I’m screening drunk!

A rECENt survey of 738 business travellers globally found that 60% would prefer to return to pre-pandemic levels of business travel despite media sentiment that technology such as Zoom calls may dent the sector moving forward.

The BCD Travel survey also found that business travellers are raising concerns about the reliance on screen-based interaction as their primary meeting method, with three in

Flight Centre rally

FligHt Centre’s TTV across its corporate travel brands in the Australian market has shown strong signs of recovery late in the 12 months to 30 Jun, with the company’s latest financial report revealing the final quarter had already matched 97% of TTV volumes recorded for the entire first half of the year.

The final quarter also doubled Q1’s TTV, mirroring similar trends in other markets such as North America and Europe.

Flight Centre has been vocal over the last 12 months about further enhancing its corporate travel platforms and call centre operations across all brands, headlined by the FCM Platform and Melon products which are designed to accelerate marketshare of business travel in a rebounding post-COVID world. four respondents rating face-toface human interaction as the primary reason to get back out on the road and meet clients.

While most business travel organisers concede virtual meetings are here to stay, the study noted some significant pain-points associated with online catch ups, including becoming easily distracted (54%), unsuitability for specific meeting types (51%), ‘Zoom fatigue’ and technology issues (49%) and a lack of human contact (66%).

“Meeting face-to-face not only remains a critical component to achieving company goals, it’s also essential to satisfying businesses’ needs for efficiency and human interaction,” BDC Travel Global Chief Operating Officer Mike Janssen said.

Back before 2022?

AmEriCAN Express Global Business Travel’s (GBT) client confidence is growing, however the rise of the COVID-19 Delta variant is pushing back restart sentiment in some regions.

Almost all (98%) of GBT’s clients expect corporate travel to return before the end of the year, with North America in the lead, with 26% of clients ready to get back on the road within a month.

However, in Europe, the Middle East & Africa, just 10% are ready to travel in a month’s time.