The international credit crisis might have put a temporary damper on things but, overall, business travel is on the rise. As more economies - such as that of China and India – are slowly emerging from the doldrums of mediocrity, more businesspeople travel there.

Large international companies have offices in many countries, as the world is starting to resemble that global village talked of in the clichés. Executives have to travel between offices, countries and continents to oversee their sprawling empires.

Top executives of very large companies usually travel by company business jet. However, this has become rather unfashionable as the harsh economic climate is squeezing margins and that business jet has come to resemble excess in the eyes of struggling shareholders.

As a consequence, some of these jets are sold or mothballed, and busy executives have tended to lean more toward commercial carriers, albeit First or Business Class, until the storm has passed. Who could forget the media coverage afforded certain ignorant company directors in the USA that showed up in Washington recently in their business jets to beg for federal bailout money?

Business travel on commercial carriers can be made a lot more bearable by making use of a specialist business Travel Agent. These agencies send thousands of executives around the world on many different airlines daily and have come to serve a discerning market that has long outgrown its niche status.

Such agencies handle the executive’s entire itinerary, organising flights, accommodation and connecting flights. Their tariffs are often utterly reasonable, as they have the advantage of flexing their bulk buying muscle by serving thousands of likeminded travellers. They can also be of assistance with visa arrangements and policy advice.

Business travel to the ends of the earth will continue to increase for as long as the ends of the earth develop into First World countries.