Frankfurt, Germany  - Business travellers should expect to dig deeper into their pockets for airline tickets and hotels next year, according to a survey by American Express.

The study indicates that overall prices are not expected to increase vastly. However, the cost of flying is likely to rise by up to 7 per cent and that of hotel rooms by up to 6 per cent.

The price hike is likely to affect German business travellers even more with flights out of the country to rise by 9 per cent.

American Express says the cause of the increase is declining capacity in the airline market. More airlines are charging passengers for services such as luggage check-in, seat booking and in-flight food.

The survey's findings are a turnaround from the second quarter of 2008 when American Express said the cost of flying and hotels for business people was falling.

Germany in particular is expected to see an increase of up to 6.5 per cent in hotel charges.

The credit company has also found that many businesses have cut back on hotel bookings in finance centres such as Frankfurt and London as a result of the drop in capacity.

American Express expects "businesses to make more bookings in mid-range hotels and tighten their travel rules with the aim of cutting expenses."

There is some positive news with no big rise in the cost of renting a car expected in 2009. In Europe, car rental rise by just 2 per cent at the most - or possibly even fall by the same amount. (dpa)