Domestic biz travel desire

ALMOST half of companies around the world plan to return to some form of domestic business travel in the next three months, according to new research published by the Global Business Travel Association.

The encouraging figures based on the responses of 1,708 member companies internationally showed that 49% had confirmed plans for corporate travel in the near future, while a significant 34% also noted they were considering travel within the same time period but had not yet made any concrete plans.

The data was less encouraging for the APAC region (excluding China), with only 12% of businesses suggesting they had locked in definite plans to travel within the next three months.

Locally, 32% of companies reported they had no current plans for corporate travel, with 18% admitting they were not sure when the next business travel opportunities will take place.

When asked to consider the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has on their businesses, 44% conceded they were forced to cancel or suspend all non-essential business trips, with 46% noting they had abandoned all corporate travel while the world battles the virus.

With travel restrictions likely to begin easing gradually around the world in the next quarter, 46% of respondents said that its staff would be keen to take business trips once all such impediments had been removed.

One in five businesses globally also noted that “most” of their employees would be willing to take business trips once travel restrictions were out of the picture.

In lieu of taking physical business trips, 82% of companies said they had been frequently hosting virtual business meetings.