INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRAVEL: SOME EXPLORATIONS © The authors 2009 Journal compilation © 2009 Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography 193 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRAVEL: SOME EXPLORATIONS by Jonathan V. Beaverstock, Ben Derudder, James R. Faulconbridge and Frank Witlox BEAVERSTOCK, J. V., DERUDDER, B., FAULCONBRIDGE, J. and WITLOX, F. (2009): ‘International business travel: some explorations’, Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 91 (3): 193–202. ABSTRACT. International business travel is now an omnipresent feature of working life for many millions of people around the globe. Whatever the organizational reason, it is now the likelihood that many individuals are engaged in undertaking work outside of the formal workplace in an irregular pattern which has become an almost ordinary aspect of their working-life. Such is the magni- tude of international business travel that it is now highly signifi- cant for bringing multi-million dollar expenditure to countries and the global airline and hotel sectors, and supporting an internation- al business travel management industry. Yet, surprisingly, little has been written on the agency of international business travel, be- yond vignettes of the organizational requirement for physical proximity. In this introduction (and special issue) we consider what further academic analyses of business travel must do to ex- tend knowledge and understanding of the growth and use of travel in the twenty-first century. The article is in five parts. First, we consider the function of international business travel in firms as part of strategies to tie-together spatially distributed subsidiaries. Second, we unpack the modes and spaces of business travel. Third, we discuss the impacts of business travel on both the trav- eller, but also the environment. Fourth, we introduce the major ar- guments and contributions of the four articles in this special issue. Finally, we identify future research agendas that should develop existing theory and understanding of the compulsion for interna- tional business travel. Key words: mobility, business, travel, proximity, aeromobility, firms International business travel: some explorations As a form of mobility, international business travel is a familiar practice experienced by more and more workers in the twenty-first century. Exemplifying this trend, between 1982 and 2007 the number of UK residents engaged in outward business travel visits increased by +277 per cent to 9.018 million, and the number of overseas residents business vis- its the UK increased to 8.845 million (+270%) over the same period (ONS 2008). Between 1982 and 2007, the annual rate of growth of business visits for both UK residents outward from, and overseas residents inward to, the UK has been approximate- ly 5 per cent per annum (ONS 2008). In the USA, it is estimated that both domestic and international business travel generated revenues of US$843bn in 2008, which had increased +42 per cent over the preceding five year period, from US$595bn (WT- TC 2004, 2009). The growth in the importance and economic value of business travel has led to the proliferation of firms (e.g. Carlson Wagonlit Trav- el), consultancy reports (e.g. Barclaycard Business Traveller Survey 2005/06), websites and maga- zines (e.g. BusinessTraveller.com and TravelPlus) dedicated to charting developments in the business travel industry and providing corporate travel serv- ices to both the firm and the business traveller. For example, Carlson Wagonlit Travel is a business management company with operations in more than 150 countries worldwide representing over half of the Fortune 100 global companies (CWT 2009). Recent growth has also placed debates about business travel and mobility firmly on the policy agenda whether it be because of the need for ex- pansion to travel infrastructures such as high speed railways (Holley et al. 2008) or airports such as London’s Heathrow (City of London 2008). This inevitably leads to questions about the environmen- tal impacts of business travel as carbon dioxide emissions from cars and especially aeroplanes used for business travel add to firms’ carbon footprints at a time when environmental issues are of growing importance for both the clients of firms and regu- lators (Willman 2007). In this context, it is surprising that the topic of in- ternational business travel has received relatively limited direct scrutiny from academics. In our view, business travel, whether domestic or international, needs much more detailed empirical analysis through quantitative and qualitative studies to un- derstand its agency in the world of work and im- pacts on economic development, individuals, households and the environment. Of course, an ex- pansive body of work on mobility, transnational corporations, face-to-face contact and other issues directly relevant to business travel provides an im-