Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), world leader specializing in business travel management, handled 29.4 million transactions in the whole world during the first six months of the year, up 13.2% on figures for the same period last year. These transactions generated revenues of 12,300 million dollars, 16.6% more than in the first six months of 2009.
Improvement on last years figures has varied depending on the region, with Latin America (+48.1%) and Asia Pacific registering the largest increases, followed by North America (18.2%) and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) with the lowest growth rate (+7.7%), reflecting the region’s slower economic recuperation.
CWT also registered new sales totalling 781 million dollars, excluding the renovation of existing contracts. Client retention remained high at 96%.
As regards the meetings and event industry, CWT has also identified signs of economic recuperation in the first half of this year. For instance, European clients are organizing 30% of their meetings abroad, compared with 20% in 2009. The most popular destinations are Barcelona, Madrid, Nice, Paris and Rome. Currently, average spending per delegate is 175€, versus 150€ last year. In addition, cancelations are down from 15 to 10%.
