Domestic business travel continues to trend toward recovery: GBTA
Ramesh Tiwari—
Travel trade companies worldwide report an emerging willingness to permit employees to engage in domestic business travel, according to the latest poll conducted by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) recently.
Respondents to the poll; the 10th bi-weekly survey conducted among GBTA’s members since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in February, continue to report virtually no willingness for employees to travel internationally, with 93 per cent indicating the pandemic has curtailed all or most international business trips.
By comparison, 74 per cent of respondents’ report that the pandemic has curtailed all or most of their organization’s domestic business trips.
That number has fallen by 19 percentage points since GBTA’s mid-April poll of members and the lowest level since the pre-pandemic polling in late winter 2020.
In Europe the outlook remains more positive, 70 per cent of GBTA members in Europe expect domestic business travel to return in the next 2-3 months compared to just 26 per cent in North America. Likewise, members based in Europe are more likely to expect international business travel to resume in the next 2-3 months than members based in North America.
Three in four respondents report that their company has started to formulate a travel recovery plan. Tighter booking channels are a trend, with 66 per cent of respondents stating they are less likely to allow travelers to book directly with suppliers and 65 per cent are less likely to allow travelers to book with an OTA (Online Travel Agency), than before the pandemic.
When asked about new safety measures, PPE is the new business travel accessory. One-third of GBTA member companies plan to provide PPE for their travelers while 20 per cent require their travelers to provide their own as an essential item for their safe return to travel. Only 6 per cent report that their company is not making PPE mandatory for travelers.
While recovery plans are underway, the return to travel remains slow and is taking longer than previously expected.
“The business travel landscape continues to be difficult in Europe and the U.S., but we do see some small glimmers of recovery here and there,” said Dave Hilfman, the interim Executive Director of GBTA. “More companies look to be trending positively on domestic trips, with Europe still showing the most positive uplift.”
“It is encouraging to see so many members companies working on travel recovery plans in preparation for their return to travel, with virtually all our members keeping employees’ health and safety as their primary concern. New considerations such as PPE are being added to travel policy and GBTA is supporting members and the industry to ensure consistent health and safety measures across all sectors on a global basis,” he added.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA’s 9,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually.
August 16, 2020
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