Singapore - According to a survey conducted by MasterCard International in December 2001, 64 per cent of the 5,457 respondents spent between US$1,001 to US$5,000 on each of their business trips, inclusive of air fare.

The Asian Lifestyles survey, which monitors business and personal travel trends across the Asia-Pacific, also showed 30 per cent spent less than US$1,000 per business trip while six per cent spent more than US$5,000.

Interestingly, each Indonesian respondent reported spending between US$1,001 to US$5,000 on each of their business trips, as did 82 per cent of Australians, 76 per cent of Filipinos and 75 per cent of Indians. About 23 per cent of New Zealanders indicated they spent more than US$5,000 on their last business trip.

Singapore Airlines was the favourite airline for business trips among 17 per cent of the respondents, ahead of Cathay Pacific and Malaysian Airlines at 12 and 10 per cent, respectively.

Respondents from China at two per cent travelled the least.

On business travel, respondents from Korea (18 per cent) and Hong Kong (17 per cent) were the more avid travellers while respondents from China, at two per cent, travelled the least.

The majority of business travels or 75 per cent took place within the Asia-Pacific region, followed by business trips to North America (17 per cent, primarily to the US) and Europe (16 per cent, mainly to western Europe). In terms of countries visited for work, Singapore was the top destination at 17 per cent, followed by China and the US at 16 and 14 per cent, respectively.

The survey also indicated 85 per cent of travellers still preferred the traditional way of conducting airline bookings by resorting to off-line methods, such as using travel agents.

For business travel arrangements, the Japanese (39 per cent), Australians (28 per cent), New Zealanders (24 per cent) and Malaysians (23 per cent) were the most inclined to resort to the Internet.

Regionally, 33 per cent of business travellers expected the number of international business trips to increase within the next six months while 27 per cent expected a decrease. About 40 per cent believed the frequency of business trips to remain at the same level.