Whether it’s planes, trains or automobiles, Alberta’s corporate travel sector is back in business, buoyed by economic optimism and a renewed confidence in transportation.
As fallout subsides from September’s terrorist attacks in the U.S., industry officials say the number of corporate travellers has climbed steadily in recent months.
That’s especially true in Alberta, which hasn’t been hammered by the same intensity of economic hardship plaguing other parts of North America.
“We certainly saw a decline in 2001 . . . but now it’s back to business as usual,” says Vaughan Payne, president of Calgary-based ATCO Travel Ltd.
“We saw our numbers go absolutely shooting through the roof in January . . . and we’ve had an average February.”
Payne and other industry authorities say travel plunged to record lows in the days and weeks after Sept. 11.
Coupled with recessionary woes, that brought corporate travel down by an estimated 20 per cent across the continent by late 2001.
While most Alberta business travellers are mobile again, many budget-conscious companies have reined in their once-lavish expense accounts in favour of less costly options.
Those alternatives include regional airlines, charter carriers, coach-class airline seats and bus travel.
“People are going to find ways to reduce their costs,” says Payne, a director of the Canadian Business Travel Association in Calgary.
The association held its first travel-expense management forum in Calgary earlier this month to educate business people about ways to manage their corporate travel programs.
Travel expenses are one of the most controllable business expenses, says Payne, who notes the ATCO-sponsored day-long forum attracted “huge interest” and more than 100 participants.
Michael Dale, general manager of Edmonton-based AMA Travel, agrees business travel has rebounded to the same level as a year ago – with more companies choosing less expensive options such as excursion fares.
“We’re up to the levels of last January and February now,” says Dale, who notes companies such as major airlines are boosting perks in-cluding customer loyalty programs to attract and retain business clients.
Customer loyalty is also on the mind of Edmonton-based Quikair, which runs 20 flights a day between the municipal airport in Edmonton and Calgary International.
The regional carrier says it lost more than $125,000 in a one-week period earlier this month by deciding to honour hundreds of tickets from competitor Northern Sky/Smart-Sky, which halted operations after filing for bankruptcy protection. Until late last year, Quikair operated with Smart-Sky’s management under the name Smart Air Ltd.
More than 600 people who would have lost their prepaid seat on SmartSky flew at no charge on Quikair, which has a total fleet of 52 aircraft, says president Paul Phee. The company has also taken over other routes operated by its former competitor.
“We honoured hundreds and hundreds of pre-paid seats to maintain credibility for small operators. No airline has ever done that,” says Phee.
“We doubled our business last week just because of that. We hope those people will continue to use our service.”
Quikair’s clients include government workers, professionals, corporate executives and small business owners.
Also targeting corporate clients is Calgary-based Red Arrow – which is revamping its fleet of 36-passenger coaches to add laptop plug-ins at every seat.
General manager Dean Wright says the ability to maximize working time during the three-hour trip between Calgary and Edmonton has become an “incredibly popular” option for business travellers.
Many businesses can’t afford the security lineups and other delays facing travellers on major airlines, say Phee and Wright.
“We really plug the productive time. We’re providing downtown to downtown hassle-free service,” says Wright.
Red Arrow’s business-class package also includes optional car rental in either city and other corporate-focused services. “We’re a great alternative to driving or flying. We are trying to attract more business travellers.”
Peter Wallis, president and CEO of the Van Horne Institute for International Transportation and Regulatory Affairs – a University of Calgary-based think-tank that promotes research and education of transportation issues – says the Alberta travel industry is getting back on track.
Wallis notes low-cost and charter carriers such as Calgary-based WestJet have continued to show profits during the economic slowdown and post-Sept. 11 angst, while other carriers such as now-defunct Canada 3000 and debt-plagued Air Canada have faltered.
“I think it’s clear that companies have had a pretty significant shock as a result of the recession,” says Wallis. “They will continue cost-cutting as one of their corporate objectives over a period of time.”
Wallis says he believes Alberta – be it government or private sector – should seriously consider reviving a high-speed rail link between Calgary and Edmonton.
VIA Rail’s longtime service between the two cities has not operated for more than a decade. “I just simply say that’s something that requires further consideration,” he says.
VIA Rail spokesman Malcolm Andrews says the passenger rail service – which operates through the West via Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmon-ton, Jasper and Vancouver – has no immediate plans to revive passenger service between the Alberta capital and Calgary.
However, Andrews says VIA – which in central Canada counts 40 per cent of its customers as business travellers – is facing growing support in western Canada for the resumption of commuter rail service between the two cities and other routes.
“Any time there is interest expressed, we always look at it seriously,” he says. “Who knows? There are no plans at this point.”
VIA Rail’s service in the West caters primarily to leisure travellers, although the company is trying to change that by promoting its new Priva service – which encourages business groups of up to 60 people to hold “rolling meetings” aboard the train.
Corporate groups can get their own sleeping area, dining car and open coach with seats removed or reconfigured to accommodate business meetings.
