Business Travel Professionals Use Of Social Media Continues To Rise In New AirPlus Survey

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AirPlus International, a leading global provider of corporate travel payment and analysis solutions, releases June’s The Wire…from AirPlus titled: Social Media Jumps in Managed Travel Space. The social media topic has been explored for three consecutive years in The Wire…from AirPlus, with the results showing steady increases in usage year over year. Whether for personal use, professional use or a combination of the two, 83 percent of respondents indicated they participate in social media sites this year, as compared to 77 percent last year. When delving into specific platforms, LinkedIn users which held virtually steady in 2009 (58 percent) and 2010 (59 percent), jumped to 74 percent this year. Facebook also grew; from a low of 45 percent in 2009 to 55 percent in 2010 and to 62 percent this year. For more details, including a complimentary PDF of the survey results, please visit the AirPlus Community.

“Examples such as Michelle DeCosta from Sapient and Karoline Mayr form Deltek illustrate that travel managers are empowered when they use social media to communicate with their travelers. AirPlus is an advocate of such platforms for knowledge-sharing to spur conversation and collaboration.”

“More than half (59 percent) of survey respondents believe that social media helps travel managers understand what is most important to travelers and anticipate their needs, this is not a topic to be ignored. With an 18% increase over last year’s survey, we see that the business travel marketplace is ripe with platforms for industry conversation and innovation,” said Richard Crum, President and CEO of AirPlus International, Inc. “Examples such as Michelle DeCosta from Sapient and Karoline Mayr form Deltek illustrate that travel managers are empowered when they use social media to communicate with their travelers. AirPlus is an advocate of such platforms for knowledge-sharing to spur conversation and collaboration.”

The Wire…from AirPlus is a monthly pulse report for the business travel industry on timely and relevant topics. Results of this edition are based on a survey of 146 corporate travel professionals in North America and Europe from April 26 to May 13, 2011.

AirPlus International is a leading business travel payment solution with a payment suite of central bill accounts, corporate cards and online management tools that are used by over 35,000 customers worldwide. AirPlus is travel agency neutral, the leading issuer of UATP worldwide and the preferred partner of various airlines such as Air China, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Luxair, Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, TAP Portugal and Singapore Airlines. For more information, please visit AirPlus.com, contribute to our community at AirPlus Community, follow us via Twitter and LinkedIn, and like us via Facebook. Press may contact Rana Walker, Marketing and Communications at [e-mail] or [phone].