Week in Review

The New York Times ran a special section this week dedicated to business travel. GBTA’s Mike McCormick was interviewed for input on multiple articles including business travel trends in today’s world of traveler centricity and continuing high airfares despite falling oil prices. The special section also hit on business travel to Cuba, mass transit, U.S. airports and so much more.

NerdWallet covered a new study from Expedia showing travel for small businesses has gone up in the last five years and younger business travelers are less budget conscious. One thing the study clearly showed:  “For small businesses, travel remains an important way of finding and closing deals as well as reaching clients and customers.”

In hotel news, group bookings are driving growth for hotels this year and occupancy rates at more expensive hotels are expected to reach their highest rates ever, according to a Reuters article. Hotel Marketing writes that among travelers who use mobile for booking, 50 percent do so for last minute or next-day stays. Fortune asks why certain luxury hotels are still charging for WiFi. Check out GBTA’s issue brief on hotels and WiFi for more information.

In global airline news, U.S. News & World Report writes that Emirates airline posted a $1.24 billion annual profit, a 40 percent gain driven by the rapid expansion of its business and helped by a drop in fuel prices. TIME reports that Chinese airlines are expanding rapidly into North America and for the first time ever more Chinese airlines will be flying to the United States than Amerian carriers will be heading to China.

GBTA Convention will be here before you know it and this week GBTA announced Kevin Bacon will be a featured speaker on Monday, July 27 at Convention Arena. Successful Meetings also covered GBTA’s new Corporate Travel Team Program debuting at this year’s Convention to provide more travel buyers with the opportunity to attend and get the Convention experience.

Is hands-free driving still a dream of the future? According to The New York Times, features like hands-free driving are months away, not years, leaving lawmakers and regulators scrambling to keep up.

What bugs you most about the travel aspect of business travel? According to the Los Angeles Times, a new survey out from Trip Advisor shows uncomfortable airline seats rank as travelers’ top gripe. Flight delays are always a hassle as well. In April, Southwest and Delta were the top U.S. airlines for on-time performance.

Your lists for this week both come from USA Today: 8 ways business travel is improving in 2015 and 5 airports with yoga rooms to let stressed travelers unwind.

Check back every Friday for a round-up of the latest news in business travel.