A new report estimates that intra-company business trips will decrease by up to 60 per cent when the Covid pandemic finally comes to an end. It says that such trips account for 20 per cent of all air trips at present.
While intra-company trips may be permanently reduced, other types of trip look set to recover, perhaps with only modest losses. The findings show that a quarter of all trips are for sales activity and securing clients. It forecasts that such trips will be down by anywhere between zero and 20 per cent.
The report puts the total proportion of trips that will be “lost” to technology at somewhere between 19 and 36 per cent.
The report, The Journey Ahead: How the Pandemic and Technology Will Change Airline Business Travel, from IdeaWorks argues that the current downturn in business travel will be different from other sharp shocks, such as 9/11.
The report says that developing a new habit is relatively quick and that the length of the pandemic means that the new normal of virtual meetings is likely to stay.
“21 days is widely credited as the time required to develop a new habit,” say the authors. “If you multiply that by nearly 20 times, the habits developed during 2020 and 2021 will be enduring. The relationships between employees, divisions, regional offices and headquarters have been forced to evolve.”
The report says the drivers for a permanent reduction in business travel are improved technology, a good number of employees “who have found it’s easier and more enjoyable to stay home” and the savings that companies have recognised during the enforced grounding.
Research for the report shows that trips are broken down by purspoes as shown in the following chart.
