Although nearly a third of European corporate travel buyers expect to have bigger corporate travel budgets in 2019, according to research by the UK Business Travel Show, the figure is down from 40% recorded last year.
The poll of 134 European buyers found the number of budgets on the downturn was up from 13% last year to 15% for 2019.
There is also a rise in buyers with less to spend on air travel – 16% compared to 11% in the previous survey.
One third of buyers will also have more trips to manage, significantly fewer than the 45% last year.
Maybe a glimmer of optimism can be gleaned from the cost forecasts, with those predicting rises in travel costs dropping from 47% last year to 43% this time.
David Chapple, Business Travel Show group event director, commented: “The wobble shown by these results may reflect the uncertainty and dent in confidence the industry is currently experiencing in the light of Brexit… organisations are remaining cautious about spend.”