Business trips are declining dramatically and even though tour operators might think they are in trouble, in comparison to the business travel sector, they really cannot complain.

American Express, as one of the biggest players in the business travel sector, has already reacted sharply and instigated shorter working hours in their German offices.

Additionally, they announced the closing of their Business Travel Centre in Frankfurt. Bearing in mind that Frankfurt is the financial capital of Germany and possibly Western Europe, and that the close Rhein-Main-Airport is one of the busiest hubs in Europe, the seriousness of the situation becomes evident. 

By way of confirmation, the booking and reservation technology provider Amadeus has just published a study, produced for them by the British Market Research Institute's  Economist Intelligence Unit, saying that managers this year will undertake fewer, shorter and cheaper working trips.

More than one quarter (28%) of the interviewed businessmen expect that four and five star hotels in the near future will be outside of their budget, effectively closing this sector off to them.  Indeed, many business class Hoteliers are already begining to feel this.

The French hotel group Accor acknowledged the trend: "At the higher price segment, the market is a little complicated", German Accor President, Marc Hildebrand, said.

According to Hildebrand, business travellers, meetings and conventions have dropped across their operations. However, Accor is seeing increased interest in its cheaper brands like Mercure and Ibis among business travelers who want to save money.

No frills-hotels like Etap are gaining from a higher demand by not just tourists but also business travelers, who evaluate the low price as an added bonus during short trips into European Metropolises.