Business travel is having a growing affect on the quality of family life for executives, with well over half (56 per cent) of the 500,000 Company Barclaycard corporate credit card holders quizzed for a new survey saying that relationships with family and children were suffering because of the time they spend away.
More than six out of ten (63 per cent) say that their travel commitments have affected their relationship with their partner, while four out of ten also complained that travel undermined their social life.
The figures are significantly higher than three years ago. In 2001, four out of ten people said that business trips were affecting their family life and fewer than one in three said that it was impacting social life.
Unsurprisingly, two-thirds of those surveyed are keen to reduce the amount of time they spend away from home and around half of these have successfully cut down on the time they spent travelling.
Almost four out of ten (38 per cent) of chief executives and a similar proportion of board directors have actively taken steps to reduce the number of hours they spend away from home.
Barclaycard's Simon Chick said: "Despite the advent of digital technology and communication in recent years, travel is still proving to be a necessity for many of today's business professionals.
"Compared to just two years ago, more business travellers appear to be suffering from the effects of time away from home, both on an emotional level, as well as a physical one.
"If this trend is to be reversed, it is important that both professionals and businesses take active steps to re-dress the work-life balance."
