hospitality remains below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 495,000, or 2.9 percent. Other significant gainers were professional and business services (82,000), government (74,000), and health care (58,000). Retail was up 30,000 and construction added 25,000.
While hiring remains strong, the unexpected numbers complicate the job of the Federal Reserve to tamp down on high inflation. So far, the Fed has been using incremental increases in interest rates to try and cool off a super-heated economy, but with little effect. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has stated that additional rate hikes are expected this year, matching levels not seen since 2006 at around 5.1 percent--but nowhere near the double-digit rates of the '80s.
US Travel Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman is encouraged by sector’s gains: “[The report]—in which 25 percent of all new jobs were added in the leisure and hospitality sector—is further evidence that travel is essential to the U.S. economy. Travel’s success is the nation’s success, and robust travel demand is supercharging our nation’s economic recovery and job growth.”
The full report can be accessed by clicking here.
[02.07.23]
- Details
- Category: Industry News
Global business travel is expected to see an uptick in 2023 versus 2022, according to the latest data from the Q1 2023 Business Travel Outlook Poll from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). Companies are expected to send more employees on trips and travel suppliers anticipate an increase in corporate travel spending. Sectors such as finance, insurance, professional services, and consulting are showing stronger signs of growth in business travel spending.
GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang
The association surveyed over 600 business travel buyers, suppliers, and industry professionals around the world, marking the 30th poll in its series tracking the ongoing evolution of business travel.
“GBTA continues to draw on the collective, diverse perspectives and insights across our industry to closely track the evolving state of global business travel. The return of business travel will vary across regions, sectors, and companies. And despite ongoing global concerns of a recession, a majority of corporate travel managers indicate their companies are anticipating more business travel than last year,” said GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang.
Additional key takeaways include:
Back on the road and in the air—more business trips are expected in 2023.
- Business leaders may anticipate a recession this year, but travel managers are anticipating more business travel. Three in four travel managers (78 percent) expect their company will take a lot more (22 percent) or more (55 percent) business trips in 2023 versus 2022.
- An overwhelming 90 percent of respondents believe their employees are willing to travel for business, while 88 percent report feeling more optimistic about the path to recovery compared to last month.
Business travel bookings and spending continue making their way back to 2019 levels.
- On average, travel buyers estimate their companies’ current domestic business travel bookings have returned to 67 percent of pre-pandemic 2019 levels (up from 63 percent in GBTA’s October poll).
- International business travel continues to gain ground. In this poll, on average, travel buyers estimate international business travel bookings have recovered to 54 percent, up slightly from 50 percent in October. Current spending for international trips is back to approximately 58 percent.
Staffing for travel suppliers is still suppressed but help may be on the way in 2023.
- Travel suppliers and travel management companies were forced to reduce staff during the pandemic—even now, many of these companies are not yet fully re-staffed. Almost half of travel suppliers (47 percent) report their company’s staffing level is somewhat or much smaller than it was pre-pandemic, while 28 percent say it is about the same.
- However, two in three travel suppliers (65 percent) expect staffing will increase a lot or somewhat in 2023 compared to 2022, while 26 percent expect no change.
Company travel programs hold their (pre-pandemic) ground when it comes to staffing.
- While many travel suppliers emerged from the pandemic with fewer staff, the same has rarely happened with travel programs. The majority of buyers (78 percent) say their company’s travel program staff size in 2023 is expected to be about the same (56 percent) as it was pre-pandemic or will be much or somewhat larger (22 percent).
- Many buyers also expect to increase spending for their travel program operations (such as staff salaries, technology, and consultants) in 2023 versus last year. Almost half of buyers (45 percent) expect their travel program budgets will be higher, while 41 percent expect them to be about the same as in 2022.
Click here to view the complete poll.
Visit gbta.org for more information.
[02.07.23]