With the continuing acceleration of vaccination campaigns and their first tangible effects, there is renewed optimism about a real upturn in business travel. This is what emerges from the latest survey published by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which has been studying the feelings of corporate travel buyers and managers since the start of the pandemic. And its 19th survey shows the most positive results to dateThree out of four believe that their company's employees are 'willing' or 'very willing' to travel on business in the current climate.
For their part, suppliers are also optimistic, and this is based on tangible elements, since more than half of them (54 %) saw an increase in bookings from companies in the week prior to the survey, compared with just 40 % in the April survey. " It is reassuring to see so much momentum behind a return to business travel, with increased optimism, a willingness to travel and an increase in bookings." said Suzanne Neufang, CEO of the GBTA. Government policies remain the biggest obstacle to open travel, particularly in the UK, Europe and Canada. "
Even more than restrictive travel policies on the part of companies (23 %) or the freezing of their budgets (11 %), more than half of those questioned (55 %) cited entry restrictions or mandatory quarantines as the main obstacle. This is despite the fact that, among employees, hesitation to travel on business in the current environment stems primarily from concerns about safety (79%) and the lack of vaccinations (74%). At the same time, 'bleisure' has fallen out of favour in this context, with only one in five (19%) GBTA members and stakeholders surveyed saying they were 'more likely' to combine leisure travel with business travel.
However, the introduction of digital certificates to facilitate travel, such as the one expected in the European Union at the beginning of July, should allay some of the fears of sudden border closures or the introduction of quarantines. A very large proportion of potential travellers - 90% in the UK, 89% in Canada (89 %) and 86% in Europe - consider that the issuing of digital passports will be effective for the resumption of business travel. This figure is lower than in the United States (73 %), no doubt due to the lesser interest in these health sesames for mainly domestic business trips.
As expected, travel has resumed, first domestically, then regionally and finally transcontinentally. Whereas 81 % of GBTA member companies had cancelled or suspended almost all their trips, they are now planning to resume them gradually. For example 42 % of companies intend to resume domestic travel in the next three monthsThis figure is up by 5 points compared to last April's survey. The figure for international travel is also up by 3 points, although only just over 1 in 10 companies (13%) are inclined to take back long-distance travel for their employees.
In this context, we will probably have to wait until 2022 before we see long-haul travel pick up again. Indeed, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is expecting passenger volumes fairly close to the pre-Covid period (88%) in 2022compared with 52% this year. The good news for airlines is that by 2023 the number of passengers should even exceed the figure achieved in 2019.
At the same time, another GBTA study, carried out across the Atlantic by Cvent, confirms that hybrid meetings will play an increasingly important role in the future. an important role in the recovery. Virtually unknown before the pandemic - 7 out of 10 had never organised one - they should become more widespread, even after the restrictions are lifted. According to this study, three out of five respondents in the United States (60 %) expect their company to organise at least one hybrid meeting in 2021.
The number of these meetings, which are half face-to-face and half virtual, is expected to double by 2021. In this context, most of the professionals questioned said they were interested in all the aspects surrounding these "new wave" meetings, particularly in order totaming technological possibilities to make hybrid events attractive. Among these new areas of interest, Cvent notes online registration (76 %), post-event attendee surveys (74 %), attendee and prospect tracking (70 %), live polling (70 %) and mobile applications for events (66 %). " The pandemic has had a significant impact on the way organisations plan and manage their corporate meetings and eventssaid Patrick Smith, Cvent's Managing Director of Marketing. An intelligent mix of virtual, in-person and hybrid events is the future."
