Guidepoint's Corporate Travel Data Shows January Plunge in Government Bookings Affecting Air, Hotel and Rental Car Companies

NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Government travel in the month of January was down sharply from the previous year, according to insights from Guidepoint's new Qsight corporate travel data product. The drop may be broadly attributed to the partial government shutdown that affected one quarter of the federal government across nine executive departments. January rental car bookings were most affected by the lapse in funding, experiencing a 53.4% drop in transactions from the previous year. Airline and hotel reservations were also down 45.0% and 35.6%, respectively (Figure 1). Overall, public sector travel experienced the largest year-over-year decrease in spend of any of the 34 economic sectors tracked. 

Erik Haines, Managing Director of Guidepoint Data said: "In January 2019, government travel spending appears to take a nosedive, dropping by as much as 50% versus January 2018. Our findings may have notable implications for the first quarter performance of numerous travel companies, where corporate travel bookings can typically generate higher profit margins relative to consumer bookings."  According to Guidepoint Qsight data, among economic sectors, government travel accounted for 13.1% of rental car, 8.3% of airline, and 8.3% of hotel bookings through 2017 and 2018. These numbers fell to 6.7%, 4.4%, and 5.2%, respectively, in the month of January 2019 (Figure 2).

Insights such as these represent a rare view into the corporate component of the travel industry. Although insights into consumer bookings are readily available from credit receipts and web-harvested data, Guidepoint Qsight's proprietary corporate travel dataset represents the only direct, timely, granular, and unbiased source of information on this low-visibility, highly-profitable client segment. Our data is derived from an exclusive source of line-item bookings compiled from a panel of the largest corporate travel agencies, representing both forward-looking reservation data and time-of-travel pricing based on billions in annual travel spend. 

Given the potential for future government shutdowns, uncertainty in spending on public sector travel will continue through 2019. However, near-real time views into federal agency bookings will help mitigate risks for investors with positions in the travel market. The Guidepoint Qsight corporate travel dataset encompasses a wealth of information on government travel, as well as temporal trends in industries, geographies, pricing and market share. In an unpredictable market, accurate and reliable data are key components of an informed investment. For more information or trial access to Qsight corporate travel data, contact [email protected].

Guidepoint Data was launched in 2016 to offer quantitative insights into a broad array of industries. Data products range from raw data feeds to primary data to custom data and analytics. The team continues to build out new products and expand coverage to complement Guidepoint's leading phone consultation, event and survey offerings.

About Guidepoint

Guidepoint, a leading expert network firm, connects clients with vetted subject matter experts—Advisors—from their global professional network. Guidepoint clients leverage the insights and perspectives shared by Advisors to stay informed and make better business decisions. Its slate of services, including phone consultations, surveys, events and proprietary data insights products, help professionals gain comprehensive understanding of a topic before making strategic or investment decisions. Guidepoint's multinational client list includes 9 of the top 10 consulting firms and some of the largest hedge funds, private equity firms and Fortune-ranked public companies. Guidepoint's industry-leading compliance platform—overseen by Guidepoint's General Counsel, a former SEC enforcement attorney—supports appropriate client-to-Advisor interactions through the application of Guidepoint's own policies and procedures as well as custom, client-specific controls the company implements at clients' requests. Guidepoint is not a registered investment adviser and cannot transact business as an investment adviser or give investment advice. For more information, visit www.guidepoint.com.

SOURCE Guidepoint