The alluring Turkish city, Istanbul which straddles two major continents, Asia and Europe boasts of a rich historical past during which it functioned as the epicenter of three important global empires namely the Roman, the Christian Byzantine and the Islamic Ottoman. Today Istanbul, which has always been a vital destination on international land and sea trade routes due to its strategic location, is the largest city and the economic heart of Turkey that generates more than half of the country’s trade and contributes approximately 23% to its Gross National Product.

Istanbul is a bustling city which is home to over 10 million people, is the industrial heart of Turkey as the city and its surrounding regions produce a whole host of products like fruit, olive oil, tobacco, cotton, textiles, oil products, rubber, metal ware, chemicals, leather goods, pharmaceuticals, glass ware, machinery, electronics, paper products, and alcoholic beverages which are both consumed domestically as well as exported through its port. It is estimated that the industrial units in and around Istanbul employ approximately 20% of all of Turkey’s industrial labor and make up 38% of Turkey's industrial workspace.

Aside from being a vibrant industrial hub, Istanbul is the important financial center of Turkey as it is home to the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) which is the only securities market in Turkey. The ISE was originally established as the Ottoman Stock Exchange (Dersaadet Tahvilat Borsasi) in1866 and it was only reorganized into its present day form in the late 1980’s. During the years of the Ottoman empire, Bankalar Caddesi (Banks Street) in Galata which was home to the Ottoman central bank and the Ottoman Stock Exchange functioned as the main financial district of Istanbul however today the city’s business and financial matters are conducted within its two main financial sectors, namely the central business districts of Levent and Maslak which host the Istanbul Stock Exchange as well as gleaming skyscrapers that house the headquarters of all the Turkish private banks and 21% of the total bank branches in Turkey. Apart from these domestic institutions, these central business districts are also home to the outposts of several international banking organizations like Citibank, JP Morgan, ING, Banca di Roma, Deutsche Bank, and Commerzbank .

In addition to functioning as business and commerce hub, Istanbul is also a well established tourist destination. In fact tourism is one of most important and strongest industries in this city which boasts of countless cultural attractions like the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and many museums and bazaars. Tourism records indicate that Turkey and its cultural hotspot, Istanbul welcomed more than 30 million tourists in 2008 as the country’s tourism industry earned an incredible $17.5 billion in revenue during the said year. Istanbul’s position as a favored tourist hotspot has also enabled it to become a popular destination for trade fairs and conventions which are hosted at various venues all over the city like the CNR expo centre, which is the biggest Trade Fair Center of Euroasia and The Istanbul Convention & Exhibition Centre (ICEC) which hosts several congresses and exhibitions each year.

Accordingly, Istanbul is equipped with numerous hotels which cater both to visiting professionals as well as vacationers who arrive in this fascinating city by passing through one of its two international airports, the Ataturk or the Sabiha Gokcen or even through its seaport.

Some of the most popular hotels in Istanbul include home-grown boutique establishments like The Witt Istanbul Suites and the Sumahan Hotel and the outlets of leading hotel chains like the Çiragan Palace Kempinski which is famous for its gorgeous pool that overlooks the Bosphorus, the Ritz Carlton, The Conrad and the Four Seasons.

Apart from these hotels, which are well equipped to cater to the business traveler’s every need, Istanbul also hosts a lively dining and nightlife scene which is characterized by several top notch restaurants like 360 Istanbul which offers rooftop dining, Les Ambassedeurs which is renowned for its many exquisite fish preparations and Spice Market, which is renowned Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Istanbul’s outpost and is located within the Istanbul W hotel. Along with these restaurants, several Istanbul nightclubs like Reina and Angelique also offer business travelers a place to unwind and relax after a long day of meetings and seminars. For those business travelers who enjoy combining work trips with pleasure, Istanbul also offers myriad sight-seeing and walking tours which include visits to the city’s many historic and cultural attractions as they also take in its unique hamams or traditional Turkish bathhouses which offer rejuvenating soaks and therapeutic massages.

If your business necessitates frequent travel to this enchanting city which is situated at the cusp of two continents, you might want to consider using the services of the New York City based travel management company, Fare Buzz for all your trips. Fare Buzz is a leading supplier of cheap business class flights. Through its contracts with over sixty domestic and international airlines Fare Buzz is able to procure cheap business class air fares to nearly every global destination. You can actually expect to have savings of nearly 70% when you book your company’s business class travel through Fare Buzz instead of regular channels. Moreover the travel desk at Fare Buzz is manned by knowledgeable and experienced personnel who are on hand seven days a week to help you with all the travel planning necessary for your trip to Istanbul. So next time you need to head off on a business trip to the city on the Bosphorus, do make sure that you give Fare Buzz a call at 1-800-847-1963 to procure the most competitive and affordable business class deal for your journey. 

Business travel is considered to be an essential tool of commerce in both large and small companies. In fact small companies seem to have a greater reliance on business travel as they often lack the visibility of large companies. Moreover small companies have to compete with large companies in order to acquire new customers as a result of which they have to often invest in substantially in business travel for face to face client and sales generating meetings. It is estimated that in large firms business travel costs make up three to five percent of sales but in smaller companies this business travel component tends to be much higher.

A recent study conducted by the economic forecasting agency, Oxford Economics states that there is a definite link between business travel and corporate profitability. It goes on to add that every dollar spent on travel by a US company can generate an average of $3.80 in profit and a $12.50 in revenue. However, due to the current ongoing economic downturn, several companies across the board have cut back or drastically reduced their business travel spends in recent months. The study concludes that this should be considered as ‘a penny wise and pound foolish approach’ as the bottom line benefits that accrue from business travel are in fact achieved by most businesses over a long time horizon.

Rather than cutting back or eliminating business travel totally, companies should look to reduce and effectively manage their business travel costs in order to continue to avail of the advantages of business travel in a challenging economic climate. Travel expenses can be managed more efficiently if a company takes these simple actions toward organizing its travel activity and curbing its business travel spending.

Essential business travel trips
Companies who have a regional or global footprint tend to rely quite extensively on business travel, however if business travel costs need to be reduced, then such companies should try to limit their business travel to essential trips that only involve face-to-face client meetings and to those trips which are exclusively sales related or meant solely for incentive purposes.

Partnering with a travel agency
If you are looking to reduce business travel costs for your company and do not have a partnership with a business travel agency now is the time to get one. A professional travel agency like the New York City based travel agency, Fare Buzz can help you outline your travel goals and build and enforce a business travel policy that fits your budget and business goals.

Negotiating with suppliers
After you have outlined your goals and set down the rules for employee travel, you can then attempt to renegotiate rates with your regular suppliers like airlines or hotels or even shop around for new lower cost suppliers. However if you attempt to do this on your own you might not be as successful as you would be if you allowed your partner agency, Fare Buzz to negotiate on your behalf. Fare Buzz has exclusive contracts with more than sixty domestic and international airlines and can thus effectively negotiate to acquire cheap business class air fares which are especially required for long haul international business travel journeys.

However Fare Buzz’s services are not just limited to airlines as the company also has an exclusive relationship with a wide network of more than 100,000 diverse hotel properties and can also secure bargains from your preferred hotel chains to meet your business travel needs.

Free travel on award tickets
Fare Buzz is the country’s leading supplier of cheap business class tickets. Fare Buzz through its special relationship with a whole host of airlines manages to procure wholesale cheap business class flights which it then offers for sale to its clients. These cheap business class airline tickets are not lacking in any way as they come loaded with all the perks of full priced tickets like mileage accrual. Miles so earned can then be used to procure free future business class travel and further savings. In fact Fare Buzz also operates its own rewards program in conjunction with American Express rewards cards and every flight, hotel, vacation package and car rental booking that you book through Fare Buzz earns you points which can be redeemed at more than 200 of the nation’s retail and travel outlets.

Monitoring reports to track business travel spending
The travel team at Fare Buzz is made up of experienced and knowledgeable travel consultants who are on hand seven days a week to help you find the best airline business class fares and hotel deals for all your business travel. The team at Fare Buzz can also help you monitor your business travel expenditure by providing you with reports that illustrate all your business travel expenditure along with details like names of staff who are booking trips.

So if you are looking for innovative ways to reduce your company’s business travel spends or are even looking for options to effectively manage your annual travel budget do get in touch with the best business travel solutions provider, the New York City based travel agency Fare Buzz at 1-800-847-1963 today.

The city of Johannesburg which is popularly known as ‘Joburg’ or ‘Jozi’ or ‘eGoli’(the city of gold) is the largest city of the Republic of South Africa and its commercial and financial capital. Johannesburg which was established on the largest gold reserves in the world is located in one of the wealthiest provinces in South Africa, the Gauteng province. The city over the years has evolved into an important center for business from its humble beginning as a gold mining boomtown though the gold and diamond mining industry continues to be of utmost importance in this city which is often referred to ‘the economic motor’ of the South African Economy.

There is an enormous concentration on business in Johannesburg and the city is also home to The Johannesburg Stock Exchange which was founded in 1887. The JSE is the 16th largest stock exchange in the world in terms of market capitalization and it functions as the centre of the capital markets for the whole of southern Africa. Further Johannesburg produces one fifth of South Africa’s gross domestic product and it hosts nearly 74 percent of national corporate headquarters in its various business districts as well as numerous mining and big banking and investment companies. Several international concerns in the fields of finance, telecommunications and media like Barclays, Telekom, Vodacom, MTN, IBM , PQ Holdings and Dimension Date also have a presence in Johannesburg which is considered to be extremely conducive for business as it is well equipped with some of the world’s most sophisticated banking and IT systems .

Tourism is yet another important industry in Johannesburg as the city is largely considered to be the gateway to the famous game parks of South Africa. Johannesburg is a lively metropolis which offers a wide spectrum of cultures that display European and African influences and the city is well served by its modern O. R. Tambo International Airport which receives almost all the major airlines of the world.

Some of the most popular business hotels located within northern residential neighbor hoods include the famous old-world establishment, The Westcliff which is located atop a hill in one of Johannesburg’s most exclusive neighborhoods, the Johannesburg Park Hyatt which is located in Rosebank and the Melrose Arch Hotel, the Michelangelo and the Peech Hotel all of which are located in Sandton, the suburban-style business district which is situated north of downtown Johannesburg.

Apart from these fine hotels, the global city of Johannesburg also offers many fine dining and trendy restaurants like Sides at the Ten Bompas Hotel, Moyo at the Melrose Arch Hotel, as well as several stand alone establishments like Pomegranate in Melville and Bite, Addictions and Café Flo all of which are located in the neighborhood of Greenside. These restaurants offer the business traveler the chance to unwind and relax after a long work day.

Additionally Johannesburg also offers a wealth of cultural attractions for those travelers who learn about the history of the city. Some of Johannesburg’s most popular sites include the Gold Reef City which catalogues the city’s evolution from a gold mining boom town, the Apartheid Museum and the historic suburb of Soweto and The Cradle of Humankind which is fascinating site that is located on the outskirts of Johannesburg that traces the origin of human kind through its large collection of hominid fossils.

For someone who is based in the US, a Business trip to Johannesburg may seem like a journey to the end of the earth for the flight time from the east coast of the USA to this South African city easily extends over twenty hours. If you or your colleagues need to travel to Johannesburg for business routinely then the only way you can hope to arrive at your destination in meeting-ready shape is to travel in the business class cabin of an airline that flies to Johannesburg though business class tickets to South Africa from the US cost a pretty penny as they are often priced over $5000.

However your company can easily manage to procure cheap business class travel deals by partnering with a travel solutions company like the New York City based Fare Buzz which specializes in cheap business class airfares. Through its contracts with over sixty domestic and international airlines Fare Buzz is able to procure cheap business class flights to nearly every destination in the world. It is worth mentioning that these cheap business class tickets come with all the perks that are normally associated with regular business class tickets like mileage accrual and pre-assigned seats. Further the customer service team at Fare Buzz which on hand all seven days of the week is made up of knowledgeable and experienced personnel who are dedicated to finding the most cost effective business class travel packages for their clients. So don't wait any longer, pick up the phone and call Fare Buzz at 1-800-847-1963 to score the ‘best’ business travel deal for your business trip to the ‘dark continent’ today.
 

The Australian city of Sydney conjures up images of great beaches, a laid-back lifestyle and amenable sunny weather, however apart from being a favored tourist destination; Sydney which is also the largest city in Australia is an important center for global business which is firmly entrenched on the business travel map.

The harbor front city of Sydney is the capital of the Australian state of New South Wales and it is a pulsating economic powerhouse which hosts the headquarters of many large Australian companies like Caltex Australia, the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and Woolworths as well as well as the Asia–Pacific and Australian headquarters of scores of multinational companies and the world’s many leading banks like Citigroup, UBS, Mizuho Corporate Bank, HSBC Bank and Deutsche Bank. Sydney which is also home to the Australian Securities Exchange and the Reserve Bank of Australia is located in a time zone that is 10- 11 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and hence is the first city to open for business every day. This means that it’s Stocks and Futures exchanges often sets the trends for trading patterns throughout the world’s stock markets.

Some of the major industries that are based in Sydney include finance and insurance, pharmaceuticals, communications, biotechnology and call centers though the city is also a popular location for conferences and conventions which is equipped with world class facilities that can accommodate any kind of kind of presentations, seminars, and team building exercises. Some popular conference venues in Sydney are the Sydney Convention and Exhibition center, the SMC Conference and Function Center and the Harbor Edge Events Center along with the facilities which are located within city’s many hotels like the conference favorites, the Sydney Harbor Marriott hotel and The Observatory Hotel.

Some of the important conferences that have been held in Sydney in recent times and have attracted participants from all over the world include events like the 2008 Youth Day, the 2007 International AIDS Society Conference and the 2007 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. The business event calendar for this lively Australian city which is world renowned for its stunning scenery, excellent infrastructure and vibrant multicultural society currently includes events like the 7th International Orthodontic Congress which is due to be held here in February 2010, the Lions Clubs International Convention which will be hosted in July 2010 and the Annual World Congress of the Human Proteome Organization which is to be held in September 2010.

To cater to the needs of many business and leisure travelers that arrive on its shores all throughout the year, Sydney, the gateway city of Australia is equipped with a highly efficient and easily accessible international airport, the Kingsford Smith Airport which has been in operation since 1920 though it was upgraded and modernized for the hosting of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Aside from its international airport, Sydney is also equipped with a wide range of hotels which are well equipped to meet all the various requirements of the business travel community. Some of the most popular business travel hotels in Sydney are the Intercontinental Sydney, the Westin Sydney, the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, The Sheraton on the Park and the Park Hyatt. Most of these hotels are located in the heart of Sydney within walking distance of its Central Business District (CBD) and popular attractions like the Darling Harbor, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Rocks which is the site of Sydney’s first settlement in 1788. This area is close to Sydney’s famous harbor bridge, the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay and hosts a great Saturday market as well as many pubs and souvenir shops.

Sydney’s popularity as a prime business travel destination can also be attributed to its thriving nightlife scene which embodies the city’s mantra of working and partying hard and it is populated with top notch bars, restaurants and nightclubs which offer the business traveler numerous choices to unwind and relax after a hard work day or to even continue to conduct business after office hours.

If you need to travel to Sydney for business or a work related conference or seminar your journey from the US will most definitely involve an extremely long haul flight which may or may not have a layover in an Asian city. The only way then you can hope to arrive in Sydney in meeting-ready shape is to travel in the business class cabin of your preferred carrier though business class tickets to Australia from the US are prohibitively expensive as they are usually are priced over $9000. If you or your colleagues need to make this transcontinental trip a couple of times a year then these huge costs can eat into your company’s annual travel budget quite rapidly.

However your company can easily manage to procure cheap business class travel deals by partnering with a travel solutions company like the New York City based Fare Buzz which specializes in cheap business class airfares. Through its contracts with over sixty domestic and international airlines Fare Buzz is able to procure cheap business class flights to nearly every destination in the world. It is worth mentioning that these cheap business class e tickets come with all the perks that are normally associated with regular business class tickets like mileage accrual and pre-assigned seats. Further the customer service team at Fare Buzz which is available on all seven days of the week is made up of knowledgeable and experienced personnel who are dedicated to finding the most cost effective business class travel packages for their . So why wait any longer, pick up the phone and call Fare Buzz at 1-800-847-1963 to score the ‘best’ business travel deal for your trip to Sydney today.   

Tel Aviv, the second largest city in Israel is its economic hub and financial center. The city has often been described as a ‘flourishing technological center’ for Tel Aviv has a booming high-tech industry which is an important and influential center for research and development. The city and its satellite towns of Herzliya and Petah Tikya are home to countless domestic startups as well as local and international venture capitalist firms and it is estimated that Israel has more publicly traded companies on the Nasdaq stock market than any other country outside North America. Further it is believed that these Israeli start-ups attract more venture capital funding than any country outside North America so much so that the city of Tel Aviv is often described as ‘Silicon Wadi.’ Tel Aviv’s high tech industry today contributes greatly to the country’s export sector and technologies developed here can be found in the products of various multi-national companies in the spheres of computers, information systems, medicine, optics, consumer goods and software.

Aside from being a technological hot spot, Tel Aviv is also an important financial center of the Middle East and the city is home to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) which is Israel’s only stock exchange. The TASE which has a listing of more than 600 publicly traded companies is located on a street called Ahad Ha’am which is situated within the environs of Tel Aviv’s ‘White City’. Tel Aviv’s White City was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 and it consists of a cluster of nearly 4000 Bauhaus or International Style buildings which were built in Tel Aviv in the 1930’s by German Jewish architects who immigrated to Tel Aviv in an effort to escape the Nazis.

In addition to finance and technology, Tel Aviv also has several other industries like chemical processing, textiles and food manufacturing. Moreover Tel Aviv is also located in close proximity to the city of Ramat Gan which hosts the world’s largest diamond exchange and functions as a Mecca for the global gem dealing community.

All this varied and bustling economic activity has firmly established Tel Aviv as an important center on the global business traveler’s map and this lively city receives a constant flow of business travelers all year long who access the city via its excellent Ben-Guiron International Airport. To meet the needs of these business travelers, Tel Aviv is equipped a wide variety of business hotels like the David Intercontinental, The Tel Aviv Hilton and The Sheraton City Tower

Tel Aviv is also known to be one of the most ‘connected’ cities of the Middle East and consequently most four star and five star hotels in the city are equipped with business lounges that offer several business essential services like free Wi-Fi, faxing and printing services, typing and basic translating services which are invaluable for the business traveler. Additionally Tel Aviv is also equipped with several free Wi-Fi hotspots which can be found at city parks, restaurants, shopping centers, gas stations and outlets of coffee shop chains like Arcaffè, Aroma, Coffee-To-Go and Ilan's.

However it’s not all work and no play in Tel Aviv as the city is renowned for its pulsating nightlife which is concentrated on its many lively bars and restaurants that line its beach front. Additionally the city is also equipped with theaters, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Tel Aviv Opera House and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra all of which provide a welcome diversion for business travelers looking for a chance to unwind and relax after a day of hard negotiations.

If you need to travel to Tel Aviv on business, your journey from the US will almost always involve a long haul flight with a possible layover in Europe. The only way you can hope to cope with the resultant jet lag and the fatigue from such a journey is to travel in the business class cabin of a carrier that provides a connection to Tel Aviv. Business class tickets from the US to Tel Aviv can cost anywhere upwards of $3000 and if you need to travel to Tel Aviv often, these prohibitive costs can eat into your company’s annual travel budget quite rapidly.

However you can easily manage to procure cheap business class tickets for all your business class travel to Tel Aviv by availing of the highly cost effective and efficient services of a business class travel specialist, like the New York City based travel management company, Fare Buzz. Fare Buzz is a leading supplier of cheap business class flights. Through its contracts with over sixty domestic and international airlines it is able to procure cheap business class airfares to nearly every global destination. You can actually expect to have savings of nearly 70% when you book your company’s business class travel through Fare Buzz instead of regular channels. Moreover the travel desk at Fare Buzz is manned by knowledgeable and experienced personnel who are on hand seven days a week to help you with all the travel planning necessary for your journey to high- tech hotspot of Tel Aviv. Do call Business Class hotline at Fare Buzz, 1-800-847-1963 to procure the most competitive and affordable business travel deal to Tel Aviv today.

The enigmatic city of London is widely regarded as one of the premier business and finance capitals of the world. So much so that in recent years London has begun to challenge New York City’s position as ‘the financial capital of the world’. The City of London is main business district in London. This area which is also known as ‘the Square Mile’ has functioned as the epicenter of financial sector in London since the 19th century. Institutions like The London Stock Exchange, the Bank of England and Lloyd’s of London Insurance along with nearly 500 banks are all located within the City of London which extends over just one square mile (1.12 mile² / 2.90 km²). However since 1991 London has also been equipped with a second business district in the form of the Canary Wharf area which is located a few miles east of the City in the Tower Hamlets area. Both these areas in London play host to a wide variety of financial and legal institutions which specialize in various spheres such as Eurobonds, the foreign exchange markets, energy futures, alternative investments and global insurance.

Apart from being a financial hotspot London, is also a major international communications center which is home to a numerous media outlets. All the major and most important media organizations in the UK have their headquarters in London. The most prominent of all these media organizations is but of course, the world renowned and well respected source for information, the British Broadcasting Corporation which is popularly referred to as simply the ‘BBC’. Apart from these media organizations, London is home to a slew of television networks, radio stations, publishing groups and advertising firms like Pearson, Reuters and the WPP Group. In addition the city also offers studio and post production facilities for the British Film Industry.

London is also home to the headquarters of some of the UK’s and Europe’s most prominent companies. Companies such as HSBC, Reuters, Barclays and the world’s largest law firm, Clifford Chance all have their global headquarters in London, a city that is well known for its extremely amenable business environment. This fact is further corroborated by a recent report which was put forth by Oxford Economics, the leading forecasting agency that estimates that London generates approximately 19% of the UK's GDP and accounts for 15% of all of the UK’s jobs. London’s unique place in the UK economy is further highlighted by the fact that Londoners’ contributed a total of £12.7 billion to UK public finances in 2005-6.

Apart from its serious business side, London is also well known for its innovative and creative character as well as the city is widely acknowledged as a leading fashion capital of the world which hosts a London Fashion Week and is the source of many global trends. As a result of all this hectic activity, the buoyant city of London is a well established destination on the business traveler’s map and it receives a regular influx of international consultants, businessmen, bankers, and oligarchs all year round.

To cater to the needs of these various business travelers, London is equipped with a well developed and extensive public transport network which is made up of iconic black cabs and red double-decker buses, and several railways and subways which operate both over and under-ground to provide connections within London and from the city to the rest of the UK and Europe. London is also equipped with five busy and bustling airports namely Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and the City airport which help to make the UK capital accessible from any corner of globe. London also offers a wide array of hotels and inns which aim to cater to every budget and include several business hotels like Claridge’s, The Courthouse Hotel Kempinski, The City Inn Westminster, the Metropolitan and the fabulously opulent Dorchester. London is often described as a leading multicultural destination which is equipped with a wide assortment of restaurants that accommodate all palates and provide business travelers with a place to unwind after a hectic day of deal-making or to continue conducting business over a delicious meal. Some of the popular business traveler’s haunts in London include restaurants like the Cinammon Club, the Savoy Grill, Wiltons, Zuma, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Hakkason amongst others.

If your company affairs or business requires you to travel ‘across the pond’ frequently to this energetic and lively capital of the United Kingdom you might want to avoid paying hideous rates for your Business Class Tickets by aligning with the New York City based travel management company, Fare Buzz.

Fare Buzz is a leading name in the sphere of Business Travel as it is a well known source for cheap business class tickets. No matter which airline you choose to fly, Fare Buzz can almost always secure the most attractive rates for your business class travel as it has exclusive contracts with more than sixty domestic and international airlines.

However Fare Buzz’s services are not just limited to airlines as the company also has an exclusive relationship with a wide network of more than 100,000 diverse hotel properties and the travel team at Fare Buzz which is staffed by experienced ‘live’ travel consultants can help tailor a complete business travel package for your upcoming business trip to ‘the Old Blighty’. So don't any waste any more time souring the web for ‘the best deal’ just get on the phone and call Fare Buzz at 1-888-808-4123 today.

China today is one of the world’s largest, fastest growing and most influential economies. At the center of this rapidly developing economy, is the city of Shanghai which is the largest city in China. In fact the populous city of Shanghai, which is home to more than 20 million people, is the epicenter of trade and finance in China. This vibrant and exciting city which is located at the mouth of the great Yangtze River is also one of the busiest cargo ports in the world which in terms of container traffic is the second to only Singapore, the busiest port in the world.

Since the introduction of economic reforms in China in the early 1980’s, Shanghai has grown at a blistering pace and the city which straddles both sides of the Huangpu River is toady a vast, modern metropolis whose skyline is littered with towering skyscrapers. Shanghai is the financial hub of China and it is home to one of the fastest growing stock exchanges in the world, the Shanghai Stock Exchange.Apart from being a financial hub, Shanghai is also a major destination for the headquarters of several multinational corporations who have a presence on the Chinese mainland and the rest of Asia. It is estimated that more than 100 western companies like General Motors, McDonald’s, and FedEx have their Asia Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, a city which was once known as ‘the Pearl of the Orient’.

Shanghai’s main business district is located within a special economic zone called the Pudong New Area located which on the east bank of the Huangpu River. Pudong faces the Puxi area or old Shanghai which is located on the west bank of the Huangpu River. Puxi is home to the Bund which is the most popular tourist attraction in Shanghai populated as it with several historic buildings. The Pudong New Area characterizes the ambition of ‘New China’ as it has within its environs the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Pudong’s brash, show-off skyline features several towering sky-scrapers like the oddly shaped Oriental Pearl Tower, the 88 storey Jin Mao Building which hosts the Grand Hyatt hotel, the 101 storey tall Shanghai World Financial Center which hosts the world’s highest hotel, the Park Hyatt Shanghai and the soon-to-be-completed Shanghai Tower which is expected to top 632 meters when it opens in 2014.

Aside from the Pudong New Area, Shanghai has within its boundaries numerous industrial zones like the Shanghai Hongqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone, the Jinqiao Export Economic Processing Zone, the Minhang Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Shanghai Caohejing High and New Technological Development Zone. All this frenzied business activity has made Shanghai an extremely important destination on the business traveler’s map as CEOs, entrepreneurs, celebrity chefs and businessmen of all types head to China in order to access the vast Chinese domestic market and to avail of its large manufacturing base. This business travel traffic is only bound to increase over the next year when Shanghai hosts the World Expo 2010 from the 1st of May to the 31st of October 2010.

To cater to this year round business travel traffic, Shanghai is equipped with two international airports, the Pudong and the Hongquio, though only the Pudong airport is used for international flights while the older Hongquio caters to largely to domestic traffic. Hectic construction activity during recent years has also furnished the city with numerous luxury hotels whose rooms are kitted out with the expected modern conveniences like in-room Wi-Fi, flat-screen TV screens and rainforest showerheads apart from several other luxuries like rooftop bars, Jacuzzis, tai-chi courtyards and all pampering day-spas. Almost all the world’s leading hotel chains have a presence in Shanghai like the Grand Hyatt, the Shangri La, the St Regis, the Westin and the Portman Ritz Carlton and they are soon to be joined by other popular chains like the W Hotels, Banyan Tree and The Waldorf-Astoria.

If your company like several US companies already has a presence in China or if your company would like to gain access to the burgeoning Chinese domestic market, you or your colleagues will need to make frequent business trips to this dynamic and exuberant city. Traveling to Shanghai from the US can be a complicated affair which often involves a long haul flight with connections and long term or short term business hotel stays and you might want to consider using the efficient, cost-effective services of the New York based travel company, Fare Buzz

Fare Buzz has an exclusive relationship with over 60 domestic and international airlines and through this special relationship; it can procure much needed business class tickets which are an essential requirement for long haul business travel at substantial discounts. It is worth mentioning that these cheap business class airline tickets come with all the perks that are normally associated with regular business class tickets like mileage accrual and pre-assigned seats. Further the team at Fare Buzz is made up of experienced and knowledgeable travel consultants who are on hand seven days a week to help you find the best airline business class fares and hotel deals for your business travel to Shanghai. So if you are planning to align with the world’s fastest growing economy anytime soon do make it a point to call team at Fare Buzz at 1-888-808-4123 to chalk out your oriental odyssey.

2009 has been an extremely challenging for the entire travel industry as the recession has compelled most businesses and companies to rethink their travel procurement strategies. This has resulted in a sharp slowdown in business travel which has always been a money spinner for major airlines and hotel chains. The Federal Aviation Administration earlier this year predicted that overall domestic air passenger traffic was set to fall nearly 9% during 2009, while international bookings were expected to decline by 2.4% as companies were forced to make deep business travel cuts to grapple with the effects of the global recession.

Business travel which accounts for most first-class and business class ticket sales has suffered greatly from the huge cuts that companies have been compelled to make as they have tried to limit their employees travel or move this travel to the coach cabins for at least short haul journeys. Most companies however believe that business travel is a key element to their success as face to face meetings with suppliers and customers cannot be eliminated no matter how tough the economic conditions for business are. The personal touch is an essential tool of business which just cannot be replicated by advances in telecommunications and video conferencing technologies though a recent UBS survey of 61 influential travel buyers stated that average air spend this year, has declined more than 30 percent which has dealt a devastating blow to the business travel industry. Business travel is the icing on the cake for all major airlines, which have been affected the most by the cuts in travel budgets. If in 2008 the airlines were battling rising fuel costs, in 2009 they have to face the travel demand crisis which has even affected low cost carriers like Southwest which has seen a drop in business travel demand by nearly 25 to 30 percent for certain sectors.

The airlines have tried to aggressively combat travel demand crisis by slashing fares in order to sustain current load factors. These lower fares have extended even to international ticket sales as airlines like British Airways offered previously un-heard of deals for its business class cabin on its lucrative transatlantic route in the spring of 2009. This tactic was quickly copied by a whole host of airlines during the months of April and May which were particularly tough for the airlines.

This trend continued all throughout the summer as airlines tried to sustain their loads and avoid cutting capacity, for fares are far easier to manage when the upturn which typically follows a downturn begins. The US economy has in fact already begun to show signs of recovery as the Federal Reserve in recent days has cautiously averred that economic activity has stabilized and ‘firmed’ in almost all regions of the economy. This has also been reflected in the US stock market which has risen by almost 30% from the levels of historic lows which were experienced in the month of March 2009.

All this augurs well for the business travel industry which has begun to see a slight improvement during September 2009. In fact in a recent Topaz International survey of 260 travel buyers, a small number of buyers even displayed cautious optimism as they stated that they expected business travel spend for the rest of the year to in fact increase as the economy begins to turn.

In anticipation of this upturn, the British legacy carrier, British Airways which recently announced another fare sale across all its cabins for various routes, is all set to launch a new all-business transatlantic service on September 29th 2009 which will connect New York City’s JFK airport with London’s City Airport. This premium service which is aimed at time-pressed business travelers who have to travel frequently between the world’s most prominent finance capitals will initially launch as a daily return service which will increase to a twice daily flight from mid-October 2009. The launch of this new service at such a time indicates that the business travel industry is poised for a take- off yet again.

Most senior managers intuitively understand that employees have to be kept on the road even during an economic downturn as business travel is critical to their success for when business picks up once again they will have a vital edge over competition. If you believe in this school of thought and are looking at ways to cleverly minimize your travel spend, you should consider partnering with the New York City based travel company, Fare Buzz.

Fare Buzz is one of the nation’s leading suppliers of business class travel. The company has an exclusive relationship with over sixty domestic and international airlines and is able to procure cheap business class tickets for almost all worldwide destinations. Booking business class travel through Fare Buzz provides savings of over 70% as compared to tickets booked through regular channels. Moreover these Cheap Business Class Airline Tickets come with all the perks of a full priced ticket like mileage accrual and pre-assigned seats.

To effectively manage your travel spend and reduce airline, hotel and car rental costs, you need to align with a highly efficient and cost effective procurement agency like Fare Buzz which is equipped with a trained and knowledgeable staff who are on hand seven days a week to ensure that you get the very best travel deals to meet all your company’s goals of maximizing and effectively using the travel budget. Do call Fare Buzz at 1-888-808-4123 to speak to an agent today.