Fourth-quarter 2010 travel transactions grew 6 percent from the same period in 2009, with hotel transactions up 9 percent and air transactions up 7 percent, according a survey of members of the United Kingdom-based Guild of Travel Management Companies

. "The last quarter of 2010 showed mixed results with the adverse weather having the inevitable impact on car hire and rail," according to GTMC chief executive Anne Godfrey. The survey showed quarterly car hire transactions decreased 2 percent while rail transactions increased 3 percent. "However, air and hotel bookings held up well and showed a steady increase against the same quarter in 2009," GTMC reported, and total travel transactions for the full year increased 9 percent. "However, this is against a very low base, and rail is the only sector to have reached the pre-recession levels of 2008," according to Godfrey.