American business flyers are particularly likely to think about switching from flying to telepresence; and we explore why this might be
In a nutshell
Technology looks set to replace a portion of business travel by air, according to a new report from Haddock Research & Branding Inc., a full-service market research agency focusing on climate change and the low-carbon economy. The survey showed business travellers are interested in telepresence – defined as video-phone or video-conferencing – as an alternative to short- and long-business flying trips, with American business travellers the most interested in replacing trips with this technology. On average, 35-40 percent of airline seats taken for business, by Americans, might be substituted by telepresence if it became widely available. In comparison, around 25 and 20 percent of such airline seats taken by English and Canadian business travellers, respectively, might be replaced in this way.
There appears to be a degree of ‘low-carbon’ appeal for telepresence as an alternative to business flying, but it is not a predominant influence. This is based on an analysis of the ‘interest in telepresence’ according to respondents’ personal concern about climate change.
The study, run in late-September/early-October 2008, was conducted amongst nationally representative samples of over 1,000 people per country in Canada, England and the USA.
You can download the full press release in the PDF attachment at the bottom of this page.
