The tourism industry rebounded strongly this summer as people who were tired of staying close to home during the pandemic seized the opportunity to travel.
But business travel has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. According to a recent report from the Global Business Travel Association, business travel spending in 2021 will grow 5.5% year-on-year to reach $697 billion, but compared to his $1.4 trillion in travel spending in 2019, this The numbers still pale.
The decline in briefcase-carrying passengers is likely to be permanent, according to a new report. 2 out of 5 of those who used to travel said they would never travel again. The report surveyed more than 16,000 of hers across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific from October 2021 through his summer of 2022.
The decline in business travel was even more pronounced in Europe, with 55% of respondents in the UK and 59% of respondents in France saying they would never travel again.
In contrast, people in India, China and Brazil are more likely to travel for business in the future. Overall, however, “there is no denying that business travel will never return to its pre-pandemic normal,” the report said.
How the pandemic has changed business travel
The Morning Consult report does not delve into why business travel has declined. But there are many good theories as to why business travel is declining, and there are some important caveats.
One of the big reasons business travel has lagged behind leisure travel after the pandemic is that people have adapted to video conferencing and hybrid work. Now that you know how much work you can do with Zoom, the benefits of face-to-face interaction aren’t always worth the tradeoffs of flying to see customers and colleagues. “I think about lost productivity and personal time, my boss’s money, the pollution that erupts from planes,” Farhad Manjou told The New York Times last year when many pre-pandemic business trips now seemed unnecessary. I looked back.
Business austerity measures have also reduced the frequency of business travel, especially in the face of high inflation and fears of a recession (maybe exaggerated). Additionally, environmental concerns are making businesses less cautious about the carbon footprint of business travel, according to a recent report by the Global Business Travel Association. And with China’s covid-19 lockdown and quarantine policies, which vary from country to country, international business travel is complicated.
But companies aren’t avoiding business travel entirely. They are simply becoming more selective about when and why they send workers.
According to a recent New York Times report, businesses are willing to pay for travel to conferences and conventions, even as the pandemic has taken a toll on individual business travel. Meanwhile, according to his consulting firm AlixPartners, companies are reducing employee travel for internal meetings and instead prioritizing face-to-face time with clients. Still, AlixPartners expects business travel to remain 15-25% below pre-pandemic levels through at least 2025.
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