Biz travel budgets to bloom

BIG spenders are back this year in both corporate and ‘bleisure’ travel, including in the mainland China market, according to Trip. com Group’s Trip.Biz.

The Corporate Travel Management Market White Paper reveals 84.5% of Chinese companies expect an increase in their domestic business travel budget for 2023, while threequarters anticipate a bigger international budget, as border policies relax and flight capacity resumes.

Globally, more than 30% of companies allocated at least 10% of their budget to business travel, higher than in 2021.

The proportion of total budgets spent on business travel also increased, prompting companies to control costs through e-management.

Trip.Biz data shows nearly 60% have started digitalising their business travel processes.

Business travellers are also increasingly demanding fast-track security lanes, flexible change and cancellation policies, and quality hotel service.

More than 90% of surveyed employees are embracing bleisure travel, stating they may visit tourist attractions at their own expense, with 38.4% expecting to have more free time on business trips.

“This year’s strong demand for business travel and the pursuit of efficient management will be a major focus for companies, making the digital transformation of business travel management more urgent than before,” said Trip.Biz CEO Steven Zhang.

The white paper also covers trends such as low-carbon business travel options, with approximately 85% of surveyed travellers preferring flights and hotels with eco certifications.

The findings echo other business travel market data, including research from the Global Business Travel Association late last year, which estimated global business travel would recover to 81% of its pre-COVID level in 2023, with the Chinese market tipped to reach 89%, and an 18.9% increase in business travel spending.

Download the Trip.Biz report HERE.