Business travel is set to increase in the next 12 months according to research conducted by the Business Travel Show Dubai and YouGovSiraj.

More than 80% of respondents expect their company’s travel frequency to increase – with almost half expecting the increase to be substantial.

Similarly, company travel budgets have increased in the last year for more than 75% of respondents.

An equal number expect this trend to continue in the next 12 months.

Almost a third of bookers are expecting to see more business-class travel in the next 12 months.

The results stand in stark contrast to a survey by Acte and another from the Business Travel Coalition, both of which point to sharp downturns and travel freezes in the next 12 months.

Sally Maltby, event director for show organisers Centaur Exhibitions, said: “The pre-show survey points to increased demand for business-class products, despite the global economic downturn.

“This proves that corporations continue to see the value of conducting business on a face-to-face basis.”

Booking business-class carries through to accommodation, with the majority of corporate travellers staying in four- and five-star hotels.

Jane Wilson, director of Travel & Tourism Research at YouGovSiraj, said: “It is probably no great surprise to anyone that is familiar with the Middle East and North Africa region, and sees the number of aircraft orders that continue to hit the press and set new records, that travel is only set to go one way.

“In fact, passenger demand in the Middle East outgrew all other regions in the first half of 2007 and was triple the world average, according to statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).”

While the figures all point to increased business travel in the years ahead, the survey does not deliver all good news.

Sustainability and environmental concerns appear to be unimportant to the region’s travel bookers, with less than one in five respondents saying they would go out of their way to use suppliers that minimise employee carbon footprints whenever possible, regardless of cost. Two thirds did not consider this issue or were unaware.

The Business Travel Show Dubai survey was conducted via an online questionnaire designed and managed by YouGovSiraj, the show’s research partner, to protect respondent confidentiality. The survey was completed by more than 100 business travel bookers that have some level of responsibility for booking for their company, travellers booking for themselves and business travel agents, almost half of whom book more than 50 trips per year. The majority are resident in the UAE.