Small business owners increase spend on air travel

5/17/2011

With financial institutions easing up on their small business lending requirements, entrepreneurs can now be more proactive with their ventures. More company heads are now leveraging air travel to meet with potential clients and seal business partnerships, according to a recent American Airlines survey.

As many as 72 percent of respondents said they believe their business' outlook will improve over the course of the next year or so. Critical to their success is business travel, with 64 percent of company heads feeling that face-to-face meetings that necessitate air travel are crucial to their overall success.

"In addition, nearly all small and medium companies across the country are actively controlling airline costs. They say enrolling their company in a business-to-business loyalty program is one of the top three methods to maximize the value of their travel. Additionally, nearly half of all customers surveyed said 10 to 24 percent of their annual budget is allocated for travel expenses," notes the report.

And while air travel for face-to-face meetings is important, small business owners could also leverage tools such as Skype or other video conferencing software to achieve a similar effect.