Domestic and international business travel will begin again in phases after the coronavirus pandemic, says a new study from TMC, FCM Travel Solutions and Corporate Traveller and conducted by 4th Dimension (4D).
The study surveyed 1,600 business travel managers, bookers and travelers in EMEA, Asia, the Americas, India, Australia and New Zealand. Seventy percent said that they expected to increase business travel gradually over a period of time. Forty percent said they would return to domestic travel in one to three months, and 32 percent said international business travel would resume in six to 12 months.
These decisions really depended on when border restrictions were lifted. Seventy percent of respondents said that this would have a significant impact on their decision.
An organizational endorsement that it is safe to travel was also a major factor. Sixty-eight percent said that they need an endorsement that it is safe to travel. Only half of the respondents believe that their business travel volumes will eventually reach pre-coronavirus levels.
Asia and EMEA will likely see business travel return faster. The survey found that, in Asia, 50 percent of respondents have already begun booking domestic travel and 37 percent expect to resume international travel in three to six months. In EMEA, 37 percent of survey participants said that they expect to travel domestically within one to three months, and 32 percent said that they anticipate booking international trips within three to six months.
These regions opened borders faster and there is easier intraregional movement. The region with the most uncertainty was the Americas where 28 percent of respondents saying that they did not know when travel would return.
The survey also found that winning new business (43 percent of respondents) and managing existing client relationships (39 percent of respondents) are the two dominant business activities motivating organizations to a return to travel.
There was a 50-50 split between participants in the survey agreeing or disagreeing with there was a 50/50 split between participants agreeing or disagreeing.
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