Business travel on the up for IT pros

People working in IT are travelling more for business than they did a year ago.

The averages work out at 2.4 days per week out of the office and 4.3 nights per month away from home, according to the 2005/6 Barclaycard Business Travel Survey. The typical distance travelled each week for work is 527 miles.

Topping the reasons for travelling more is 'business expansion overseas', cited by 51 per cent of respondents. 'Having a new job' and 'a growing need for face to face business and networking' were both mentioned by 13 per cent of the IT slice of the 2,500 business people polled by the Future Foundation.

But IT is also helping some people travel less. Those in IT who said they are travelling less mentioned 'technology reducing the need' 34 per cent of the time.

Those in IT get to spend a little more than the overall per night average on hotels - £99.60 versus £98.10.

The survey also measured products associated with something to do while on the way to or from work and found a weekly spend of £42.20 on items such as CDs, newspapers, books and food and drink against the overall average of £26.30.

Surprisingly almost three-quarters of those answering the questions said they enjoy travelling for business.