CNN Business Traveller

SHOW #68

Business on a Budget

Almost every industry is feeling the effects of the credit crisis. With belts being tightened, the way in which we travel for our business is also changing. So on this month's CNN Business Traveller, we're looking at doing Business on a budget.

CNN's Adrian Finighan presents the show from Oslo – the most expensive city in the world, according to Swiss bank UBS in their most recent survey. Anyone visiting the city will most certainly feel the pinch. During the course of the program, Adrian will try and keep costs to a minimum while in Oslo - flying Economy, staying in a budget hotel and using public transport.

We look at how travel managers are keeping a closer eye on expenses and how the hotel industry is coping. Airlines have been hit harder with the price of oil above $120 per barrel, reaching as high as $135. Every dollar increase in the price of oil drives up aviation industry costs by about $1.6 billion. There is great concern for the future and airlines are doing all they can to save money. We speak to airline CEOs Jean-Cyril Spinetta (Air France), Willie Walsh (BA), Ola Strand (SAS Norway), and Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group about the measures they’re taking to weather this economic storm.

One sector of the aviation industry that is looking forward to the future is private air travel. It has seen record numbers this year in terms of orders and deliveries. Everyone wants a piece of the action from Russia to China to Germany. There's also an increasing trend also to make private air travel more affordable with the launch of chartered "air taxis", where in some cases flights are cheaper than business class. We follow entrepreneur Jackie Russell using the new low-cost air taxi service "Blink".

The best way to keep costs down is of course, to travel only when absolutely necessary. We look at the latest technology in webconferencing. It's called TelePresence - pioneered by Cisco and Hewlett Packard - the image of the person is life-size, in high definition with no time delay. We interview Cisco's general manager of its Emerging Technologies Group Martin de Beers via the new TelePresence system with Adrian in London and Martin de Beers in San Jose, CA.

Keeping to a budget shouldn't put you off from exploring the city you're in whilst on the road. With an Oslo travel pass, there are plenty of ways to explore Oslo from Sunrise to Sunset.