Companies will spend on travel aimed at boosting revenue

— -- Big business around the world is willing to spend money on travel in this recession — but only if there's a good chance it will generate revenue.

The chief financial officers at eight of 10 companies surveyed globally this spring by American Express' Global Commercial Card Group and CFO Research Services said they're spending less to send employees to staff meetings, conferences, management retreats, training and feel-good corporate gatherings.

The survey, which formed the basis for the second annual Global Business & Spending Monitor published on Tuesday, indicates that 87% of North American, European, Asian and Australian companies are spending less on business travel this year in response to the global downturn.

And 44% said they're cutting travel spending by 10% or more.

Those figures support what airlines, hotels and others in the travel industry have been reporting since last fall: Business travel is way down and is affecting their revenue.

The survey's results reveal an increasingly strict bottom-line approach to sending people on the road.

Wendy Prewitt, in the global client group at American Express, says most of the 285 companies involved in the survey are "investing money where they can drive revenue through increased sales."

They're also committed to spending on travel that fosters research and locates top talent so they'll be "in the best position possible to seize new opportunities when things do turnaround," she says.

Of the CFOs surveyed, 82% said they'd increase or maintain last year's spending aimed at finding new clients. And 66% said they'd spend the same or more to make sales calls on existing clients.

The researchers found increased involvement by corporations' senior management in approving travel requests.

Marty Kittrell, CFO at Dresser, a maker of industrial valves, told researchers that requests to travel internationally on business now go to a team of senior executives that includes the CEO.

"Historically, that would have been another level down in terms of approvals," Kittrell said.