Amex Study: Travelers Upbeat

An American Express survey of 1,400 international business travelers has uncovered mixed feelings about whether trip volumes will recover any time soon. Although only 9 percent of interviewees said they are likely to travel less next year, 35 percent said they probably will take more trips. The remaining 56 percent said levels will stay the same. North Americans are slightly more optimistic than the average: 39 percent said they will travel more.

U.S. travelers depart more radically from the norm on the question of inflight service. A surveywide average of 29 percent said it has declined in the past year, but the figure rises to 55 percent for U.S. respondents. Delays are the number-one complaint about air travel, at 54 percent.

On the positive side, travelers said the thing they like most about hotels is in-room Internet access, 28.6 percent, with 70 percent of respondents checking their e-mail or the Internet at least once each day. A further 81 percent regard cell phones as important.

When it comes to free time, North Americans lead the way in keeping fit, with 58 percent of Canadians and 54 percent of Americans claiming to spend time in the gym against a global average of 33 percent. Brits are the biggest drinkers: 90 percent of them said they "socialize" on business trips, way above the global average of 60 percent.

The survey covered travelers in 14 countries who took an average of 8.5 business trips last year.