More than half of respondents had booked tickets online in the past year, a jump from 28 per cent in 1999.

Ticketless travel, whether booked online or by telephone, is also becoming increasingly popular, with just under half of respondents using it regularly, up from under a third in 1999.

But this does not spell the end of the corporate travel agent, said Simon Chick, director of marketing at Company Barclaycard. “Online booking can only really be done for simple A-to-B journeys, car hire and hotel bookings. Anything more complex needs a travel agent,” he said.

Firms need to consider whether they can justify top executives spending 20 minutes booking travel when it can be passed to an agent, noted Chick.