UK plc is yet to see the “green shoots of recovery” if the experience of Britain's business travel agents is anything to go by,

The Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC), whose members include all of the major business travel agencies in the UK, has reported that the number of tyransactions handled for all areas of business travel – apart from rail – are still significantly down on last year.

In its regular survey of the number of transactions, the GTMC found that the number of business travellers flying was down 15% on last year. Hotel bookings were 17% lower than in 2008 while car rentals were down by 16%. Rail travel was up 13% year on year, although this reflects in part the greater ease with which business travel agencies can now book rail tickets.

The survey also challenged the theory that business travellers are migrating from full service to no frills carriers to cut costs. “No-frills carriers are faring just as poorly as scheduled full service carriers,” the survey said.

GTMC chief executive Philip Carlisle said: “There is a definite downward trend across the business travel sector in every category except rail which shows that, while politicians, analysts and economists talk of green shoots of recovery, UK Plc doesn’t necessarily share that view. The rate of decline in some categories is starting to slow down but we are yet to see any positive signs. An interesting observation is the growth and continuing impressive performance of rail travel – which could mean that when recovery does come back into the business travel sector we could see a different pattern of travel by the business community”.