BACK TO BUSINESS

While our ways of working may have changed forever, our research shows that most of you remain convinced of the need to meet face-to-face

Surveying our readers on returning to the skies

With the profound changes that the past year has brought, you would have been forgiven for thinking that we would never get back to normal. The evidence for a lasting shift in behaviour affecting most aspects of our lives is all around us, and, certainly when it comes to travel, all of the predictions are that it will be many years, if ever, before we return to our pre-pandemic habits.

What these headlines obscure, however, is the need for the world to keep trading, and for that trade to be a matter of meeting face-to-face. During July and August, we conducted a survey as part of a wider Future of Business Travel report produced in partnership with travel trend forecasting agency Globetrender (globetrender.com) and American Express Global Business Travel. The survey polled 2,020 Business Traveller readers worldwide on their sentiments in relation to the pandemic.

We wanted to find out what you, the most frequent travellers for business, thought might happen in the coming months, and how your attitude to travel may have changed. Where once you might have been on the road for many weeks of the year to attend meetings, make new sales, manage teams or visit clients and suppliers, have you now realised the benefits of working from home and staying in touch by virtual means?

We found that more than three-quarters of you believe face-to-face meetings for sales and pitching are preferable to remote working. When it comes to following up on sales calls, six out of ten of you think the majority of deals and decisions cannot be made virtually. (In case you think nothing has changed, 78 per cent of you said you would not shake hands in a meeting, so some other form of sealing the deal will have to be invented. Just please let it not be bumping elbows.)

Nearly 40 per cent of you said that you expected to start travelling again before the end of 2020, although this was before the latest round of quarantines and lockdowns, most notably here in the UK. Even before those announcements, quarantine remained a concern, with 91 per cent of you stating that you would be less likely to travel if required to quarantine at your destination.

Unsurprisingly, a vaccine would make most of us (80 per cent) more likely to travel, although nearly as many respondents

(75 per cent) said that being able to fly in business or first class would encourage them to get back on the road, something worth discussing with the travel department. The potentially greater ability to socially distance in business class rather than economy isn’t something airlines are promoting, for obvious reasons – as we report in this issue (“Safe travels”, page 36), they say the HEPA filters on board ensure “hospital-quality air”. Still, if fewer people from your company are travelling, perhaps spending a little more on those wanting or needing to is only sensible.

When it comes to trusting travel providers with our safety, perhaps it is not surprising that familiar brands are those we will be most comfortable with – 87 per cent of you said you were likely to stick with airlines you knew when you started to travel again, and 80 per cent with familiar hotel brands.

What’s clear from the research is that business travellers are keen to get back on the road. What’s causing delay is the uncertainty created by government travel bans and the inconsistent measures – and messaging – in place around testing. There is cause for optimism, but it will take concerted action by the relevant authorities for this to translate into more people travelling for business. Download the report at businesstraveller.com/ future-of-business-travel